How Can I recover from an *awful* mock case performance w/ an Interviewer?

Hi there,

These mock interviews are not evaluated and are only used for two reasons:

1. Show you how interviews are conducted in general (to avoid completely unprepared applicants, which happened quite often in the past and wasted everyone's time during the first round).
2. To provide feedback on your performance (e.g., identify blindspots, finetuning) that can help your final prep.

You should not cut your losses as there are none at this point. 

What I read from your interview performance and your message here is that you are extremely nervous and it sounds more like a confidence issue (fear of failure) than anything skill-based.

I would suggest you could potentially push back the interview for 1-2 weeks and find some rest/increase your confidence/get over the fear of failure. There are a couple of techniques you can use and you need to find what works for you but I believe it's the biggest lever you can pull at this point.

All the best!

Florian

Hi there,

Q: My question is if I'm done with this firm now.

If what you did was a mock interview, it should not be used for evaluation purposes. So if you do well in the actual interview next week you are going to be fine.

You can use the learnings from the mock to improve during this week and do your best in the actual interview.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hello,

Let me start by saying: Don't Panic! This is absolutely normal and has happened to me a bunch of times (even during the actual interview). 

To give you some assurance - the mock interview should not have any material impact on your actual interview, so please do not think the worst possible outcome. Take each individual interview separately. I have often bombed one interview and excelled at the other - giving the firm enough confidence to pass me on to the next round.

Also - sometimes the questions are designed to trick you so that the interviewer can see how you behave in stressful situtations.

I'm happy to share with you specifics over chat and discuss how to keep your best foot forward before your interview next week.

All the best! 

Rushabh

Hi there,

Move on and learn from it.

The point of mock cases is to make mistakes and learn from them. Plain and simple! You're not done with the firm until the application response comes back. Mock interviews are just that…mocks!

You might want to consider doing a mock with a coach so that you can simulate that pressure situation again (and learn how to not make the same mistake twice)

Here's some additional reading that might help: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

In my experience, some offices in some cases take into account a bad performance in mock interviews. 
However, it means that you may be asked to postpone interviews by 3 to 6 months.

That said, any failure is a good lesson. Therefore, work as much as you can on solving your issue with math. This is important not only for interviews but in particular for real consulting life, where mathematics and analytical acumen are extremely important. 

If you need some help, happy to schedule some coaching sessions.

Practice interviews is where you want to make your mistakes so you don't have to repeat them in the real interviews. On the positive note, you now have the opportunity to show tremendous improvement relative to your mock case. The upwards trajectory is often a very positive element to be considered. 

In any case, I would expect your interviewer to particularly probe you in the areas you didn't do well in during the mock case. So just try to prep for that so you can eliminate all the doubt they might have regarding your capabilities.

All the best of luck

You are blowing this out of proportion. As others have said, take it easy. Mock interviews dont mean much in terms of official selection process.

Have a look at this article for managing interview nerves- https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/job-interview-stress

no worry, mock is precisely to feel in a safe environment how it may feel. Now, analyze what happened, how you can do it better next time during your real interview, this is an opportunity for you to make it well next time.

Good luck!

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It's just a mock! It won't be taken into consideration and, if for any reason it was, think how much you'll wow them when you improve dramatically for your real interview! If it helps, I absolutely bombed my mock, didn't have any idea what I was doing and it was a disaster. 

Just try to learn from it and tell those nerves to quiet down - there's absolutely no point quitting when you haven't even been through the interview yet and given a no! 

Good luck - you still have everything to play for!