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"It\u2019s easy to get rattled by a high-stakes job interview \u2014 and so, it\u2019s also not uncommon to experience a certain head-smacking moment right after you walk out the door. \nSo how can you recover when you think you\u2019ve blown your chances of landing that new gig? Post-interview damage control is a tricky process \u2014 you don\u2019t want to destroy whatever polished, poised confidence you did manage to exude during the interview, or point out a flaw your interviewer just might have missed.\nIf you think some post-interview damage control is in order, it\u2019s important to plan carefully and really think it through before you go contacting your interviewer in a frenzy. But if you\u2019re going to do it, follow these four steps to make sure you\u2019re approaching your blunder with grace.\n1. Don't Over Analyze\nIt\u2019s perfectly normal to mentally rehash every detail of an interview immediately after that final handshake: Did you remember to smile? Ask questions at the end? Did you really convey that you\u2019ve been working on your delegation skills, or did you come across as a total control freak?\nAs you think more and more about each question and answer, there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll start dwelling on small mistakes you think you made \u2014 like how your voice slightly wavered when you talked about your weaknesses, or that you were too vague about your five-year goals.\nIn most cases, you can rest assured that these are slip-ups you don\u2019t need to address because they\u2019re much more obvious to you than to anyone else, and probably didn\u2019t have a significant impact on your interviewer. Plus, they\u2019re mistakes that will look much worse when highlighted to your interviewer the next day than if you just let them go.\nOf course, if you\u2019re certain that you completely flubbed an answer, or left out some vital information about yourself, proceed to step two: Figure out if there\u2019s anything you can do. \n2. Determine Your Plan of Action\nDamage control can be risky. Some interviewers will appreciate the extra elaboration on a question you think you botched, but to others, it will simply draw more attention to your mistake. So, it\u2019s important to pinpoint if the errors from your interview are important enough to bring up again \u2014 and if bringing them up is going to help you. To determine if it\u2019s actually worth doing damage control, you should ask yourself a couple questions: \n\n\nWas it a Make-or-Break Mistake? Will your mistake (or lack of information) make a significant impact on the interviewer\u2019s perception of you? Maybe you had a great answer planned out about how your past experience would make you a perfect fit for a business analyst position, but you forgot to mention you also have an interest in social media and would love to help expand the company\u2019s online presence. Is this an essential piece of information that may affect the interviewer\u2019s ultimate decision? Probably not.\nOn the other hand, if you\u2019re interviewing for a position in another state and completely forgot to mention that you\u2019re OK with relocating, your interviewer was probably left questioning. The same would go for a situation where your level of experience is in question, and you failed to mention a relevant internship you completed. That could ultimately affect the interviewer\u2019s decision, and damage control is probably worth the risk.\n\n\nCan You Recover By Sharing Additional (Concise) Info? One of the key elements of damage control is being able to recover in a concise manner. If you can convey additional information in a few sentences to clear things up\u2014perfect! You\u2019re good to go. If your explanation would require pages of writing or a lengthy phone call, your chances of success fall dramatically. \nAlso, if your recovery sounds mostly like an apology, rather than providing concrete new information (\"I can\u2019t believe I messed up the multiplication on that problem!\")\u2014just skip it. If you aren\u2019t giving your interviewer new information about you as a candidate, addressing the mistake isn\u2019t likely to help you. \n\n\nIf, after considering these questions, you determine you have a short\u2014but absolutely essential\u2014piece of information to share, move on to your plan of action. \n3. Fix it Gracefully\nThe smoothest way to approach an interview blunder is a short comment (not an apology) in your thank you note. Your follow-up email should only be a paragraph or two, so you don\u2019t have much room to explain yourself. That\u2019s why, as we determined above, that you should bring up only the most influential and important mistakes and omissions.\nAfter you thank your interviewer for her time, transition into your additional information: \"Since we were talking about my social media experience, I should also mention that as part of my internship at Smith Media, I wrote weekly blog posts and initiated a campaign to boost the company\u2019s Facebook followers to over 3,000. This experience, along with the rest of my background, would really allow me to shine as your new Social Media Specialist.\"\nThis casual note explains further details that you forgot to mention\u2014but doesn\u2019t outwardly admit to a mistake, as it would if you started with, \"I\u2019m so sorry, but I completely forgot to mention one of my internships!\"\nAnother good option is to recruit your references to help you recover. As soon as you leave the interview, contact your references and give them an update. They should already be familiar with the position that you\u2019re applying for, so you can simply encourage them to mention specific information. \nFor example, if you think you didn\u2019t emphasize your customer service experience enough, ask your former boss to point out specific examples of when you went above and beyond to make a client happy. \n4. Learn From It\nThe most valuable damage control you can perform is to learn from your blunder and prepare well for your next interview. What was the core cause of your mistake? Did you get nervous and fumble over your answers? Consider enlisting a friend or career counselor to conduct a few practice interviews with you. The more comfortable you become answering interview questions, the less nervous you\u2019ll be when you\u2019re in the real thing.\nMaybe you just forgot to mention relevant experience or bring up a certain point that you wanted to bring up. These signs point to a lack of preparation, so before you head into the interview, try writing out a few bullet points of accomplishments and other specific points you want to address. Keep these tucked in your notepad, so that before that final handshake, you can glance down and make sure you covered absolutely everything.\nPhoto courtesy of Flickr, Alex E. Proimos"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/01/28/recover-from-interview-disaster/>