How to ace interviews in tough times or when Nepa does the thang

Read some of my embarrassing stories and the fact that yesterday was my birthday.

Nah, I'm kidding. You have a chance, but it's slim. People have common interview problems like pre-interview jitters and anxiety, not knowing what to wear, or being afraid of answering questions wrongly; but as an African, Nigerian especially, your problem is tripled. Well, unless you live in the good parts.

I’m sorry that I couldn't send my newsletter out yesterday – well it was my birthday and I couldn't risk it. Sorry! The timing was just too bad.:⁠-⁠) So here's me making it up today with some interesting and embarrassing insights about me that could help you in some way ace interviews.

I’ve done more than 40 interviews since my career started and I've been through literally every up and down that exists in the course of interviews. I've read numerous interview preparatory guides and still flopped, I've done breathing techniques and even got over-prepared one time, but missed it still.

I wouldn't say there's a perfect interview preparatory handbook. In the fervency of my job search, I patronised a handful and still met some obstacles. Like I said, there's no handbook, but when you read these experiences, don't do what I did or do what I did. You would actually feel second-hand embarrassment for me if you were present in some of these situations. I've taken all in good faith and here are three of my most recent:

•Two months ago, I called the interviewer by a name that belonged to another interviewer who I was supposed to speak with the following hour and didn't even realize till she asked me to repeat what I called her and I said “Margaret? 👀” She smiled the widest smile and clarified that it wasn't her name while promising to get back to me soonest. It was actually a bad day for me, still, that was a flop.

If you're ever having a horrible week or day, inform the company ahead of time, I promise if they're great, they'll understand.

•Tuesday this week, I had a pretty great interview for a column idea I pitched but I forgot a fundamental part of it (the fact that the column would focus on the audio industry) and even when they tried to help me chip it in, I was still lost. This is a topic I had been meaning to write about, a topic that just sat comfortably at a corner in my brain — but I forgot that they were who I pitched it to! I knew what the broad idea was but I didn't include that specific information that would nail my point — even though I did some great explanations, there was a bit of a disconnect.

I did something wrong - not copying my pitch and pasting in my notes (because it was developed at that moment from research I had made in the past and my knowledge of the subject. It was not pre-written). I failed at doing that and as the online forms company didn't give an option for people to choose whether they wanted a copy of their response, all my information was lost! Don't be like me.

•Today, in the middle of one of my interviewers telling me she's Nigerian and from Anambra, Nepa took the light. The way she went, “Did Nepa just take the light?” (It felt like there was more than one question marks to that question) I could not be more embarrassed. My yes was so loud and stretched, bruh! Her white colleague was so confused and the look on her face worsened my embarrassment. But I quickly rendered an apology, walked to my window and pulled the curtains while maintaining a calm smile.

Today's was beyond my control, but I made sure that I didn't let it affect my response and composure. I didn't try to quickly cover it up but turning off my camera, I just eased myself into the situation and acted normally while chewing up the embarrassment.

I haven't seen the results of my steller performance yet, but I know it was good. I've had some embarrassing moments with stuttering and answering questions weirdly, but with the response rate, I don't think HR looks at those so much even though it is consequential to be clear and concise.

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