I work for a company where it is the general practice when an requisition opens for a position, you contact the hiring manager for details about the jobs, especially if you aren't familiar with the area.
I recently did this for several positions but the last one threw me for a loop. I met with the hiring manager and in my request to meet I specifically requested to get additional details about the job. During our meeting, though, it slowly turned into an interview. I was asked questions like
- Where you you see yourself in 5 years?
- How do you engage?
- When do you feel de-motivated?
- Tell me about a time that you had issues in a project and how you dealt with them.
Let me say that I was totally thrown off guard because I was expecting a casual conversation about the job and what it entailed. I was not at all prepared for this interview and I feel as if my shot at the job has been greatly diminished.
So I am trying to figure out how best to approach this with the hiring manager. I would like to pursue this position but I think my poor performance may prevent that.
Of course, I will send them a 'Hey thanks for meeting with me to discuss the opening' message, but should I include something that says 'I look forward to the next steps', or 'sorry I was unprepared for the meeting'? How should I proceed with this? Or should I just accept the fact that I screwed up?