News flash: Life isn’t fair. I’m hoping that you got the memo in the second grade and that’s not really a news flash.

News flash: There are no second chances. OK, that’s not totally true, there are a number of great Hollywood romance movies that are built on the premise that you get a second chance. You know the storyline, guy gets girl, guy screws up, guy makes up and world peace prevails.

Seriously though, there’s no second chance in an interview. It is not a casual event, it’s a command performance even if we call it a ‘coffee’ or ‘informational.’ From the moment you walk in (are you on time, what are you wearing, are you smiling, how’s your handshake) to the wrap up, it’s one big assessment.

So give yourself every chance to ‘nail it.’ If it’s a phone call, take the call from a land line, no dogs, kids or leaf blowers within a 2 block radius. If you have to take it on a cell, apologize, ask if the fidelity is acceptable and by all means pull over and never have anyone else in the car, including Fido.

If you can’t answer a question, that’s a problem. It’s better to admit it than to BS. And even better to ask for clarification than to make assumptions.

Unfortunately there’s never an email that you can send that fixes a botched interview. There’s no ‘do overs’ in the game of interviews.