Good interview or bad interview, everything is part of your career. A good interview can boost you up, but a bad interview can also bring your morale down. Your interview might turn out to be a disastrous one due to many reasons. You suddenly realize an answer you gave was completely off the mark or that you entirely forgot to include a key piece information about yourself.

Regardless of the specific circumstances, your job interview was a total disaster. So, what’s next? How can you recover when you think you’ve blown your chances of landing the job?

1. Pause any negative thought

Many of us, when we’ve just bombed an interview, we start analyzing all the things we screwed up and could’ve done better. Then, we start to brainstorm how we can fix it.

But chances to fix what happened may be blowing things way out of proportion.  So, the only thing you can do is to take a deep breath and think how the interview actually went. Share your highlights with another friend or an unbiased person in order to get their perspective.

Take a time to reflect will allow you to calm down and think strategically about next time’s interview.

2. Send a Thank You Note

There’s no doubt that after a bad interview, last thing you want to do is to reach out to the employer.

Although you may feel bad about how the interview went, you should still send a thank-you note to show you appreciate their time, consideration and the chance to interview. Doing so will present you as a kind and gracious professional you are.

3. Follow Up

Consider a follow-up email when you cannot stop thinking a question that you could have answered better. Reach out with an email and start by thanking him or her for the time and then explain that after reflecting on your interview you feel like you left some things unsaid.

Provide a brief answer to whatever questions you think you missed. You can include some links or examples in order to back up your responses.

Although it is not guaranteed that you will land the job, the employer will admire your professionalism and commitment.

4. Learn From It

Surviving a disastrous interview isn’t fun but it can be a valuable one, as long as you reflect on yourself.

Ask yourself questions to analyze the situation. What went poorly in the interview? How can you be more prepared next time?

Last but not least, as with anything in life, it’s not necessarily about what happened—it’s about how you react to it, and how you become stronger because of it. At the end of the day, it happens to the best of us.