It can be nerve wracking to find yourself in an interview and have one of your answers go completely off track. Getting thrown off by a single interview question is actually one of the most common pitfalls in interviewing. Candidates can easily lose their composure and have one bad response impact their ability to complete a strong overall interviewing session.

In some cases, you'll realize you're getting off track. In other instances, you won't recognize that a response was poor until after the fact. In each case, there are different ways to handle the situation.

Catching the Problem Mid-Answer

If you feel your response going off track you can immediately address the situation. Openly acknowledge that you recognize this answer was not articulated as well as you would have liked, and give an appropriate answer instead. It's even okay to stop in the middle of your answer and ask to begin again.

For example, you can state: "That's not quite the response I intended." Then ask the interviewer for the opportunity to readdress the question: "I'd like to take another stab at that question." Most interviewers will appreciate your thoughtful consideration and your open and honest communication style.

Provided you don't employ this technique repeatedly during an interview, you'll be perceived as a strong communicator and an individual with personal insight, as well as someone with the ability to effectively recover from misspeaking. The interviewer will see these as positive traits which will serve you well in the workplace, in dealing with clients or customers, and in communicating with co-workers and team members.

When You Aren't Immediately Aware of the Problem

If you don't realize you've gone off track until after the fact, then you'll need to put the issue out of your mind and get on with the business of completing the rest of the interview. You can recover from one bad answer, and you may even have the chance to revisit the question at the end of the interview.

First and foremost, you must keep in mind that an interview is a composite of overall performance. A single poor response to just one interview question won't knock you out the running for a job, that is, as long as the rest of the interview goes well. This means you must avoid letting a single bad response affect your ability to perform well during the remainder of the interview.

Don't let your nerves get the better of you. If you respond poorly to one question, put it out of your mind, and focus on the quality of the rest of the interview. Recover well from your misstep and impress the interviewer with your other answer. The interviewer will likely write off the single bad response and rank you well based on the overall interview.

Your other option is to revisit the response at the end of the interview. Let the interviewer know that you realize your answer wasn't up to par. For example, "Regarding the question on the topic of a team failure, I've given it some additional thought and was hoping to revisit my response."

Be mindful of the time remaining in the interview. If there's sufficient time, most interviewers will be willing to entertain the digression. If however, time is short, then the interviewer will be hesitant to allow you a second chance to answer the question.

If you do take this approach, ensure you can nail the answer on the second try. Otherwise, you're doing more harm than good to your overall interview performance. The interviewer will see the digression as insecurity rather than insightfulness. It's risky to revisit a question. In many cases it's simply better to let it go and count on your strong performance in the rest of the interview to make up for that single bad answer.