Interviews are unavoidable when job hunting, but being part of a poor one can lead to bad situations for employer and potential employee.

More than half of people who had experienced a bad interview blame the interviewer and 43 percent turn down a job offer because of it.

These results are from a survey of 2,000 people by T-Mobile which also revealed 40 percent of people were asked questions that were completely unrelated to the job, over a third 35 percent said that the interviewer was unprepared.

Worryingly, 18 percent of interviewers were late, 16 percent were sexist, seven percent were racist, 7 percent had bad personal hygiene and nearly 2 percent were drunk.

Judi James, an expert in body language, image, workplace culture and communication skills, said: “Interviews can be stressful and tricky at the best of times, but if you do find it going badly through no fault of your own then don’t panic. Keeping your cool and remaining dignified in an awkward situation will create a great impression and if the interviewer is that bad then you probably won’t want the job anyway.”

She has five top tips for surviving poor interviews:

1) Never allow yourself to become paranoid. Job-hunting can be an exhausting, demoralising experience but remember that it was the bad interviewer who failed to impress, not you. Avoid taking resentment, negativity or low-self esteem into your next interview.

2) Use the motivational phrase: ‘Cancel and Continue’. You had one bad interview - don’t think that speaks for all companies. Write it off to experience and re-boot your energies for the next opportunity.

3) If you feel you were the victim of prejudice then contact your Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

4) Be charming at all times. Maybe the company’s not at fault and you’ve just met their one bad apple

5) Remember you have rights - never feel railroaded into talking about subjects like age, marriage or children that could prejudice your chances.

6) If it makes you feel better, write a polite, professional letter explaining that you would prefer to be taken off the list of potential candidates for that job.