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Had what I believe to be my best interview ever a couple of weeks ago with a large oil/gas company in Houston and I believe I may have at least made it hard on them to pick someone else.
Highlights:
*Interview was scheduled for 2 hours, and ended up going a little over 2.5.
*At one point, me and the hiring manager found ourselves off track from the interview discussing cars as we both are fans of the Mustang. I'd say we deviated about 20 minutes just on technical car jargon.
*Even though it was scheduled, I got to meet 3 members of the team that I would be working with. I spoke to them for over 30 minutes and the more senior of the group iterated 2-3 times even to the hiring manager that they thought I was great and that I met their needs for sure.
*The tone of the interview was almost reminiscent of what the first day on the job sounded like. They were introducing me to concepts and tasks that I'd be doing, at some point, even showing me some of their own internal schedules and workpapers.
*On more than a few occasions, I felt that I was being 'sold' the job. Mentioning of company softball teams, volunteer opportunities, company perks, and pay were all things that I felt were 'selling points'. Now, this was coming from the hiring manager, and NOT HR.
The real humdinger was this however:
I felt incredibly strongly about this position and the fact that I AM a great match for it. So, in addition to doing the generic online app, I felt that it was worthy of more effort. So, I embarked on a google search-o-rama for either the hiring manager's name or usable email syntax, and with the help of LinkedIn and Google, was able to find both and commenced e-mailing the person I thought was the hiring manager directly. Well, it ended up being him and that's how I was scheduled for the interview in the first place. They ended up flying me in a week after I heard back from the hiring manager. Come to find, the generic application had been rejected by HR, but the 'goal line effort' had worked and I was granted an interview. We discussed this in the interview and it REALLY impressed the hiring manager.
This was two weeks ago. I followed up with a typed and signed thank you letter mailed to the mgr. and did a 1 week follow up on Monday. They were still interviewing and said it would be Friday (7/13) at the soonest and end of week next week by the latest. All in all I think I did great. Any feedback from you guys? Any HR or Hiring Managers' input would be appreciated. Thanks!
I don't think anyone can answer this with any bit of reality. It sounds as if it went well, but we only see your interpretatino. The hiring manager may have found it unprofessional that you talked for so long about Mustangs and car jargon. Hope it works out, good luck!
I once went to a 4-hour interview at a local engineering company where I met every single senior engineer, was told how impressive my credentials were, was shown every aspect of the manufacturing process, and was told specifically that while all the previous jobs they posted for the past 1.5 years were fake, they were "hiring now" and "really needed people." Then, they decided to hire nobody.
So, there is no way to say - an interview can seem to go great and amount to nothing these days. Just cross your fingers, hope for the best, and keep on looking.
There is simply no way of telling, especially without knowing what the company's interviewing culture is. Some companies put everything out on the table to ensure there are no surprises, as well as to see if there is any reaction. Good luck.
Sent a quick 2 week follow up email to the hiring manager yesterday and got a reply about an hour later thanking me and letting me know they should reach a final decision by the end of the week. Here's to hoping, at least I'm still in it!
Well, as of Wednesday I was told that the hiring manager wanted to go in a different direction and that I would not be offered the position. About 15 minutes after that I got an e-mail from the hiring manager directly and thanked me for my interest, but also offered to be a referral for another job that was also in Houston as well. Apparently he knows the hiring manager personally and felt like I would be a decent candidate for their job so he included the requisition and told me to let him know if I was interested. We'll see, but I've definitely never had this happen to me before. Any suggestions?
Well, as of Wednesday I was told that the hiring manager wanted to go in a different direction and that I would not be offered the position. About 15 minutes after that I got an e-mail from the hiring manager directly and thanked me for my interest, but also offered to be a referral for another job that was also in Houston as well. Apparently he knows the hiring manager personally and felt like I would be a decent candidate for their job so he included the requisition and told me to let him know if I was interested. We'll see, but I've definitely never had this happen to me before. Any suggestions?
The biggest question to me (although I doubt you'll get an answer) is if they hired *anyone* for the first position (the one for which you interviewed.) I've run into that one too many times - you go through the whole process, they seem to love you, and then - BAM! - you don't get the job, but neither does anybody else. The key thing there is to NOT blame yourself, especially if nobody got the job. In those cases, the "job" probably never really existed - the company was just window-shopping.
Anyway, getting a referral for another job, especially one in the same area as the first one, is a good sign. Hopefully, something good will come of that one - good luck!
Well, as of Wednesday I was told that the hiring manager wanted to go in a different direction and that I would not be offered the position. About 15 minutes after that I got an e-mail from the hiring manager directly and thanked me for my interest, but also offered to be a referral for another job that was also in Houston as well. Apparently he knows the hiring manager personally and felt like I would be a decent candidate for their job so he included the requisition and told me to let him know if I was interested. We'll see, but I've definitely never had this happen to me before. Any suggestions?
I should include this other opportunity was with another company.
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