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Perception is reality. I recently had an interview that I thought went extremely well. I was elated when it was over. I was later told they decided to go with a candidate whose qualifications closely matched the job description but I was great. I was so disappointed. The job was reposted. I feel insulted to be honest.
In retrospect, it probably did not go as well as I thought. I was trying to put my best foot forward but I may have come across as arrogant. " I can do this job in my sleep." It does not help being from the big city. I see it now. I think they thought I would get bored. I helped on that front. It hurts to say this but I think it is true.
I had another that I thought did not go so well but I think I turned it around. The position closely matches my background. There were two interviewers. The manager seemed completely uninterested to the point I felt uncomfortable. I said to myself I am going to fight for this. She was impressed with my knowledge about the company and I had very good questions. I got the feeling she was very unhappy with the applicant pool. I did something a little conventional to sell myself.
I was not happy after that interview. I was actually angry. I followed up and was told positive feedback was given. A final decision will be made at the end of the week. I have written it off as a no but it was a good interview.
It is good to interview because it teaches you a lot about yourself and people. It is really about getting to know each other. I do not have any regrets because I was honest. The employer wants a good employee that will fit in their culture. I want to be reasonably happy 8+ hours a day. The hunt continues. Sigh!
Before I fully plunged into the world of IT, I had an interview for a government job that I did not get, though I later (several months) got the same position at a different location for the same state government.
It was clear from the get-go that the interview was a formality. The hiring manager and the district manager were there. The district manager was on and off the mobile phone multiple times, in and out of the room, and offering short but insincere-sounding "Sorry, have to take this," comments. The hiring manager seemed to be bored and reading a few scripted questions, almost no eye contact, more interested in the district manager's phone conversations, and just generally giving a vibe that she could care less what I said. I left suspecting that I wasn't even being considered and that I had wasted my time by the body language and lack of interest displayed. Like, it was at the same time a joke to them and an annoying but necessary event in their day, they so poorly hid the nature of the "interview."
When I did get hired at the other location months later, the manager that hired me confirmed my suspicions by telling me that they had an inside hire already lined up and that state employment regulations mandated they perform a certain number of interviews of qualified candidates but that there was never any serious consideration of an outside candidate.
I'd say that if it feels like the potential employer doesn't care, especially if that vibe is coming from multiple interviewers, you can just about bank on the fact that you were never in the running. As a happy post script, I later went on to become well certified in the IT world and now make several times over what those positions pay even at the district management level. However, I still recall the sting of offense that I spent my time and gas, getting myself very presentable and rehearsing position-related data points, all for some ultimately low level job in the scheme of things and I wasn't even given the respect of feigned interest.
You never know for sure. I had what I thought was one of the worst interviews of my life and they wanted a second interview. Then I had what I thought was the best interview of my life and didn’t get a second interview and got negative feedback. Interviews are never just a formality though. They wouldn’t waste yours or their time.
This is a good list. My top gauges have always been the quick follow-up after every interview and the responsiveness - almost as if waiting for your email or call - of the HR recruiter. If you hear from HR constantly with clear, next step communication, and follow through, that’s the best indicator that you are the top candidate, IMO.
Salary and start date talk are high up as well, but I’ve been fooled by that before. Suddenly HR went ghost. Maybe an internal candidate popped up that I didn’t know about.
I wasn’t sold on the company culture that much for my previous employer, but that’s because I found out later that the culture was absolutely dysfunctional. So a warning sign for a different reason!
I hope something comes through soon for you.
I can't really complain about HR and how they handled my application. She was clear and upfront about the time tables, and she was professional and nice enough to personally call me to let me know I wasn't getting the position.
A huge complaint we often hear about is the lack of response to job applications and interviews, how the company never responds back and how unprofessional it is. Well, in my case, she did call back, and that was classy on her part. Trust me, it's never hard to give bad news to applicants, so kudos to her. Plus, she as HR doesn't have any say in whether I get hired or not, her job is to screen resumes and forward them.
I wish I had listened to my gut instinct the week after the interview when she gave me fluff about how I was one of the top candidates and the decision could take two to three weeks. Like I said, that's simply a variation on the "we are looking at other candidates as well" theme, usually the kiss of death for job applications. I even told the guy that referred me, red flags were going off and it didn't sound good, but he tried to reassure me everything was ok.
Anyways, thanks, but I am fortunate that I still have a job. My manager reaffirmed my value to the organization, and she knew that I was applying to another position.
Working in staffing, I can tell you, using feedback I've gotten from candidates and hiring managers, some signs they aren't moving forward:
- Lack of eye contact or mundane responses to thoughtful interview questions.
- Prying into weaknesses or perceived negative info on resume (gaps in employment, why a job was x amount of years, etc). A little bit of this is normal, but if that's all they're doing... they doubt you can do this job or want to find a reason to give you the axe.
- The interviewee can't succinctly explain skills.
- No connection (personally, to their BG, personality, whatever)
- Informative and short interview (no conversational flow to interview)
- Interviewer rushes through the motions
- No follow up (you'll hear back in x days, we have y amount of people we're interviewing)
- They take their time with feedback. If they want you, they'll let it be known because they don't want to lose you. Good employers will give feedback that denotes a rejection quickly, too, so it's not always a sure thing.
I can't really complain about HR and how they handled my application. She was clear and upfront about the time tables, and she was professional and nice enough to personally call me to let me know I wasn't getting the position.
A huge complaint we often hear about is the lack of response to job applications and interviews, how the company never responds back and how unprofessional it is. Well, in my case, she did call back, and that was classy on her part. Trust me, it's never hard to give bad news to applicants, so kudos to her. Plus, she as HR doesn't have any say in whether I get hired or not, her job is to screen resumes and forward them.
I wish I had listened to my gut instinct the week after the interview when she gave me fluff about how I was one of the top candidates and the decision could take two to three weeks. Like I said, that's simply a variation on the "we are looking at other candidates as well" theme, usually the kiss of death for job applications. I even told the guy that referred me, red flags were going off and it didn't sound good, but he tried to reassure me everything was ok.
Anyways, thanks, but I am fortunate that I still have a job. My manager reaffirmed my value to the organization, and she knew that I was applying to another position.
I would have been pissed if I got a call telling me I did not get the job. I always follow up and I get the e-mail. Lol!
Are there any telltale signs that they already aren't going to go with you in the interview and are just carrying it out as a formality?
Never really experienced that, but if I'm not thrilled about the situation presented in the interview, I thank them for their time and end it.
I think it's a bad idea to build a list of things to tell if the interview is failing, because that just sets you up for failure. You should be focusing on your goal to get an offer, not monitoring to see if you likely won't get the job, because that doesn't do you any good.
Spend the energy improving your situation instead of looking for ways for bookmark the failures.
There is no reason to waste time interviewing people that have no chance of getting the job. I recently had an opening, and did a promotion of an existing employee, but kept the recruitment internal. There were only 3 applicants. Now for his replacement we will open it to the public, but whether we get 30 or 100 applicants, I will only interview the 8-10 who I determine to be the best qualified from their resumes.
That's absurd, I have never interviewed more than 4 people for a position. If you can't select who to contact, stop wasting the other 4 to 6 people's time and have someone more experienced do this job. Or are you trying to make a career out of interviewing people. This is the kind of rubbish that upsets people who are unemployed or simply looking for a new job, by contacting them, getting their hopes up and you bring them in to waste their time because you don't have the skills to find and select people. This hurts the reputation of the company. My god, 8-10 people for a position is just crazy. I'd be ashamed to work at a company that did that to people. 4 has been my max, usually it is 2 people. We go by not only referrals but carefully create a job description of what we are looking for. Those poor people and this is why it drags on for months to hire one person.
Strong focus on employment gaps (if you have any). Employers are very judgemental about this.
That's pointless to bring someone in for an interview to talk about gaps, when they could see them on the resume and could have decided not to contact you at all.
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