Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was talking to a friend about this once. She was saying that she feels that things are going well when her job interview goes on for a pretty long time (30-60 minutes) and takes it as a bad sign when it's only a few minutes because to her, it means they already decided pretty quickly that they don't want you.
I never really thought about it before because all of the interviews I ever had whether in person or on the phone up to that point were only 10-15 minutes long and I got the job every time so I didn't associate brevity with them not being interested.
In your experience, which has been a better sign for you or have you never really noticed a difference in the outcome compared to the length of your interview? What other signs have been bad/good during an interview to you that you ended up being right about?
Long interviews for sure. Especially interviews that end with specific next steps, and/or when the interviewer is trying to actively "sell the company and/or position" to you.
Interviews that end with no specifics are a bad sign.
The interviews that I have had that were over 45 mins initially always either led to a 2nd interview or an offer. I have only had 2 short job interviews and one of them was one I cut short.
If we are not interested in you we will cut it short to avoid wasting anymore time than necessary. If it goes long because we want it to go long, that is a good sign. If it goes long because you can't shut up and answer a simple question without a lengthy preamble and a side road, that is a bad sign as well.
I think it also depends on the interviewer's attitudes, too. My current boss is a very no-nonsense type of dude, so my interview with him wasn't super long. I didn't feel offended by it since I perceived that he was the type of dude that didn't want to drag these things out. He asked a couple of questions, told me a couple of things, and he escorted me out. LOL! I've had an interview that lasted an hour with the hiring manager, two hours "interviewing" by sitting with a member of his team for an hour each.... and I didn't get that one. However, that hiring manager seemed like he liked to drag out his interviews for whatever reason.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,551 posts, read 81,085,957 times
Reputation: 57744
You cannot make a general assumption.
I do a lot of interviews and we have a set time limit, most of the time with one applicant after another. In some cases the person may ramble on saying nothing, and there may be long periods of silence while they are trying to make
up something. If a person is well prepared and can answer immediately
with good detail, they will get through the interview 10-15 minutes before
the time is up. If we schedule for an hour, we expect to be done in 50 minutes,
based on the questions and the answers we hope for.
This is the answer. Length is no indication of whether an interview was successful (unless it lasted for 5 minutes!).
More importantly is how you felt after the interview. You know whether there's "chemistry" there, or whether the questions were easy or made you feel uncomfortable. In other words, if you felt that you liked the manager and the manager liked you, and questions and answers flowed freely, then you had a good interview. A long interview or a good interview doesn't mean you got anything because there is always someone else who could have had precisely what they were looking for.
Furthermore, as someone who has interviewed candidates for an open position, I don't beat around the bush. I ask the questions that are relevant to the position I'm hiring for. I don't ask the "Where do you see yourself in 5 years? BS. Quite frankly I don't care because I'm hiring you into a position with opportunity and you work your way to the next level. I don't know where I'm going to be in 5 years so it's not fair for me to require you to answer!
This is the answer. Length is no indication of whether an interview was successful (unless it lasted for 5 minutes!).
More importantly is how you felt after the interview. You know whether there's "chemistry" there, or whether the questions were easy or made you feel uncomfortable. In other words, if you felt that you liked the manager and the manager liked you, and questions and answers flowed freely, then you had a good interview. A long interview or a good interview doesn't mean you got anything because there is always someone else who could have had precisely what they were looking for.
Furthermore, as someone who has interviewed candidates for an open position, I don't beat around the bush. I ask the questions that are relevant to the position I'm hiring for. I don't ask the "Where do you see yourself in 5 years? BS. Quite frankly I don't care because I'm hiring you into a position with opportunity and you work your way to the next level. I don't know where I'm going to be in 5 years so it's not fair for me to require you to answer!
I had an interview a couple of months ago for a job at a local TV station. I wanted that job very, VERY badly. When I went to the interview, the director of the department and I made an almost instantaneous connection and conversed on several topics that we shared a mutual interest. We talked in depth about the job and what it entailed, which made me want the job even more. I was there for an hour and a half. I left the interview practically walking on air with the most positive feeling I've ever felt. It went to the top spot on my list of Best Interviews Ever. Unfortunately, I did not get the job. It wasn't until after three weeks and four emails later to the director that I finally received a reply from her telling me I wasn't chosen. That rejection hit me real hard. It was right then that I discovered what a huge mistake it is to think you'll get a job offer based solely on how well the interview goes or how long it lasts.
This is the answer. Length is no indication of whether an interview was successful (unless it lasted for 5 minutes!).
More importantly is how you felt after the interview. You know whether there's "chemistry" there, or whether the questions were easy or made you feel uncomfortable. In other words, if you felt that you liked the manager and the manager liked you, and questions and answers flowed freely, then you had a good interview. A long interview or a good interview doesn't mean you got anything because there is always someone else who could have had precisely what they were looking for.
Furthermore, as someone who has interviewed candidates for an open position, I don't beat around the bush. I ask the questions that are relevant to the position I'm hiring for. I don't ask the "Where do you see yourself in 5 years? BS. Quite frankly I don't care because I'm hiring you into a position with opportunity and you work your way to the next level. I don't know where I'm going to be in 5 years so it's not fair for me to require you to answer!
This. There's no real magical length of time that determines whether or not an interview was successful or not. In my case, I usually could tell if an interview went well. For my present job, the attorneys spoke with me at length for over an hour. At that point, it was general discussion about a variety of topics. The initial "interview" type questions ended about a half hour in. I always found it a good sign when you and the interviewer talk freely because it demonstrated good chemistry. Chemistry is very important, even more than qualifications. I was right because I've been working with them now for almost six years and I found out that the chemistry between us is what "did it" for them. This doesn't always happen (i.e. the post above mine).
Having sat on both sides of the interview fence....
By and large, I've found that when the interview runs longer, if I'm getting laughs and smiles from the interviewers, it's a good sign.
If the interview is plodding along and gets cut short, generally no.
Something in my particular case I've noticed--I worked one summer at the Renaissance Festival in my state, and I put that on my resume, not because it has anything to do with my 'real line of work', but to provide some 'filler' (I'd been downsized from my real job shortly before) for the resume. I've noticed it seems to be a 'gauge point' in my interviews--if I get asked about worked at the faire, I always get offered the job. If I don't get asked, then I don't get offered. So now I leave that experience in there for 'good luck' (and a few interviewers told me it's rather eye-catching and helps make me stand out from all the other candidates they get resumes from.)
Exception: I once got an offer from strictly a phone interview. Turned out the hiring manager was an old Army buddy of mind who saw my resume, called me, confirmed it was me, and said, "You're qualified, and I know you're good people. It's yours." Basically, in less than 30 seconds, I had an offer, and we spent another 45 minutes catching up on people we knew in common. (Sadly, the money offered wasn't enough and I had to turn it down.)
As the interviewer:
I had two candidates with long interviews. The first one went long because the candidate tended to keep 'spiraling' away from the question (we never got a direct answer to anything put to him) and would take forever to answer a question--the only reason why the interview went long.
Candidate number two, the interview went long, because the candidate's answers were relevant, detailed, and often provided a natural springboard to other questions we planned to ask. He got the job (and is in the cubicble next to me right now as we speak.)
Indigo Cardinal
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
