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Ever since I went back to do my master's degree, I have had this dream of working for one certain employer - it does sound a bit naive given the misery in today's job market and the probability of actually being noticed by employers in general. By the end of my program this employer was advertising a role I was perfectly qualified for (in terms of skills and experience) and I thought, this is it, that's the chance I had been waiting for. I was then invited to a panel interview via Skype (due to location issues).
a few positive things -
interviewer smiled a lot, was pro-active, asked me lots of technical questions and took notes of what I said; in addition, he gave me a technical test on the spot (did not know that would happen) and I was told there and then that I had passed it. He asked me about my preferred start date and showed interest saying that I would be a good fit for certain projects (which he named specifically) - during the interview, he would point out at times that i knew the field pretty well, I was experienced and it would be easy to hit the ground running.
now, my concerns:
1) panel had 3 people, one also connected via Skype as he was away on the day - this person asked no questions during the interview but I had some interesting small talk with him before the actual interview started. The third person asked very few questions and at times I had the feeling she was not interested (or maybe they acted this way)... most of the talk was done by the big boss.
2) one or two questions I was asked were broad questions about my work and had lengthier answers - it is just next to impossible to give a 90-second answer for this type of questions no matter how hard I try. Not sure if that counts against me (I gave him all the answers he wanted though)
3) the director asked me lots of follow-up questions and started applying pressure on me - there was one single instance though when I gave him a pretty silly answer as I did not have the whole right answer with me in that moment - (answer was not wrong but silly). I was kicking myself afterwards for this one -
Anyway - I thought about what I can do about that mishap....I read some forums online, did some research, and...I composed a positive message to all my interviewers - telling them how much i enjoyed the talk and since there was an interesting issue that came up but was only able to answer half of it, I investigated further and came up with a more thorough approach to this problem - and I also highlighted the learning aspect of this issue and thanked them for touching on it during the interview - (the job role requires you to be good at fact-finding, digging; being resourceful and creative, etc)
I forwarded the email to the HR person in charge of setting up my interview and kindly asked him to pass along the note to my interviewers. I never got back a confirmation that they did so and I never asked for one -so it has been total silence ever since (4 days).
and a few questions:
1) Have I screwed up the chance of getting this amazing opportunity? (the director and I seemed to connect pretty well during the interview so when I sent out that note, I had this aspect in mind)
2) Can I assume that the HR person forwarded the note to my interviewers as requested but just did not bother to let me know that he did it?
3) Given that this recruitment process includes much more (resume, cover letter, work samples, references and interview) - is the final hiring decision made based on the entire material and not just the final interview?
Finally, some info about this role - as a norm, this employer gets about 300 applications for one single role and the majority of candidates are extremely qualified in my world - which makes it very hard to even get shortlisted. There are a few rounds of filtering (work samples and references in advance - for example) - Even though I have made it to the final stage, I am anxious that some of the things mentioned above will go against me.
I was told in the interview they would have a final decision by the end of the following week. (I know for a fact that it takes a while to make hiring decisions for this employer - I have researched that)
Thanks for taking time to read this huge post and would appreciate your comments!
No one on this forum can answer. We weren't there. We don't know what the hiring manager is looking for. We don't know the qualifications of the other candidates. Etc.
Wait and see, and keep applying to other positions.
I agree, of course. But do you think I shot myself in the foot by reaching out with the note after the interview?
no.. it's perfectly fine to reach out to clear up any "mistake" you felt you made during the interview. Most companies HR/Hiring managers are actually told not to respond if a candidate emails them as they don't want to tilt their hand (either way) on if you were a good fit or not. Now you just have to play the waiting game - sounds like you've done your research and know to expect a wait. Don't stress out and go over everything you felt went wrong. Also, just because the two other people didn't talk much doesn't mean they didn't like you. They just may have been asked to sit in for an opinion of you/your experience but the actual boss was to do the main interviewing.
I would still recommend continuing to apply for other positions as you shouldn't count on any offer until you have one in hand.
no.. it's perfectly fine to reach out to clear up any "mistake" you felt you made during the interview. Most companies HR/Hiring managers are actually told not to respond if a candidate emails them as they don't want to tilt their hand (either way) on if you were a good fit or not. Now you just have to play the waiting game - sounds like you've done your research and know to expect a wait. Don't stress out and go over everything you felt went wrong. Also, just because the two other people didn't talk much doesn't mean they didn't like you. They just may have been asked to sit in for an opinion of you/your experience but the actual boss was to do the main interviewing.
I would still recommend continuing to apply for other positions as you shouldn't count on any offer until you have one in hand.
best of luck
Thanks for this! I feel much better now after reading your message.
I so much want this job but at the same time, in these times I am so used to the "you did well but we had a better candidate so we suggest you keep an eye on any future announcements" email that it is hard to keep my hopes up.
Search continues...
this employer gets about 300 applications for one single role and the majority of candidates are extremely qualified in my world - which makes it very hard to even get shortlisted. There are a few rounds of filtering (work samples and references in advance - for example) - Even though I have made it to the final stage, I am anxious that some of the things mentioned above will go against me.
OP, do you know how many people you're up against in THIS STAGE of the process? How many people did they actually put through the panel interview. At this point, THAT is what might shed insight on your chances.
DO people ask that? I know I do? Even if you get a vague, "we've narrowed it down to a few people" -- at least you asked.
OP, do you know how many people you're up against in THIS STAGE of the process? How many people did they actually put through the panel interview. At this point, THAT is what might shed insight on your chances.
DO people ask that? I know I do? Even if you get a vague, "we've narrowed it down to a few people" -- at least you asked.
This is a valid point - while I do not know the actual number of people that made it to the final stage, even a small number is sufficient to scare one off since most of these people are extremely qualified and fierce competitors. In addition, the fact that I have not heard back from this particular employer yet speaks volumes.
I mailed the HR a few days ago asking for updates and received absolutely no response.
This means that they do not have an answer for me yet - so I can see two main reasons: 1) they are still deciding - possible, since this process seems particularly long and complex OR 2) I am not their top candidate so they have probably handed their first round of offers and now waiting for their top pick to accept before rejecting me - this scenario I hate the most - being a "maybe candidate" - I am fed up, I had it once before and what is even more unfortunate is that at this stage there is not much I can do to switch from the "maybe" to "top" candidate. I would rather be downright rejected than made to wait for weeks before being told that "I was not successful on this occasion".
I think of mailing the HR again to ask for an update - do you think it is a good idea or should I just drop it?
If you've already mailed HR and received no response I would not email them again.
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