7 Signs Your Interview Went Well

Alison,

These are all great indicators that job seekers should be looking to get a better sense of whether or not their interview went well. To compliment your blog post on “Seven Signs Your Interview Went Well”, I thought I would share “Seven Helpful Tips on How to Successfully Interview” from the Beyond.com Network.

1. Conduct research - There is no substitute for hard work and research. Conduct research on companies of interest before applying and come to an interview well-prepared.

2. Practice interviewing - Prepare for an interview by running through commonly asked interviewed questions, as well your figuring out what your response would be for more difficult questions. Understand that interviewing is a skill; as with all skills, preparation and practice enhance the quality of that skill.

3. Dress professionally – It is important to dress professionally during an interview to demonstrate to employers that you are serious about the job opportunity.

4. Make a positive first impression – Arrive early and remember to start the interview off strong to give the employer a compelling reason to hire you over other applicants. Be confident and talk slowly.

5. Go beyond the canned response - Rather than merely telling the interviewer what you would do in a future work situation, describe in detail how you have handled a situation in the past. Demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and abilities by giving specific examples from past work experiences.

6. Ask questions – Express your interest and willingness to learn more about the company by asking questions and listening to details about the organization and the open position.

7. Follow up with the interviewer – Demonstrate to the employer that you have good manners by promptly following up with a thank-you letter to show your appreciation and to further reiterate your interest in the position.

Rich Milgram of PA 8:59AM August 13, 2008

This read does provide some interesting insight. I agree most of these tips are a good sign that the interviewer at the very least likes you. However, as a practical matter, this is only helpful to a job seeker if he/she is deciding between this job and another offer. All job seekers will be better served by spending their time focusing on preparing their answers for interview questions, sending out thank you letters and continuing their job search with other prospective employers. This is far more productive than trying to read the tea leaves. Plus, some people may read the reverse of this into their interviews. For example, if they do not see these signs in their interview, they may erroneously think they are out of the running and fail to follow through on something as simple as a thank you letter. For this reason, I would recommend job seekers focus on the things they actual have control and follow through with the employer until you get a "no".

Best,

Mark McCormick

http://www.interviewquestionsandanswers.org

Mark McCormick of TX 11:29PM August 11, 2008

Anonymous: There are two reasons that people usually advise that you treat all candidates consistently, ask the same questions, etc.: (1) It ensures that you don't throw softballs to one and hardballs to another, thus allowing you to evaluate each on a reasonably objective foundation of information, and (2) It's one of many things that can help protect you from discrimination claims.

However, there's nothing inherently discriminatory, unfair, or risky about deciding that one candidate is strong enough to be moved to the next stage (office tour, for instance) and one isn't. It's perfectly fine to funnel weaker candidates to the end of the process faster and funnel stronger ones to additional steps (whether that's meeting with additional people, asking them additional questions, touring the office, or whatever it may be).

But I agree that if you have internal candidates, you have other factors to consider!

Alison Green of DC 8:50PM August 11, 2008

Great thoughts and reassurance re: interviews and the process. One question I have re #6 - as a former interviewer I thought whatever was done for one candidate had to be done done for all candidates to avoid any concern from someone that didnt get an offer. We may have been going overboard with caution, but if one person got a tour they all got a tour. Could this ever be an issue? Note: We sometimes interviewed internal candidates from the same department so we knew they might compare notes.

anonymous of TN 3:09PM August 11, 2008