Signs That Your Job Interview Went Well

Signs That Your Job Interview Went Well

 Deep down, you think the job position wouldn’t fit anyone better. Your interview went well and you are surely getting the job. But what makes you think so? Already confused? There is something special about job interviews, it kicks in anxiety before and even after you appear for one. You know you are probably not going to get a reply for days and when you think about it each day you get a different answer. You keep on introspecting upon every word that you used and how you could have framed a better answer. Let’s take a deep breath. There might be some signs which will help you figure out if your interview went well. Now, don’t get too excited! There are just signs and there are no sure shot ways to get into an interviewer’s head. So, the topic is- Signs That Your Job Interview Went Well.

There might be signs like noticing the small changes in the usage of words. These signs may be so subtle at times that you will have to notice the interviewer’s body language. Sometimes the interviewer will make it obvious that they consider you to be a good fit. But you must also know that each interview differs from the other. If you don’t notice these signs, then it doesn’t mean that your interview was a complete mess. 

Now, we can look at the signs which might indicate that your interview went so that next time your mind starts playing games with you, you can calm it down.

Signs Your Interview Went Well:

  • Interview Time: While your interview was scheduled only for a particular period, it went on for a considerably longer time. This might mean that your interviewer was particularly interested in your answers and enjoyed interacting with you. You might want to think like a recruiter here. Why would someone waste time on a person they did not think was a good fit? They might be considering your potential and if they are eager to know more, you might score yourself a second interview too!
  • Body Language: The people who read minds in reality, study the body language to figure out what is going on in the mind of the other person. There are a few things which you might observe. The recruiter will seem engaged about what you are trying to say. You can try to notice if the interviewer is leaning forward to hear you speak. You might spot them smiling too. And if it is a video interview you can see the interviewer making frequent eye contact with you. You might spot them nodding their heads to whatever you have been saying. 
  • Validation: The interviewer at times might show that they like what they hear. They might respond to your answers by saying “that is exactly what we wanted”, such lines show that there is a very high probability that you are a strong contender and you might be hired. 
  • Organic Conversation: The interview should feel more like a conversation and less like a questionnaire that is to be answered. You will find the interviewer having a friendly conversation with you. This shows that the interviewer feels comfortable being around you. It can show that the interviewer has no doubts about your skills required for the position and is looking forward to knowing you. However, some companies like to keep their interviews super professional keeping in mind their company policies. So, this might happen in certain interviews and might not happen in others. 
  • Follow-up Questions: Interviewers who are interested in hiring will ask deeper questions concerning your answers to test your potential. Even if it seems a bit intimidating, remember the interviewer would only invest time in you if they see the potential in you. 
  • Experience and Availability: The interviewer might keep asking you about your strengths and the prior experience which you have had. This shows that the interviewer is examining how well your potential will work for the job position that you are being considered for. They might also ask about your plan and schedules as they want to make sure that you are not considering any other job. 
  • Introduction: When an interviewer finds you to be someone who perfectly meets their job requirements, they might end up introducing you to the people you will be working with and your boss too. This shows that you have successfully impressed them and they want to get the approval of other people who have a say in this as soon as possible. An interviewer is not obligated to introduce every candidate who has applied for the job. This is a very strong sign that you might be hired for the position. Also, recall if the interviewer mentioned that he would love to introduce you to the other team members very soon. 
  • Two-way Interaction: While the interviewer has to decide whether you are a good fit for the job or not, you will also have to judge if the position suits you. While the interview is taking place if your interviewer tries to sell you the job then there is a strong chance that they continue to consider you fit for the role. While doing so your interviewer might have started talking about the additional perks and the attractive package the company offers you. Their aim here is to excite you about the role just as much as they are excited about hiring you. 
  • Timeline: An interview is a part of the whole hiring process and usually the first step after your application has been screened. If your recruiter spared some time to let you know about the little details of the next steps which are to be followed, including the training and the orientation then maybe, he already considers you to be the suitable candidate for the role. 
  • Other Roles: When the recruiter thinks that you can contribute to the company, then they can also start considering you for the other open roles. Thus, they will put forward questions like what other job positions you might consider joining. This question is also an indication that they are just curious about what other companies you might have appeared in an interview for. 
  • Felt Included: Some recruiters who are a little too excitable by nature start painting a picture and include you in their team. Such referrals might come along these lines in the form of “when you join this team” or “if you join this team”.
  • Office Tour: Sometimes an interviewer might go out of their way to make you feel included. If the interviewer takes time to show you around the office, it means that they are investing time in you. The aim here is to prepare you for the role so that fitting into the office would become easier. 
  • Notification Time: Usually, the recruiter gives the strongest candidate a time frame in which they will be contacted. This will give you an idea that you are more suitable than the other candidates. It is done to mentally prepare the candidate for the job. 
  • Quick Responses: People these days usually send a thank you note after they appear in an interview to give them a chance to be a part of the company. This mail is personalized and talks about how much you learned about the company from the interview and what were your opinions about the same. Did you send such a mail? If you got a reply real-quick then you can make a safe assumption. You are one of the candidates who has made an impression. The email might have a mention that they will get in touch with you soon or it might also include the next steps of the whole hiring process for the position. 

Post Checklist:

If you have checked up on the signs and you have found that these signs have shown up in your job interview, then you might do a few things to add up to your chances. Feeling confident? Let’s get started. 

  • Celebrate – Unexpected? Well, you deserve to take a moment off and soak in the glory that your interview has gone well. 
  • If you have not drafted a thank you mail yet, this is the right time to do so. Most of the interviewers get help from these emails. 
  • While the memory is fresh, it is better to jot down some important points. Some skills or experiences you discussed in the interview made you a strong candidate. As the process moves forward, you might want to refer them. Hence, these things need to be noted down, as they might come in handy in the future. 
  • Carry confidence but not over-confidence. While most of the signs indicate that you might be recruited, there is every possibility that last-moment decisions will be taken, and then you might not get a confirmation. So, patiently wait for this confirmation. And like they say, it is better to be surprised than to be disappointed. 

Signs that Interview Didn’t Go Well:

You are not sure how the interview went well. You did not find any positive signs which have been discussed above. And now, you don’t have a good feeling about it. Then here are some signs which might mean your interviewer feels that you do not meet the job requirements. You might need to keep job hunting and prepare yourself better for the interviews. 

  • Lack of Attention: Your interviewer did not seem ready to hear what you have to say. They might be busy staring at their phone while you keep talking or look here and there. You can notice that they have stopped attending and displaying a sense of disinterestedness. Sometimes they might also miss out on a point you said. When you see them doing so you can note that they are disengaged. 
  • No Mention of Next Steps: After the interviewer was done with their questions, they did not mention anything about what can be expected in the future. They did not provide any information as to the time frame within which you will be hearing back from them or did not discuss the next steps of the hiring process with you. This means that the interviewer did not want to engage themselves in giving a piece of information that won’t be relevant.
  • Hearing from You: As we are already aware an interview is a two-way process. You might have some queries regarding the job position for which you are appearing an interview. What if the interviewer doesn’t allow you to shoot your queries at them? Then it is a sign that they have made a decision and do not want to waste their time. If at all you were given this opportunity but you got some vague answers then this opportunity was given to you only for formality’s sake. 
  • Interview Ended Early: If an interview runs for a long time it is always a good sign. This means that the interviewer is open to the idea of hiring you. They want to discover how you would add value to the company by working in that job position. So, if they are not eager to talk to you and give you time it might be considered a bad sign. However, this is not a decider sign. It might be the case that the interviewer had already made up their mind about you and saw no point in discussing everything over and over. 

What Next?

Now the signs you just went through, again and again, indicate that the interview did not work out for you. Yeah, that is sad. But this is no reason to coop yourself in a corner and keep thinking about it. You don’t have to beat yourself even. And who knows, your interview might have gone better than what your mind wants you to believe in. 

Either way, you have to pave your way to move forward and think over how you can derive something from this experience.

  • Grieve: Yes, you might have wanted the job badly and must have worked hard for the interview but things did not pan out the way you would have wanted it to. You can have few moments to yourself to feel disappointed. 
  • Draft a thank you note if you haven’t done it. Regardless, of what the result might be, you must always be grateful for the experience which you got out of the interview. It displays your professional etiquette. 
  • Good or bad, you would always want to introspect what went right and what went wrong about the interview. When some of the answers in the interview did not work out well for you, you can note them down to figure out how to present those answers in a better way next time. 

Always remember these signs never confirm anything. No one can provide you with any foolproof signs that you will get a job or not. A great interview doesn’t automatically land you a job. Many other factors like the performance of the other candidates on which you have no control also play a major role in deciding whether you will be selected for the next step of the hiring phase. It is always advisable to keep hunting for jobs as long as you haven’t received an official confirmation. There is always a scope of learning, doesn’t matter if your interview went well or it did not. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. Can you get a job even if your interview went badly?

Performing well in the interview was under your control. Once the interview has gone bad it all depends on your luck. At times, the interviewer might look past the ways you have messed the interview up and offer you the job. However, this depends on the performance of the other candidates who were being considered for this position. 

  1. How can you tell if you have landed the job?

The interviewer might ask some questions about the other interviews which you have lined up for yourself. The interviewer might ask about your salary expectations and how much you were being paid in your previous job. However, do not get your hopes up just because the interviewer showed some positive signs and was open to hiring you. Wait until the interviewer lets you know expressly that you have been hired for the job. 

  1. Can you apologize for a bad interview?

It is a professional requirement that after an interview you send a thank you mail to the recruiter. If your interview was not up to the mark then you might use this opportunity to apologize to the recruiter. You might apologize for your poor performance or some bad behavior and might recover. However, this has a flip side too. This might also remind them about your below-average performance and ruin all your chances. 

  1. How long do you have to wait to know if you got the job?

After you appear for an interview, there might be some other rounds in the whole hiring process. An average time estimate of the whole process from the interview till the date you are given an offer letter can be about two to four weeks.

Signs That Your Job Interview Went Well

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