Ok so here’s the deal. I have had a couple of experiences in the last 7 years where I thought I had aced the interview, but it turned out that the employer’s feedback was totally negative.
I think I nailed my interview this morning, but how do I know that for sure? I do know that I was asked to provide references and that they “would get back to” me “in a week”. Do consider that this was a senior consultant position for R&D tax incentive/credit programs and I have had experience in that at my current employer (which is a plus in my opinion and I did pitch on this as my “best foot forward”).
Hey bud – congratulations on a good interview… and inshaAllah you’ll get the job too.
It’s always a useful exercise to reflect on how the interview went - but it should be done in a productive way. There is no use stewing about what has already happened… perhaps just may be to think about ways to improve in future.
In terms of knowing or not knowing how it went… I don’t know if there’s a hard and fast rule to “really know!” – besides, post-interview anxiety can be tremendous and often you can’t really say what to expect.
In my case, over the past few years, I’ve almost always known when the interview went my way and on one occasion when it didn’t. You just get a positive vibe and if you’ve established a good rapport with your interviewer, then you often get a hint or two about their inclination towards you – or lack thereof.
Another thing that has often worked for me is the post interview follow-up thank you note… you’ll be surprised but only 30% of candidates ever take the initiative to get the contact information of the interviewer and send them a thank you note the next day. It’s not just proper post-interview protocol… but it also keeps your name at the forefront of the interviewer's mind and also conveys your professionalism and courtesy. Besides, you can also re-emphasize your interest in the position.
If you get a reply back to your thank you note, you can get a better sense of what the interview thinks about you. In most of my interviews, the reply from the interviewer reinforces my own upshot.
I know I might have gone on a tangent w.r.t. your original question – arrggh!
it can be dodgy, i thought I had aced the concept of when i was getting an offer and when i was not. and for the most part it has been true. Including my current role. However when I joined this company in a previous role, i walked out of the interview beat up and really thought I would not make it and was kinda bummed. I was surprised to get the offer and even more surprised that the interviewers thought I was the right candidate.
On the other hand I went to an interview thinking I nailed it and got a no thanks letter later. happened twice in my career. othertimes i knew if i was going to go to the next step or not.
^ Now that's something I relate to ... glad to see others have had similar experience (from the point of view that I am not alone and that mistakes in judgement do happen in such scenarios even for seasoned veterans).
Well I got it :) but I am waiting on the other company since I am more interested in it due to the location (other factors being same, if not similar, including the position)... so far I am kind of stalling by saying "I am reviewing the contact". But I should get back to them by Friday.
All Praise be for The One God, the True Source of All Power, the Unbiased Provider of Endless Opportunities!
Update: Did not get an offer from the other one (at least not the kind I was expecting) ... Therefore, Company A is with which I go :)
So you see; both interviews I thought I nailed; both were for the exact same position at similar companies; and both times the interviewers had good instantaneous responses/mannerisms. I guess there may never be a definite answer to my question as correctly put by X2.
and bud - you may well have nailed your interview but I guess there’s also no way of knowing whether the company had another prospect who they might have preferred for some reason.
Yes very correctly put bro! We do not know who else is in the game :) Hence the tough call.
Many thanks for the encouragement Umar. It is a very interesting career move for me. Let's hope I have made the right choice but I guess I may not know until 2-3 years down the line.
Congratulations, I hope things work out for you. Let me tell you the perspective from the other side of the desk, as I have been on the interview/hiring side a few times:
Just after the "perfect" candidate left, another, even better candidate shows up.
If there are multiple people who are interviewing you, rest assured they will have their own favorites.
The company decides to delay the hiring process after the interview.
Interviewers were just being courteous to you and you got the feeling as if you have nailed it. (happens very often).
You get a "highly recommended" (read: sifarshi) candidate out of nowhere. Sometimes the interviewers have to yield.