An HR leader breaks down nine signals that suggest you nailed a job interview: they use "you" like you're already hired, they tour the office unprompted, they adjust their schedule for you, the interview runs long, they ask if you're interviewing elsewhere, they request references, they discuss salary and start date, and they introduce you to senior leadership. A combination of these, especially the last three, strongly predicts an offer.
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You had an interview and you're not quite sure. Did it go well? You don't wanna get your hopes up, but also felt like the interviewer said and did some things that make you think that you're going to move on or maybe get rejected. Ugh. Working as an HR and recruiting leader for years, I know that there are for sure signs that it went well. They just may not be the signs you think of. So I'll walk through 9 signs that you did well in the job interview, and I've seen a combination of number 4, 8, and 9 be especially predictive. If you see many of these signs, it's probably not Grandma making one of her pies. Now, that's the smell of an offer cooking. Now, these are not foolproof. There are no guarantees in this world except for death and printer issues. But Alexandra watched these signs and then saw 7 of them happen to her and she got the offer. So there's that. The first sign that your job interview went well is that the interviewer keeps using the word you when talking about the role. Making comments like, when you're in the role, or what you'll do is, could show that they already see you in the role. Now, this is not a hard and fast rule, but generally when people phrase it this way, it indicates that they're warming up to you. The second sign is your email gets an immediate response. You should always send a thank you email to each interviewer after the interview and also send follow-up emails to hear about next steps. And I have free follow-up email templates to hear back a lot faster, which I will link below. And if especially the hiring manager responds quickly and positively, that is a signal that they want to move you to the next stage. The reason being is if they aren't sure if they're going to move on or pass with you, they may be reluctant to respond because they may not know exactly what to say without leading you on. But if they they like you, it doesn't take that much brainpower to just fire off an email that says, thanks so much for speaking, we'll be in touch soon about next steps. Pretty nice sign. Now I want to know, how recently was your interview that led you to come to this video? Was it 5 minutes ago? 2 weeks ago? I'm curious at what stage of rumination you're in. All right, the third indicator is an interviewer volunteers to give an office tour. If someone besides the recruiter or coordinator says, hey, would you like to see the office? That's an indication that they like you. I remember seeing our COO walking a candidate around the office, waning at things, and I was thinking it, and then the person next to me said, wow, they must have done well in their interview. And I've talked to other recruiters, and this can be a common sign that they hurt you. Now, this is a big indication that you did well in the job interview. It's number 4, they work around your schedule. If you have another job offer, you can let the company you're still interviewing with know that you are on a shortened timeline and they may speed up their process and work around your schedule. This is a great sign that they like you. They don't want to lose you as a candidate, and the fact that another company wants you only makes them want you more. I can't blame them. You're delightful. The fifth sign is the interview goes long. If your interviewer keeps talking with you over the given amount of time, they could have lost track of time. They could still not be sure of you and need to hear more. Both of those are possibilities. But often if they go overtime into their next meeting or lunch hour, it shows they dig your vibe and you could be their long-lost coworker who is finally going to take this soul-crushing amount of work off of their plate. And bonus indicator here, they may switch the conversation from evaluating you to selling the company, and that's a good sign. One question you all have sent me is, what does it mean if they end the interview with We still have some other candidates to interview. I would consider that neutral. That information alone doesn't make me think that it's a good or a bad sign. The 6th sign is if they ask you if you're interviewing elsewhere or in the process with other companies, but only if they ask this in later round interviews. If it's a first round interview, they are just information collecting. If it's getting kind of serious and they like you, but they also know that their interview process has a few more steps, they may get a check on your timing to make sure that they don't miss out on you as a candidate. That's a good sign. Now, if you end up having another interview after this, promise me you will go in with full confidence. And if you want the secrets to closing the deal and getting the offer, I'll link my free Unshakeable Interviews Masterclass below. The 7th sign that your interview went well and you are on your way to a job offer is if a company asks for references. It depends on the company, but many don't ask for references until they are genuinely considering you as a final round candidate. Bonus indicator is if they have you do a background check, as those cost money and most places prefer to reserve those checks to only the people who they are considering seriously. Or heck, you've already chosen, but they don't want to make an offer until they know that you don't have a history of doing online shopping during work hours. The 8th sign that you rocked your job interview is they discuss logistics. The interviewer may start discussing logistical things with you, such as your work hours, the commute, the salary, the start date. Now, they generally ask these questions in the very first call, which is not an indication of anything. But when they bring it up later in the process, that can indicate that they're looking to put a ring on it. The 9th sign that you did well in an interview and might get the offer is you meet the top dog. When I say top dog, it depends on the size of company you're interviewing with. If you're interviewing with a small or medium-sized business, it could be that you meet with the CEO or another C-level executive. If it's at a large company, you're not expecting to meet Mark Zuckerberg after a successful behavioral interview at Meta. But if you meet a high-ranking executive in the function you're interviewing for, Way to go, champ. So it often plays out like this. You're on an onsite with the company and the interviewer says something like, oh, the CEO or the VP of this department was free and I wanted to introduce you to. Great sign. Companies will sometimes schedule the executives to talk to you, but not tell you that they are on the loop. If the feedback comes back good after your first few interviews, that's a signal to let the executive know that all systems are go. They're going to talk to you. If they get a thumbs down from the interviews, that day, they're going to cancel that meeting with the CEO or the big boss, and you'll never know that any of that happened. If you are going to master your interviews, you are going to need to know how to effectively and compellingly answer the interview question, tell me about yourself. And luckily I have a free worksheet that you can download that breaks this question down into easy chunks, has an example, all of that. I will link it below. Be sure to like this video and subscribe to this channel. You've got this. Wi-Fi high five.
