Have you ever asked your end-of-job-interview questions, received answers, and then walked out wondering, “How do I tell if my interview went well? Did I make a good impression?”

Well, you’re not alone. Even when candidates have all the skills and experience employers want, they still tend to wonder if their interviews went well.

Do This When Scheduling the Interview

When the employer reaches out to schedule your interview, ask, “How long should I expect to be there?” It’s a reasonable question. You need to know how to plan your schedule.

Do This Immediately After the Interview

After the interview, check your watch, or phone, or clock — whichever.

The Best Signs That the Interview Went Well

The first debriefing question most recruiters ask their candidates is, “How long were you there?” That usually tells them everything they need to know.

If you were there less time than they indicated when scheduling you, it might not have gone so well. The bigger the gap between the expected and actual times, the less likely it is that the interviewers thought you were a good fit.

On the other hand, if you were there longer than anticipated, that’s a big positive sign. You might be invited to join the team!

Other good news:

If they added people to your schedule while you were there, that’s a good sign. If they invited you back, that’s also good. If you got to the airport and found you’d been upgraded to first-class, start studying how to negotiate your job offer.

Follow Up After the Interview

Be sure to follow up with an appropriate thank you email or letter, and if you don’t hear anything, make well-timed outreach to the recruiter and hiring manager.

Beyond that, even you have a handful of great signs, you can’t fully predict their hiring process, so stay focused on your job search with these tips.

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Updated December 2019

© 2013 – 2019, Donna Svei. All rights reserved.