We all know how nerve-wracking a job interview can be. It can be so important for the interviewee, and yet can seem so off-hand to the interviewer (who has to do ten of them today.) You’ll go home after the interview and replay every little moment and secondary hesitation and twitcn in your head. You’ll exaggerate the wins and ignore the losses, or vice-versa. It’s not supposed to be easy. But here are eight nearly sure-fire signs that you can look for during a job interview that let you know that you’re making the right moves.
1.) They start bragging about the perks– If your interviewer gets to a point where they’re selling you on the job by describing all the perks and how pleasant or fun it is working at the company, he’s probably at the point where he or she is picturing you as an active part of the company. The interviewer wouldn’t be describing how wonderful the workplace is just to rub your nose in a job he knew you weren’t going to get.
2.) Listen to the semantics– It’s not quite a Freudian slip, but we’ll call it that for these purposes. If an interviewer begins to refer to your potential job duties as “whens” and not “ifs,” it again means he or she is past the point of determining if you’re a worthy candidate and is already picturing you as part of the daily office culture. Example: “If you end up joining us, this area would be where you sit” vs. “when you’re here, your desk will be right on that corner, very near the water fountain, etc.”
3.) It turns into a real conversation– If your conversation achieves real human liftoff, that’s a remarkable sign. In other words, if you’re grinding through questions about your qualifications and your old jobs, there may come a point when one of you makes an in-the-moment enthusiastic observation and the other gets caught up in real spontaneous conversation. This is a real sign that the the interviewer has shed his or her necessary remove and is dealing with you as a potential new employee and even friend.
4.) Meeting lots of team members– It’s also a great sign if your interviewer is constantly finding his or herself compelled to pull in passing employees to meet you. They’re more likely to tell their co-worker, “Hey, this is Linda, she may be coming on board and would be working directly with you!” than “Hey, this is Linda, there’s no way we’re gonna hire her!” If the interviewer has a sense about you, they’re liable to start unofficially onboarding you as soon as they can.
Study: An Inside Look at Job Interviews
5.) Specifics of job responsibilities– It’s not always a sure sign you’ve gonna get the job, but if you interviewer stats getting in-depth on the duties you would be responsible for once you started the job, it’s a good chance he’s prepping you for more serious consideration. Interviewers are busy people, and most certainly don’t want to waste anyone’s time if they feel you’re not company material.
6.) The interview runs long– If you notice the interview is going longer than usual, that’s another good sign. It means they’re genuinely interested in you, probably are starting to like you a bit, and certainly are considering you for the job. You don’t need to try to extend the interview, it’ll be entirely the interviewer’s move to let things go long.
7.) “We’ll be in touch with you soon”– That’s what you want to hear, rather than the dreaded “you’ll be hearing from us.” They will be in touch either way if they’re a decent company, but “we’ll be in touch with you soon” means you may have struck a spark during the interview and the company is interested in examining your chemistry further.
8.) Salary questions–If they get initial salary questions out of the way during the first interview, then chances are you’re already being seriously considered. So have a number in mind, so they know you’ve come prepared as well.
9.) Follow-up emails are replied to quickly– Send a quick thank you e-mail to anyone you sat with for the interview. If the response comes back quickly, that means you’ve made an impression and you’re on their mind. If the response takes a few days to come back, or doesn’t come back at all, that may mean you’ve gotta keep on with the job search.
