15 Signs You Will Get The Job After A Interview
Looking for signs you will get the job after an interview can almost drive you crazy. Although, if you’ve recently applied for a job, you’re no doubt seeking early indications of how well it went. Of course, it’s almost impossible to guess the outcome until you receive an official job offer or rejection letter from the employer. However, there are often telltale signs which can hint at a job offer coming your way. This article looks at hints employers may drop that indicate your success.
However, it would be wrong of us to fill our readers with false hope. So while employers often offer clues to indicate their interest in hiring you, we will also highlight possible signs which mean they may not.
As challenging as it may seem, it’s advisable to keep an open mind when reflecting on your past interview performance. It’s all too easy to obsess over minute details, which will only cause you unnecessary stress. Instead, consider your overall performance throughout the entire hiring process.
15 Positive Signs You Got The Job
The fact that the company invited you to meet with them means you already made a good impression. There’s an old saying in recruitment that the job is yours to lose once you reach the interview room. To gauge whether the outcome might be positive or negative, see if you noticed any of the following signs you will get the job after the interview:
- The seniority of the panel
- Relaxed, positive body language
- Signs of certainty
- Compliments on your skills and experience
- Positive language
- A discussion about salary expectations
- Invitation to share your opinions
- A change of mood
- Length of the interview
- A conversation about your availability
- They mention benefits
- They discuss the next steps
- Invitations to connect on LinkedIn
- A tour of the office
- Being introduced to the team
1 — The Seniority of the Interview Panel
The level of seniority of the people interviewing you can indicate your chances of being hired. For example, let’s say this is your first invitation to meet your potential employer. You walk into the interview room and meet the hiring manager, a member of HR and the CEO. This might indicate that the company is serious about making a hiring decision quickly.
However, just because the CEO is present, there are no guarantees they will offer you the job. The following four points may help you gauge your chances of success throughout the meeting.
Likewise, not meeting with someone senior doesn’t mean you haven’t got the job. In all honesty, CEOs rarely involve themselves in job interviews unless the role you’re applying for direct reports to them.
If you’ve already spoken to the hiring manager, they may not feel the need to have a second conversation with you. In this case, meeting a member of HR and a random team member can also be a great sign.
Large corporations often want to compare notes from existing employees at different levels to prove no discrimination occurs during their recruitment process. Therefore, HR may just have a few boxes they need to tick before the company can make you a job offer.
2 — Relaxed, Positive Body Language
When you meet someone you don’t quite gel with, you may find it hard to relax around them. So if the panel’s body language seems relaxed and positive, it’s a sign things are going well.
On the other hand, some hiring managers like to maintain a poker face in fairness to all applicants. In this case, they may not relax until they are in a position to make you an offer.
3 — Signs of Certainty
The language hiring managers use throughout your meeting may indicate possibilities or certainties. For example, if the panel uses phrases like ‘if we invite you to join our team…’ they may be unsure about offering you the position. On the other hand, using words like ‘the team you will be working with…’ indicate more certainty.
Again, companies will often keep their cards close to their chest until they are confident they can make you an offer.
4 — Compliments on Your Skills and Experience
Sometimes interviewers will tell you directly that you have the skills and experience they are looking for throughout your meeting. If they don’t, there’s no harm in asking them.
You should always attend job interviews with your own list of questions to ask at the end of an interview. Asking questions about how your skills and experience align with their idea of the perfect candidate will give you an idea of how likely you are to get the job.
5 — Positive language
The interviewer will most likely have a copy of your CV to hand, or at very least will have read it before meeting you. As they review your work history, pay attention to the language they use. Saying they were pleased to see something on your CV or remarking that something within your work history impressed them are good signs.
However, be wary of the word interested; its use can be ambiguous. For example, ‘that seems like an interesting career move. Could you tell me more about that?’. If you encounter an interesting question prepare to put a positive spin on your answer.
6 — A Discussion About Salary Expectations
Conversations surrounding salary expectations can be a red herring. Unfortunately, most companies ask this question to find out if you realise what you’re worth. This is often because the department has a limited budget. Although they might also ask questions around salary if they think you’re currently operating at a higher level than this job requires.
7 — Invitation to Share Your Opinions
Being asked to share your opinion about the company or any change of direction it intends to take is a good sign. Asking questions like this allows them to assess your suitability for the role and overcome any objections you have.
Interviewers won’t usually waste time asking questions along these lines if you’re not in the running for consideration. However, the answers you give could swing their decision either way.
8 — A Change of Mood
A sudden change of mood during your meeting can be a good thing or a bad thing. Usually, a sudden lightening of the atmosphere is a sign that the interview is going well. Conversely, the conversation turning sour and body language stiffening are indicators that the discussion is not going quite so well.
9 — Length of The Interview
The length of the interview can also be another red herring. If you’re expecting to be in the room for an hour, but the interview gets cut short, don’t write off your chances. Particularly if all other signs seem positive.
We have known interviewers to cut their meeting short by forty minutes but still make a job offer to the candidate. So if you’re expecting the session to last an hour, but it’s over after 30 minutes, it may still have been a good interview. It could just be that you’ve already ticked all their boxes, and the interviewer is short on time.
Equally, spending longer in the interview room than stated in your invitation is not always positive. Maybe the employer thinks you’re fantastic and doesn’t want to let you go. On the other hand, you might be waffling, and they’re struggling to pick out relevant information from your answers.
10 — A Conversation About Your Availability
If a hiring manager discusses a potential start date, try not to get too excited until they offer you the position. Many companies ask every candidate the same questions in the interest of fairness and to avoid discrimination.
11 — They Mention Benefits
Discussing benefits is another point that often gives job applicants false hope. Interviewers won’t usually bother to waste their time selling you the job if they have no intention of offering it to you. On the other hand, their company policy might give all applicants the same information to avoid discrimination.
12 — They Discuss the Next Steps
If your interviewers don’t mention the next steps, you should definitely ask. Most companies won’t make you an offer on the spot, but they should at least tell you when you can expect to hear from them.
Knowing what the next steps are, allows you to manage your expectations and also highlights when might be a good time to ask for interview feedback.
13 — Invitations to Connect on LinkedIn
If an interviewer invites you to connect on LinkedIn, there’s a fair chance they want to offer you a position within their business. If you don’t tick all their boxes, it’s unlikely they would do this.
An invitation to connect on LinkedIn is the modern-day equivalent of exchanging business cards. A hiring manager won’t usually offer up their direct contact details unless they want to have further communication with you.
14 — A Tour of the Office
Since the start of the pandemic, office tours have been a challenge. Many interviews are done remotely by video call. That said, if they like you, the hiring manager may walk you around the building with their mobile phone.
15 — Being Introduced to the Team
An introduction to the team you will be working with does not guarantee a job offer. That said, it is one of the top signs you will get the job after an interview.
Try not to get too excited by an invitation to meet the team. It could be that you’ve made it to their final selection. That said, how well you get on with your potential co-workers could be the final tie-breaker and, therefore, no guarantee of an offer. Even if you’re not up against any other competition at this stage, an employer may want to see if you are a good culture fit for the existing team.
A Few Final Thoughts on Signs You Will Get The Job After Interview
No matter how well you feel your interview went, try not to obsess over it. If you have other interviews in the pipeline, you should still go, even if you think this one went well. If you haven’t got any other job applications going on, find other things to take your mind off your interview. Go to the gym, out with friends, or have a marathon movie session to occupy your mind. Don’t drive yourself crazy looking for signs you will get the job after the interview.
If you don’t hear from the company within a couple of days, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Particularly if they say they will contact you within a given time frame. Lack of post-interview communication is not always a bad sign. It could simply mean that the decision-makers haven’t had a chance to have that all-important conversation.
You can never bank on receiving a job offer until the contract is in your hand. By the same token, you should never hand your notice in before this point. Moreover, a company should never contact your references before contracts are signed. To do so might put you in a position where you find yourself out of a job and would be unethical on their part.
If you found this article useful, please feel free to share it on social media, where others can learn to read the signs you will get the job after an interview.
