How to Gauge Your Success in an Interview

Bit of an odd question, but I'm sure it's relatable to an extent. At the end of an interview, I'll have an idea if I did well, but obviously it's impossible to know the interviewer's view.

As I'm sure everyone does, I always ask about what to expect as far as timelines and the process moving forward. For those who have interviewed, what is your response to this question for a yes/no/maybe candidate?

(Definitely overthinking, but I've gotten all sorts: "expect to hear back at X", "rolling basis", "for those that are chosen...", "keep us updated on your process...")

4 Comments
 

Stop overthinking this. The only way to know is if you get a call back. There are so many factors that you don't control and are outside the interview process that it's impossible to know. Just focus on delivering your best at every interview.

 

Agree with guy above. You can sometimes get an idea if the interviewers want to move forward to the next round, maybe they’d say something like “so the next step should be …, and _ should reach out in the next few days or weeks” or something.
 

Regardless, just do your best in every conversation, and study a lot for your interviews every day

 
Most Helpful

This is a perfectly natural line of thinking, but what you have to realize is that it doesn't profit you much.

People have their own vagaries and preferences, and your ability to gauge success in an interview doesn't make you any likelier to actually get a job. 

Sure, by gauging success you can identify cases where you may have put someone off with an answer or not convinced someone, but that should just be basic body language. Most interviewers are going to have a poker face to some extent, so it's not worth reading the tea leaves and worrying over it. Just go after the next one and stay positive.

 

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