Dear Work Coach,
I just found your blog and absolutely love it! You have a lot of great information and advice on your site. I have a question for you I am sure you get all of the time but I’m at a loss on what to do at this point.
I had an interview last Tuesday (18th) that I thought went really well. It lasted an hour and a half (someone had to knock on the hiring manager’s door to stop the interview for her next appointment). I really like the hiring manager and she seemed to like me. She said she was down to 5 candidates that she wanted to have interviewed by the end of last week. She said she has been doing this a long time and I am definitely on the top of her list. The only concern she had was that I might be overqualified for the position but she wasn’t sure. She mentioned that could be to her advantage as I would be able to help her execute some strategic programs she wants to implement. She said she wanted to have me come back next week (which is this week) for 30 – 45 minutes to get a feel for the position, kind of a “day in the life of” this management position. She also said that the next step after that would to bring the top 2 candidates back for an interview with her team.
I followed up with an email thank you letter the next day, reiterating my enthusiasm for the position and why I think it would be challenging given the region and the change in industry.
I never heard back from her, no response to my emails. Late Monday afternoon I left her a message on her voice mail. I wasn’t pushy, just said that I wanted to follow-up with her to discuss setting up a time to come back (like we discussed). That was 2 days ago and I still haven’t heard anything. It seems really odd to me. Do you have any thoughts or advice?
Thanks,
Anne
***
Hi Anne!
Thanks for the kind words. And even though I get lots of question about interviews, each one has its own interesting twist. Like yours.
It really does sound like you have done everything well. Great interview. Good follow up. Able to field the “too qualified” comment with a good comeback. Although I wish I had a way of figuring out what they are thinking, truth is…it could be lots of things. Maybe she or someone else critical to the process is sick. Maybe an emergency came up. Maybe they haven’t been able to finish the five interviews yet. Maybe they found someone they made an offer to despite what was said – if a perfect fit walked in the door after she met with you, it just could have changed their plans. Maybe they just can’t get past all your experience despite how well you handled your answer – niggling doubts sometimes grow when fed by the input of others. But maybe it is as simple as they just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
It’s only been a week and time feels very different on the employer end. (It’s like dog years!) I like that you are an action person looking to help yourself, but at this point you really have done all you can and now it’s time to just wait. I know it’s hard – and I’m sorry about that. Do what you can to keep busy with other things. If it’s the right job, you will get it. If not, then you might very well have lucked out for reasons you will never know!
I wish you much luck, Anne. Please let us know what happens.
Ronnie Ann
Related Work Coach Cafe posts
Stuck in the Waiting Game After 2nd Interview
I recently had a job interview, first with a automated machine, then a staffing associate, and finally a one on one with the Store Manager interview. He seemed to like me, but the position they brought me in for he wanted a higher position on the floor for me. He said he liked me and all that I had spoken t him about my knowledge in Sales and Customer Service. He said he would call me in one to two weeks it has been 1 wek and 4 days, this Monday it will be 2 weeks. Can I call to follow-up or should I just wait for his call?
Thank You Kindly
Hi Anna,
Why don’t you contact him on Monday since the 2 weeks will be over? Tell him your name, the job you interviewed for, when you interviewed, and who interviewed you. Then, say that he told you that he’d call in one or two weeks to let you know about the job, so you are calling to find out the status and the next steps.
Don’t be surprised if he’s not ready to offer you a job yet. It almost always takes more time than anyone expects to make a decision about hiring someone and then to do it. And, most of the time, the reason it takes so long has nothing to do with the applicants – some other thing has slowed down the process.
Good luck!
Susan
Thank you Susan, I did as you advised, your thought was very helpful.
Anna
Thanks, Anna. I will pass on your appreciation to Susan.
Dear Work Coach
I recently had an interview. i thought it went horrible they were rude, makeing jokes at my expense, and we spent the entire interview going over my job history. Which is related to the job, but i was unempolyed alot from ’06 to ’08. Which they pointed out I should not have, since the econmy was not in a down turn during that time. I was unable to defend my self at all, because when i started to talk they would cut me off and stated, answer yes or no. I recored the whole thing on my tablet,. so i could play it later. My girlfriend listen to it and sayed ” in all her years of professional interview taking, she had never heard of any interviewer act like that”. Now the job i would be doing, would be to help people who are about to lose there home, and i was thinking maybe there were acting like that to see if i could handle my self in a pressure cooker situation. I’m in the waiting game now, and i was just asking for your opinon on the interview? Should i be looking for a call back, or don’t hold my breath?
Thomas,
If you felt that the company was rude to you the bigger question at stake here is this: Is this a company that you would want to work for? It sounds to me like you did not walk away with an impression that you would want your interviewers to be your colleagues in the future. If that is the case, this may not be the right job for you whether or not they offer you the position. You may want to keep looking for the right job.
Good luck,
Chandlee
As an aside: Most people do not enjoy being recorded — and you should never record an interview without someone else’s permission to do so. I recommend not recording future interviews on tablets.
Hi, I was recently invertviewed for a manager’s position. My first two interviews were with Marketing Managers and the third was with a Senior VP. After a week I emailed the recruiter to follow up on the status of my interview and she replied that they will continue interviews for another week and will make a decision after the interviews are over. Does this mean I was not selected? Why are they continuing with the interviews? Also I am not sure I answered a question correctly but I was honest. In the interview I was asked what was my biggest challenge in my present role. I answered: My biggest challenge is coaching but I enjoy it. It is a big satisfaction for me to know that even though coaching is a challenge I can be able to help my team members reach their goals. Was that the incorrect answer?
Hi Maria,
Most companies have a process they must follow in order to hire. This process doesn’t stop because they interview a candidate they like: if they have a short list of three candidates for a final position, they will interview all three candidates and not make their decision until the end.
The company you are interviewing with likely has a similar process.
As for your answer, it sounds like you were honest — and that’s a good thing. But make sure that you are honest in a way that also promotes your ability to work well with others. If you are relatively new to supervision, here’s a way to answer the question: “While I have supervised employees in the past and enjoy helping my team achieve goals, I have had little formal training in coaching employees. If hired for this position, I would love to have a mentor inside the company who can help me strengthen my coaching skills…I’d also be happy to participate in any training that may be available.”
You may want to use this approach in the future, but again — it sounds like you didn’t complete miss the boat in your interview, either.
Good luck,
Chandlee