Are these good interview signs?

hmk40

Hi, I know there is no tell tale sign of if your going to receive an offer but below is some feedback from my 5 hr. interview with a company two weeks ago. I had a chance to meet with 9 people across the organization.
-during the interview with the hiring manager(vp of sales) he advised me on what topics to touch on with the remaining interviewers. "He said he only does this for people he likes" could be just a line though.
-Before I left the building, the HR manger emailed me to set up another interview with mgr. via Skype who was out of the building.
-A couple days later-I emailed the hiring manager for a timeline on a decision. He thoroughly explained the process, notified that there was 2 more people that still needed to be interviewed, and then said however he was impressed with our conversation and that my prospects look good for the job. He then asked if I had anything in the works. He also asked the during our interview conversation.

I know I'm over analyzing things and the job of interviewer is to make your feel good and comfortable but I felt that there was really good feedback form it. However there is still 2 more people to interview so that could change.

A little background, I'm currently unemployed. I lost my job unexpectedly in July due to downsizing. I have received good feedback in previous interviews(not quite to this extent) in the past without getting an offer. Of course I'm still continuing to apply and interview at other places because you never know.

I will say I consider myself to be fortunate that I'm getting interviews but I just need one to go I my favor. :T

thanks for listening to my rant

El_Torro

From what you say it sounds like you made a good impression, especially with the hiring manager. I would be relatively optimistic.

There are no guarantees though. They well may think you're great, if they think one of the other two that they haven't interviewed yet is more suitable they won't think twice about sending you a generic rejection letter and then never giving you a second thought.

Best of luck though, fingers crossed!

InsideInsurance

The setting up of a follow up meeting is the good sign

The rest may be positive but could also be neutral. EG the hiring manager giving you tips to deal with the other interviewers could just be a sign that he finds this process excessive/ a ball ache and wants pretty much the final say on who he hires for his team.

hmk40

Yeah, it's been a very drawn out process. He actually posted this position in July, did phone interviews in September, and wants to have a decision made by the first week of December.

I know there was at-least 3 people who were brought in to meet the team. I have to admit, I was exhausted after I did that 5 hour interview.

InsideInsurance

hmk40 wrote: »

Yeah, it's been a very drawn out process. He actually posted this position in July, did phone interviews in September, and wants to have a decision made by the first week of December.

I know there was at-least 3 people who were brought in to meet the team. I have to admit, I was exhausted after I did that 5 hour interview.

I did have 10 rounds of interview with one company once, was warned by the head of regulatory risk when he interviewed me that it had taken 15 rounds for him to get the job.

Interview 4 was with one of prospective team mates in the USA. Interview 7 was with the same person and they asked me no questions, the interview was less than 5 minutes and she said she had no idea why she was being asked to call again as she'd already recommended that I be taken on and she'd had no concerns so "hope to see you on the team soon".

After the 10th interview I got an offer elsewhere so said that they have to judge me on what they've seen so far otherwise I'll accept the job elsewhere. Their response was to ask for an 11th interview with the hiring manager who'd already interviewed me 3 times in the process.

Whilst a lot of interviews it only went over 3 weeks or so and so not as painful a timeline as yours

JobSearchBible

Wow, this sounds like a very drawn out process indeed!! Personally, I would say that the fact that the process has taken so long should be a warning sign that the organisation isn't very well organised in it's recruitment processes. This could also be an indication that the organisation overall just isn't run very professionally.

However, you could view this as a positive as it means there are clearly ways the organisation can improve, and you can take on those challenges! Gives you something to get your teeth into!

Whatever happens, best of luck!

hmk40

When I did the phone interview back in September, I was told by the hiring manager it would take some time. Technically this position doesn't have a direct report at the moment, but the Hiring manger is the VP of sales.

I think with his schedule and wanting everyone to be part of the interview process, that really stretched the process out. Keep in mind, the in person interviews were 5 hours long with 9 or 10 people. Now they have to find a time to meet and discuss.

I was really surprised that they sent me an email to set up an interview with another manager even before I left for the day. Especially since everything else took so long. That being said, they still had 2 more people to interview. The last person interviewed this past Thursday with a expected decision by the 1st week of December when I actually interviewed October 31st. So a month in between the others and the decision.

hmk40

Well, I was asked to take a assessment on excel. In my last position; I worked through it on a daily basis, but unfortunately I didn't do well on it. It wasn't graded or at-least it didn't show my a score, but I was able to see if it was correct or incorrect.

In my interview, we went deep into excel and data analysis capabilities but I know assessments can be given with some companies. If its a deciding factor in the process, then it might not look good.