# What are my chances of getting a job offer?



## Doll (Sep 6, 2012)

Okay, so. I posted earlier about an upcoming job interview. I followed up on the same thread to say that the interview went EXTREMELY well (and I don't say that often; I'm extremely hard on myself and always feel insecure about any little thing I do that might alter their perception of my capability either as an employee or just as being a generally likeable person). Still, there are a lot of good signs I picked up on:

- the interview lasted over an hour
- one of the interviewers started saying "you" and forgot to use "the person we're going to choose for this job"
- he talked about how his daughter was also in a sorority
- they talked almost more than I did about the department and who worked there and what they did, ect
- they told me I had a lot of experience in the areas they were looking for
- they told me my bad quality would be good in that position, lol
- they were very engaged in the interview and took a LONG time answering my questions, not cutting them short as if they wanted me to get out of there. 

...and then... AND THEN... the very next day, they called my reference. He told me that they did ask if he's my direct supervisor (he's not, but he works with my every day and works more closely with me than my direct supervisor - "direct supervisor" is something that's more on paper, not indicative of how familiar they are with your work or work ethic. The reference I put down actually submits documentation to my reporting supervisor so that she knows how quickly I complete my job assignments... so he's a lot more aware of my work ethic.). 

I didn't want to sound pushy about what my reference said. All he told me was that they really seemed to like me and thought I appeared "extremely intelligent" and that he backed up that statement by saying "she is". He gave me a strong impression that the reference he gave was positive. 

That was on Tuesday.

My second reference hasn't been contacted. I've been working for the state for 3 years, so it is possible that they wouldn't go back far enough or that one reference would be enough (my mom works for the state and is one of the Chiefs; she knows it's common practice to only call one reference if the time spent at that job exceeds or at least reaches the 3 year mark). 

Since all that I've heard nothing.

The state is exceedingly slow. Even after the interviewers recommend a candidate, it has to be seen and approved by at least 10 other people before they can officially recommend me for the position - so I'm looking at anywhere between 1-3 weeks before I hear anything at all. It depends on who is actually in the office and available. 

My questions are, (these are for everyone, but I'm really interested in State Employees). Do you check the references of all candidates you interivew? Do you only check references of your top candidate, and then recommend them if their references are positive?

I don't want to get ahead of myself and feel too positive about this opportunity. I'm looking for someone to be both encouraging and to possibly bring me down to earth so I can try to stay neutral until I get a job offer - which could take FOREVER considering how many departments/people have to approve a new hire before they can make it official. Ugh. 

So, ANY employer out there who has conducted interviews, at one point do you check references and do you do it only to your top pick, to everyone you interview, or between 1-3 of your strongest candidates?

(Another worthwhile mention is that when I was setting up the interview I only had one date to choose from and two or three times. I don't know if this means someone else snagged times or days before I did or if they had plans on just interviewing two other people other than me...)

The weirdest part is that they called my reference the VERY NEXT DAY. 

Thank you to anyone who got through this and could give me some feedback, even if it's, "you might not have the job so just calm down."


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## Jennywocky (Aug 7, 2009)

I'm not an employer, I have just experienced interviews from your vantage point.

But my experience getting hired by federal government was that I had to apply via their web site. I applied for a number of positions for a period of about six months, then gave up for a little bit because it was a little depressing and I needed to regroup for a bit... and got an unexpected call about six weeks later. (Government is notorious for having said hiring processes drag out, having departments argue over who gets allocated what new slots/openings, what exactly they want for the position; and then the applications all have to be screened thoroughly; and then they proceed through the application list.)

They set up a phone interview the next week, which went extremely well. I'm skeptical by nature, and yet I came away from that call thinking, "OMG, I think I have this position!" I usually never feel that strongly about an interview. 

That afternoon, I got a request to fill out a few more forms, and mail them. All very very good, to have them contact me so quickly for additional information.

Then I heard nothing at all for about four weeks, whereupon I got a call with an offer and I had a short period of time to accept.

They were basically doing paperwork, security clearance checks, reference calls, etc. The basic security clearance I was getting demanded they go back five years in both occupation and residences, as well as three references -- I don't have any actual idea about who they contacted in reality. I did get a fingerprint check, after I accepted.

I'm sorry you mostly just have to suck this one up and go by the standard operating procedure -- be positive, but don't sit around waiting for a particular position, keep looking and building up a network of contacts. My impression from your interview description is that things did go very well; if an interviewer hates you, you don't get nearly that amount of willingness to get personal and also spend more than an entire hour with you, they wouldn't waste the time on someone they quickly had written off. They have other work to do and other people they want to interview, if they are not interested.

It's very possible things are just dragging due to the bureacracy. As you know, it's how the system works. But there are no promises. I would just stay positive and excited, while continuing to look around.... steady as she goes, girl!


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## frenchie (Jul 7, 2011)

Did you write a handwritten thank you card?

After my interview, I asked my (now current) manager for his business card. I got home and made my girl friend write a thank you card for the interview. Her handwriting is a lot cleaner than mine. 

I mailed it off to him on Thursday. On Monday, I got a phone call from him offering me the job. I heard later that there were two people who had far more experience than I did, but I was the only one who wrote a thank you card. 

Go to Target and get a box of thank you cards!

Edit: Most hiring managers only check references if you've made it past the initial HR filter. They like you, but seriously write a thank you note!!!


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## 2eng (Mar 5, 2012)

@_Doll_ I read most of your post and didn't see what position this was you were interviewing for, but I just may have missed it. I'm going to approach this from two ways, one from an interviewee standpoint and one from an interviewer standpoint. 

When I was in a position of being interviewed there were several key indications to me that the person conducting the interview liked what I had to say. Many times when I was offered the position I was being interviewed for when the interview went from job related topics in the beginning, to family and almost just straight conversation very quickly. Below is a list of things I would say are good signs that things went well:

1. General conversation
2. Using words like when you are here or when you... (Which you stated they threw out there)
3. Usually the more questions they ask you (work related or not) the more likely they like you and feel you'd be a good fit
4. Usually if they ask what you think or how does that sound, it's a good sign
5. Generally whatever you walk out with as an impression of how it went is fairly accurate, at least in my experience.

Now from an interviewer standpoint Ill go over some of the things that indicate whether I think someone is a good fit or not. Also I should say that many of these things follow the above points for the interviewee.

1. Length of interview. If I realize I'm not interested in a candidate (which can and generally does happen very quickly) I will make the interview short.
2. If I don't try to just make normal conversation, I'm usually not interested. When I'm making conversation on random topics I'm trying to gauge if they would be a good fit in my department. 
3. I will generally be direct (if you know how to read me) in my closing words to the person. If I am interested I will generally say something like this... It was nice meeting you, and I'm sure we will be in contact again. If I'm not interested I will usually end with things like this. It was nice meeting you, we will be in contact with you one way or another. I know the difference there is subtle, but to me it makes all the difference. I would listen for things like this when I was interviewed as well to try to gauge how it went. Many time just the placement or the way something is said will give you an indication of how they are thinking.

These are just some of the things I've noticed and I do, obviously it's not this cut and dry and it can be very difficult to know what is going to happen. I can tell you though, I would make no effort to contact references if I was not interested, it would be a waste of my time. They may not have contacted you back yet for several reasons, maybe they have more interviews to conduct, or they are just simply busy. 

Sorry for being so long winded here, just trying to give a good idea of what I've experienced.


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## jbking (Jun 4, 2010)

Congratulations on the interview going so well. Have some patience and stick to looking at other jobs as that may provide a bit of a distraction as you may still have some more interviewing to do as there could be salary negotiations and other stuff if they do want to move forward with you. Thus, don't go too overboard yet.



Doll said:


> My questions are, (these are for everyone, but I'm really interested in State Employees). Do you check the references of all candidates you interivew? Do you only check references of your top candidate, and then recommend them if their references are positive?
> 
> I don't want to get ahead of myself and feel too positive about this opportunity. I'm looking for someone to be both encouraging and to possibly bring me down to earth so I can try to stay neutral until I get a job offer - which could take FOREVER considering how many departments/people have to approve a new hire before they can make it official. Ugh.
> 
> So, ANY employer out there who has conducted interviews, at one point do you check references and do you do it only to your top pick, to everyone you interview, or between 1-3 of your strongest candidates?


I haven't checked references though I've never been a manager. However, my experience is that if you rank high enough they may check 1 or 2 references just to confirm a few tidbits and get an alternative opinion of you. The rank high enough is that you pass the, "If this was the only person being interviewed, would you hire this person?" test while at the same time if there are a handful of people being interviewed this could be done for just the top 1 or 2 people I'd think as there can be a bit of a time sink to do this for each person.


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## searcheagle (Sep 4, 2011)

There are 2 components to if you get the job: If you did well and how everyone else did. And you can only control the first part and it sounds like you did a great job.

But when a large organization is hiring, there are many hoops that you have to go through. Let's say they want to hire you for the rest of this post:

1. There may have to interview a certain number of qualified applicants before offering you the position.
2. There may be many long approval queues to go through. (HR, legal, supervisors, etc)
3. There may be background/security checks to process.
4. There may be funding hiccups. You may be interviewed for one job working within one department but the funding gets cut/reduced/on hold. State government may have hiring freezes pop up. And they can't hire you until those issues get resolved. (That was the reason for my delay between interview and getting the job.) If you wow them in your interview, this issue is usually temporary since they get you when the funding opens up and plug you in some place else. 

Good Luck!


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

frenchie said:


> Did you write a handwritten thank you card?


Depending on the industry, do not do something like this. Government might be different, but I know working in IT, a handwritten thank you note is usually looked at like, "WTF is this?" I remember at a past job where I was part of the interviewing process (mainly to see if the person was bluffing), I remember some applicants sending handwritten thank you cards and the reaction literally was, "WTF is this?" I typically ask for a business card and then send a thank you email for the interview and make sure it's brief but reflects on the interview and why I am still excited about the job prospects and what they have to offer. I just know a handwritten note looks insanely old fashioned and as time goes on, it can look bad as it shows you may be behind the times.


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## Ramysa (Mar 22, 2012)

When we were interviewing ppl and we had many fit for the job, we were just calling them for a second interview . We only checked those that we were really interested in. But the decision takes a while. U seam to be on a good road. Good luck!


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## frenchie (Jul 7, 2011)

PowerShell said:


> Depending on the industry, do not do something like this. Government might be different, but I know working in IT, a handwritten thank you note is usually looked at like, "WTF is this?" I remember at a past job where I was part of the interviewing process (mainly to see if the person was bluffing), I remember some applicants sending handwritten thank you cards and the reaction literally was, "WTF is this?" I typically ask for a business card and then send a thank you email for the interview and make sure it's brief but reflects on the interview and why I am still excited about the job prospects and what they have to offer. I just know a handwritten note looks insanely old fashioned and as time goes on, it can look bad as it shows you may be behind the times.


 Hate to say it, but I also work in IT. From the hiring managers I know it seems to be a good trick to get in the door. To each his own, but I'll do whatever it takes to stand out especially when a position has fifty + people applying for it you really do need to seperate yourself out. Edit: More like follow up notes but here's a good article about them from the infamous Ask a Manager blog. money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/06/27/how-a-thank-you-note-can-boost-your-job-chances


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## Falling Leaves (Aug 18, 2011)

Generally, if an interview went badly enough that they aren't considering you, a potential employer isn't going to waste time getting a reference he doesn't need. However, you are correct to think that it isn't indicative of you being the only consideration - sometimes, character references can be the difference between two very level applicants. Sometimes. 

On the other hand, it sounds like a very cumbersome process to vet someone through all of those people just to offer them a job. I think it's possible the ref. thing was done to hint to you, yes, we are thinking of giving you this job, please put considering it on the back burner. I don't think it's common practice for a potential employer to make contacting the reference known, or at the very least to be so blatant about it. 

Overall, if someone has the idea of a job being a sure thing in their head, they will transfer some degree of ownership to that new position (even though, technically, it still isn't theirs). I'm talking theoretical psyche bull here, but -generally speaking - this can push people into not rejecting as they feel an inherent sense of loss in doing so. Therefore, as well as getting an applicant they are pleased with, it doesn't mean all of that red tape has gone to waste. 

I wouldn't count your chickens quite yet, but it sounds like a good thing.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

frenchie said:


> Hate to say it, but I also work in IT. From the hiring managers I know it seems to be a good trick to get in the door. To each his own, but I'll do whatever it takes to stand out especially when a position has fifty + people applying for it you really do need to seperate yourself out.


I guess it really depends on the employer. I just know from past experience, this was the case. Another huge thing is to show up in a suit. I have been told I was the only guy who actually showed up in a suit and that really made me stand out compared to other applicants (and ultimately helped me get hired to find out this information). I think too many IT people get the impression that jobs are like what you can wear at Google once you are hired. Basically they think you can show up in a t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops. For me, if I were interviewing anywhere, including good, I would wear a suit.


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## frenchie (Jul 7, 2011)

PowerShell said:


> I guess it really depends on the employer. I just know from past experience, this was the case. Another huge thing is to show up in a suit. I have been told I was the only guy who actually showed up in a suit and that really made me stand out compared to other applicants (and ultimately helped me get hired to find out this information). I think too many IT people get the impression that jobs are like what you can wear at Google once you are hired. Basically they think you can show up in a t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops. For me, if I were interviewing anywhere, including good, I would wear a suit.


Seriously?? I'd never show up to an interview with a suit and tie. Always suit up for a job interview!


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

frenchie said:


> Seriously?? I'd never show up to an interview with a suit and tie. Always suit up for a job interview!


I guess a lot of people didn't get the memo. For people who did I guess that's a good thing as it sets them a leg up on the competition.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

What do I look like, a Magic 8-Ball?


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## Doll (Sep 6, 2012)

Thanks for all your help, guys. DD I am the top choice candidate for this job and for another I interviewed for, I'm just waiting for their personnel departments to finalize the process. If both jobs get fully approved, I might have two offers.


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## jbking (Jun 4, 2010)

Doll said:


> I am the top choice candidate for this job and for another I interviewed for, I'm just waiting for their personnel departments to finalize the process. If both jobs get fully approved, I might have two offers.


Nice, glad to hear things are moving forward for you. Next up, dealing with competing offers.


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