I just had a pretty confusing job interview on Friday. I’d like to say it went well, and my instincts are telling me that I’ve got this nailed, but in the end I’m left scratching my head. The woman who interviewed me honestly has me very confused as to the company’s intentions.
It is for an entry-level position, and basically the interview consisted of the manager informing me about the position, phrasing things as if I already had the job. “I am interested in you because…” and “you would be doing this…” etc. That’s not abnormal on its own.
She didn’t ask me any other questions aside from “why are you interested in this position?” To which I think I gave a very good answer. Then she continued to tell me about the salary, benefits, etc. Then she asked how long I would need, to which I replied with the normal two weeks to give notice.
She said she had to go, as she had a prior obligation. The entire interview lasted about 10 minutes. She said, off the cuff, that she has made 9 or so hires in the last month and that the company was expanding rapidly. Then she said, and I quote “and if you talk to your supervisor and they say ‘that’s a great opportunity, you should go take that right away!’ that would be great!” implying the sooner I can start, the better.
But was that her way of telling me that I have the job as soon as I can get it? I’m so confused. It felt that she basically was like “I need to hire a lot of people, I like you, so come over here as soon as you can.” But she never really made it clear.
She left me with her card and told me to email her with questions, because she understood this was a rushed interview. She then said she “just needed to chat with the VP about this.” But I’m so confused! Should I wait for an official offer? Will I even get one? Is she assuming I’m all on board with her? WTF?
I just emailed her with some questions and I hope she gets back to me with something concrete. I wish I could have just asked “so do I have a job?”
An essential interview question is: “When will I know if my application has been successful?”.
I think you should write an email thanking her for the interview, stating that you will be only too pleased to answer any further questions that may arise, and enquiring when the applicants will be informed of the success or otherwise of their application.
My only concern with a question like that is I’m somewhat frightened she’ll think “didn’t this chick GET that I just offered her a position?” It’s really THAT unclear. I did send out an email already that thanked her and asked for some more information on the position and how it may change with the company expansion. What might be a good follow up email after that? As in “in addition to what I just sent you…” ?
My concern is if they are that needy, you don’t really want the position. Maybe they are expanding rapidly, but maybe people are getting frustrated and departing at a rapid enough pace that she has to keep hiring people.
I could be over-reacting. And if I were you, I might jump at the position even as my nerves were screaming “no, don’t take it”–but I have no intention of explaining why–or telling you why you really don’t want to be just like me.
Still, it strikes me that she’s a little too enthusiastic about you working there, given the information that you provided.
And that’s why you posted this thread, right? To get a variety of points of view?
Absolutely Eureka, I want some different points of view.
I can see where one might proceed cautiously, but I’m at the point where I’ve worked in a job not remotely connected to a career that interests me for a year and a half, and this position would be the first salaried job I’ve had in a career that uses my degree. I’m willing to put up with something not so perfect as long as it’s furthering my career (and it’s a significant pay increase).
I’m frustrated enough in my current job, I’d love to give my two weeks asap!
I’ll second (or third) the follow-up thank-you fax. I have no doubts that it is what boosted me into the position I am in now, which I got on a Monday, the interview having been on the previous Friday and left off with the non-committal “have others to interview, will contact you in about a week, etc.” Aside from being a good way to offer thanks for her time and lay down a few post-interview platitudes and self-promotional bits, it’s a good way to get certain questions out of the way, and in this case if you’re not sure that you’ve got the position or not, a great way to confirm either that your application is being considered or has already been accepted by ending off with something like “I look forward to hearing from you regarding my potential employment at your earliest convenience.” Such phrasing will make clear to her that you are still under the impression that your employment status is up in the air and give her the chance to clear it up, if indeed any clearing up is necessary.
However, since she said she had to follow up with the VP, the application is still not finalized. Even if she hadn’t said that, and offer does not mean finalization of teh application- sometimes HR has paperwork etc to work through, so it would not seem like a daft question.
It does look a bit odd if you’ve already sent an E-Mail and now find you want to send another. My advice would be either A) Think of a question or two that you forgot to ask her, or an interview point or two you would like clarified or confirmed, and then end off with something like my above suggestion, or B) Send it by fax, addressed to her, with the comment that you are sending it by fax in case she didn’t get the E-Mail. The latter is a bit contrived and runs the risk of her not reading it because she already got the E-Mail, though, so it’s more of a last resort. The former has the advantage of either showing your interest in making sure everything is as explained and/or tacitly implying that you’re looking to get something in writing which, as has been said, is not uncommon.
Based on my years of HR experience, and a few years of crappy part-time jobs experience while in school, I am getting very bad vibes about this. For your sake, I hope I’m wrong. Is this job perhaps of of the “Hiring College Grads for Marketing/PR” variety? Because those are generally not something you’d want to quit a real job for. People with any real hiring experience learn pretty quickly that leaving it ambiguous whether someone has been hired is one of the worst mistakes you can make from a management/HR perspective. When it’s ambiguous, it is often because there is a revolving door of commission only/ “independent contractor” type folks being “employed,” but not in a way that really creates any obligation to the company.
So ask yourself some tough questions. Feel free to post more about the job, how you found out about it, etc. if you have any doubts. Definitely get an offer in writing (very standard for a true salaried job) before quitting your current job, no matter how dismal.
I always go by the rule of not assuming that I have an offer until I see it in writing with all the details, even if it’s an entry-level job. And certainly I wouldn’t quit a job until I have such a job offer in hand, my written acceptance sent off, and an agreed-upon start date with the new employer … no matter how much I hate my current job! Elysium, until you see an offer in writing, you don’t have an offer. So you can be proactive to press for a decision (following some advice already posted), or you can sit back and see if a real offer materializes.
I have certainly done my share of the interview circuit over the years and I have had some interviews that go just like that and I did not get the position. I think that some interviewers use the “You will be doing ____ and working with ______” phrasing with everyone or at least everyone that looks a little promising. I have even had some of them walk me around and introduce me to my new “coworkers”. Some of these interviewers were set up by headhunters and it is a little disconcerting to have an interview like that and then talk to the headhunter an hour later and find out that they didn’t think you are a good fit at all.
It can be a positive thing too of course but you cannot assume that.
My impressions are colored by something similar that happened to me. The woman who interviewed me even went so far as to submit my paperwork to her Human Resources department and quote my new starting salary.
Except that there was no offer, no job, and no starting salary to be had. The woman was a complete blowhard fuckwit, and everybody at her company knew it. She was trying to inflate her own importance, acting like she could create any open position she wanted and hire anybody to fill it whom she wanted, when in fact she had no authority to do much of anything. A few months after stringing me along, she got fired.
When you get an offer letter in writing, you have an offer–not before.