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What do you think?
I know you guys can't really do anything more than speculate, but I'm going crazy with the wait so I thought I'd run my interview by you to see what you think.
Last Thursday I interviewed for a project assistant position at a large law firm. The position would be working only for one attorney, so he was the one who interviewed me. The attorney is actually a partner there, so he's one of the big guys at the firm.
He was obviously doing a ton of multi-tasking while interviewing me so I have no clue how it went over. He started by telling me that my resume` was one of the best he received out of a couple hundred (they interviewed 5 people including me for the position). So that was a great compliment. He then spent the next thirty minutes talking almost non-stop about the position, what he's looking for in his assistant, etc. I managed to get in a few words here and there but he was pretty set on telling me why the position was so great.
I managed to ask 2 questions about the position/company before the HR lady interrupted to usher me to HR to take their skills assessment, which I got excellent marks on (they showed me the results, it was just computer skills).
After the skills assessment the lady told me the position was hourly, about the benefits, that they were looking to make a decision asap, and that they will be calling me and then she escorted me out.
The whole process was quite a whirlwind. I really like the attorney and the office though, and I love the work that they would have me be doing (mostly research). The attorney had given me his business card, and since they told me they'd be making a decision as soon as possible I emailed him a thank you as soon as I got home (he emailed me back saying it was great meeting me).
I'm a nervous wreck though because neither the attorney nor the HR lady asked me -anything- about myself! Not about my current job, why I want to work there, why I would be a good fit, nothing. The only hint I have that something positive transpired was his compliment on my resume`.
....Any thoughts? I've never been in an interview where I wasn't asked any questions before so I'm not sure what to think about the whole thing.
Re: What do you think?
So hard to say - sometimes multi-tasking plus lack of questions means they're not at all interested.
My current job (been here about a month) asked me almost nothing about myself. I talked to five or so people, and I think I answered one question from each of them. But they liked me enough to offer the job!
GL!
74 books read in 2011
Its very odd that they wouldn't ask you questions about yourself. The pessimist in me says that given the compliments (encouragement up front is unusual- especially because they don't want to give you reason to think they need you more than you need them so later you could try to negotiate a higher salary) and the sales job he did on you for the position makes me think they've had a lot of trouble filling it and are starting to get desperate. However the hubs is a lawyer and I know how saturated the job market is with lawyers now and how scarce jobs are, so I would hope that isn't the case.
My second thought was that they were doing the required number of interviews before making a decision (some companies have that policy) and it's possible they already have a candidate and were just pushing a couple more people through the process (hence the whirlwind.) However as Snansley said, if they weren't interested he could have cut the interview short and I don't think they usually share the number of other applicants/interviews unless they're interested in hiring you.
Overall it sounds like they were very encouraging so best of luck, hope you get the job!
Some people (and businesses) are just like that. I work in a firm notorious for "hiring resumes". Our CEO likes to show people that he hires the "best" even if they aren't really. So it could be that's their culture as well. You never know.
Since it's Thanksgiving week and you just interviewed last Thursday, I'd wait until middle of next week and call the HR person to reiterate your interest and inquire as to the hiring timeline.
I wouldn't read too much into the lack of questions - not everyone runs a traditional process.
Thanks everyone, good points.
The attorney told me that he sort of pushed the firm into letting him hire an assistant, and that he wants one NOW (so I guess he's behind the need to fill the position quickly). He seemed super energetic and excited to tell me all about what he does. In fact, the HR lady had to cut in twice to get him to end the interview.
I also forgot--they're hiring just from last week's interviews. No second or third interviews. So that's another reason I was apprehensive--I had only that tiny window to sell myself and he spent the whole time trying to sell the position. Obviously I wanted it since I was there.
Marcy--I was planning on following up next week for sure. I think I was the last person they interviewed...hoping I left a good impression.
Thanks for well wishes everyone, hoping I get it too since I currently work 3rd shift; it would be awesome to switch back to days.
Not everyone know how to facilitate a good interview. It's their mistake for not asking more about you. I would always do that if conducting an interview.
In any case, based on your first post and that they aren't doing second or third interviews, it sounds like they are in pretty desperate need to fill the position so I bet you'll hear something soon.
Good luck! Keep us posted.
I had a really weird interview were the guy talked for 30 minutes straight. It wasn't a sales job but the person interviewing me was in sales so I thought it was a salesmen personality thing to talk for forever about how great the company and job was and not let me ask any questions. I didn't really know what to do and didn't get the job, which is probably good because I wouldn't have worked well with that kind of personality.
Also, when some people get nervous they can't stop talking and oddly enough some people get really nervous interviewing other people.