Remember those days in high school and university when you would walk out of an exam and immediately flip through your textbook to determine if you gave the right answers to those questions?
As part of human nature, we always over analyze our performance in nerve-racking situations to ensure that we put our best foot forward. Job searching is no different.
Immediately after leaving a job interview, your first thoughts are most likely “How did I do?”, “Will they call me back?”, “Did I give the right answers?”.
In some cases you may be sure that you completely flunked the interview, and in other cases you will have a more positive outlook – however, most of the time you just dont know.
A key indicator on how well your interview went is the time that you spent in the interview. Though you cannot use these rules to determine the success of every single interview accurately, it will still give you an idea in most scenarios.
We recently polled professionals on LinkedIn to find out how long they thought a good first interview should last. We’ve used the feedback and results to provide you with the following guidelines. 38 percent of professionals voted that a good first interview should last 45 minutes.
We agree! If your first interview lasted about 45 minutes, that is generally a good sign that the employer was interested in bringing you on board. If your interview was longer or shorter, keep reading.
We don’t like to start on such a negative note, but if your interview lasted 15 minutes or less – it was probably a bad interview. They may have realized when you arrived for the interview that you did not meet the minimum qualifications for the role, and therefore they were not interested in wasting their time.
Or, you may not have appeared as a good fit for their corporate culture based on your professional attire. First impressions are key, and something in yours told them that you weren’t the right person for the job.
If your interview was 30 minutes long, then it was just long enough. Hiring managers will generally schedule about 30 minutes to interview a candidate for most position levels. If you lasted the full 30 minutes, you know that you answered the questions well.
However, from the amount of time alone, we cannot determine whether or not you will be called back for a second interview. It is up to you to review your answers to each question to judge whether or not you wow’d the interviewer.
45 is the golden number in the world of job interviews. Along with 38 per cent of the professionals we polled on LinkedIn, we agree that a good first interview should last about 45 minutes long.
This means that you went slightly over the allotted time that the hiring manager had put aside, and that’s okay because you were answering the questions so well that they wanted to hear more.
A 1 hour interview is a good sign for most career levels. Executive level professionals will find themselves in 1 hour interviews more often than all other levels of employees, due to the fact that the hiring manager will conduct a more in-depth interview for higher level candidates.
If during this 1 hour interview you were asked to meet with a secondary person, or complete some type of on-site proficiency testing, then you know that the hiring manager is seriously considering you for the role (or at least a second interview).
These timelines and rules will definitely change on a per-interview basis. There are other factors that will affect the length of the interview such as the level of position, the company’s hiring practices, and the hiring manager’s schedule for the day.
At the end of it all, if you are confident in the answers you provided and feel that you left a great impression on the hiring manager, then you will likely receive a callback for the role.
Me Solving Top Coding Interview Questions – Arrays (10 Solved in 45 minutes!)
The First 5 minutes The 1 on 1 interview usually will be around 30–45 minutes and I believe it is the right amount of time to get to know the candidate. First 5 mins, it is my introduction to the candidate. I want to make sure the candidate feels welcomed and invited to the conversation. So, I talk first. I will explain what the position is for, what the needs are. And most importantly I want to talk about the team and the company. I want to let the candidate know what he/she is getting into, culture fit, style … etc.
Throughout the year, I have been interviewing many candidates. Positions are pretty varied: internships, product managers, product designers and directors. Most of the conversations were interesting and delightful, but some are not so compelling. Usually, I have a set of questions that I like to stick with. This is not exactly a guideline for interview, but maybe you will learn something from it.
Last 5 minutes I always like to leave the last part of the interview for Q&A. I want to give the candidate an opportunity to ask questions about the team and the company. At the end of the day, we pick the right candidate, but it is also the candidate picking the right opportunity.
The next 5 minutes So, tell me about yourself, how you got to your current position… This is the time for the candidate to explain how he/she ended up doing whatever he/she is doing right now. I like hearing a story of the candidate’s career path and journey, how he/she became a web designer after graduation and ended up in product design, how he/she gave up on one career path and applied his/her knowledge to another career … etc.
Rambling: Most interviewers won’t tell you you’re talking too much during an interview. They’ll just think it. It’s up to you to recognize when you are rambling and to stop. Even if you feel like you haven’t given a good answer to a question, just cut your losses and zip it. The only thing worse than giving a bad answer is to keep rambling after giving it.
Underdressing: You will rarely go wrong by overdressing for an interview. Even at most companies that dress casually, business professional dress is generally the standard for those interviewing. The only exception to this may be some tech/hippie companies located mostly along the west coast and in parts of Colorado. In these cases, do your research and talk to people at the company first. If you are going to lose the job to another candidate, don’t let it be because you wore jeans in the interview.
Vagueness: When someone asks you, “tell me about a time when you exhibited leadership,” they are asking for a specific story, not your general opinion, about leadership. Many candidates, when asked these types of questions, stick to platitudes like “I really think being a servant leader is important and I always try to serve my team.” Yawn! Instead, you need to tell them a specific story about, let’s say, a time when an underperforming team member was struggling and, because you stepped in to help with some projects, that employee saw you as a servant leader and thus worked harder for you afterward.
Many candidates mistakenly think that they need to simply “get through” the interview to get the job. That would be true if they were the only person interviewing. But to get highly competitive jobs, you have to nail the interview so you are, without question, the top candidate of the bunch.
Not expressing genuine interest in the job: The last thing an interviewer wants to do is pass up other good candidates to extend you an offer, only to have you decline it. I have personally chosen not to extend offers to great candidates because they left me feeling like they wouldn’t accept. If you genuinely want the job, you need to express it in the interview. Spell it out for them. “I just want you to know that I am extremely interested in working for this company and believe that my experience and skills are would be a great fit.”
Immediately after leaving a job interview, your first thoughts are most likely “How did I do?”, “Will they call me back?”, “Did I give the right answers?”.
As part of human nature, we always over analyze our performance in nerve-racking situations to ensure that we put our best foot forward. Job searching is no different.
If your interview was 30 minutes long, then it was just long enough. Hiring managers will generally schedule about 30 minutes to interview a candidate for most position levels. If you lasted the full 30 minutes, you know that you answered the questions well.
This means that you went slightly over the allotted time that the hiring manager had put aside, and that’s okay because you were answering the questions so well that they wanted to hear more.
However, from the amount of time alone, we cannot determine whether or not you will be called back for a second interview. It is up to you to review your answers to each question to judge whether or not you wow’d the interviewer.
You’ll learn a lot more about a candidate’s values by asking her who she admires. It’s a telling glimpse into the qualities she’s striving to cultivate herself.
Shiva Rajaraman (CTO at WeWork and former VP of Product at Spotify) typically asks this question at the tail-end of an interview cycle.
For Sarah Fetter, Managing Director of East Rock Capital, this interview question is all about evolution.
“I find that the best answers highlight what they’re running toward, rather than what they’re running from in their current job. If they launch into what they don’t like about their boss or current company, that tells you a lot. It tests whether they’re a positive person and how they handle adversity,” says Mullen.
In addition to providing question #11, LendingHome co-founder and CEO Matt Humphrey submitted another excellent question that also fits in here, adding a slight twist: “I always say ‘Well ask about this in references, but Id love to hear it from you as well: Very specifically, what’s the most recent piece of critical feedback that youve gotten?” he says.
FAQ
What should I expect at a 45 minute interview?
How many questions are needed for a 45 minute interview?
Is 45 minutes a good interview?
What are 10 good interview questions?
- Tell Me About Yourself. …
- Why Are You the Best Person for the Job? …
- Why Do You Want This Job? …
- How Has Your Experience Prepared You for This Role? …
- Why Are You Leaving (or Have Left) Your Job? …
- What Is Your Greatest Strength? …
- What Is Your Greatest Weakness?
