Is this a bad sign at an interview

[Itsnotwhatyouare]

I had an interview today and I felt confident. I walked in confidently as I had prepared.

I did not get stuck on any questions as they were ones I had prepared. There was one questions I felt I could have answered slightly stronger but overall I felt I did very well and think my answers were confident and eloquent.

Normally I struggle in interviews, and after the question is asked the interviewer asks additional questions to get more information out of me. When I've answered well they say my answer was good and discuss it further.

The one interview I did well in, it felt more like a chat.

This time, after each question they all just nodded and smiled and moved on to the next question. They did say one of my examples was very good but that was it. Very positive body language. Smiling, undivided attention but they only asked me the set questions. No personal questions. Didn't ask my availability, what I was doing with my spare time, whether I enjoyed working for their company previously etc. All the questions I've been asked when I've been successful at interview previously. There wasn't much general chit chat.

At the end they took a good 15 minutes answering my questions and sold me on the company and told me the team was supportive and an exciting place to work. Then said there were 10 positions and they were interviewing over three weeks and would make a decision in two weeks time by the Friday of that week.

I really really wanted that job and just feel that not being asked anything except the set questions means I did badly. They're marked on a points system. Also that they didn't discuss the answer I gave much except for my one example. The guide was that the interview would last around one hour. I finished in 50 minutes.

Would you say this means I've not done well at all?

Most jobs I have interviewed for they only ask the set questions. In fact I am fairly sure they have to only ask those questions, so they cannot be accused of bias towards any candidates.

I don't think that means you haven't got the job. It just means they are sticking religiously to the set questions in order to be fair.

If your interview was 20 minutes only I'd worry. It's just a guideline and not that short

If you answered the questions comprehensively then there's no need for them to continue pushing you for more detail.

The fact that they spent a long time trying to sell you the company sounds positive I'd say.

I've only ever done NHS interviews but we have to ask set questions so that it's totally fair. It's done on a scoring system.

I wouldn't take it as a bad sign. We are now supposed to only ask set questions, and not do any follow-up or prompting. For us, it's because we've moved to Strengths-Based interviews and away from Competency-based interviews. One of the ways of marking someone's answers is how they react/behave to it without us hinting/prompting/teasing an answer out. Yes, I ask general "how was your journey" questions to put them at ease but my colleague takes the "only ask set questions" guideline very seriously and doesn't tend to talk much! It's because we're supposed to treat all candidates equally and mark accordingly, not be influenced by any additional information unless they offer up extra stuff themselves.

My friend interviewed and was asked 'what are your strengths and weaknesses'. It's not a set questions that was being marked but they asked her additional questions.

They also asked her for her availability.

However I have another friend who interviewed badly and was not asked what position she would be most interested in and the interview was very short.

I was asked what position I would most like and the manager of that team told me more about the team.

I wouldn't see that as a bad sign at all, it sounds like a competency based interview where they will ask the same questions to every candidate and each of those is scored, therefore if they ask additional questions they would have to ask the same to each candidate and then score them. If there's ten positions they will be interviewing at least ten people! When I've interviewed in the past it's been pretty much identical to this, and most people are done before the hour. It sounds positive to me

I get a bit disconcerted at interviews like this. It's as if I haven't been able to get past the professional mask and build some rapport. I suspect what it really brings home to you is how limited your influence is over the outcome. I've said on threads like this before that it's like backing yourself in a horse race without knowing the odds. Beyond doing your best to prepare and perform, you can't really control the outcome. All I can say is good luck, and don't be down on yourself if it doesn't go how you want.

One of the interviewers stopped making any notes. She did show very positive body language and gave me her full attention though. But stopped writing altogether!!!!

Yes I feel we didn't exactly get on like a house on fire. They were all smiles and seemed to be enjoying the conversation. But we didn't chat properly like my last successful interview.

Maybe my answers weren't quite as good as I had hoped.

When I've interviewed, additional questions in a competency are only asked if not all the points we want to score people on have been covered by the first question.

In my world if you do an interview and get asked lots of extra questions around the set questions then you've done BADLY as you've not fully answered the questions. I would be pleased that they just smiled and nodded etc. If they didnt ask too much about your availability etc etc personal stuff then it may be because they want to keep all interviews neutral until they interview everyone and decide who they like/want for the jobs and then dig into personal info from there. Don't be too put off yet.

Don't over-think it. You can't go back and make any changes now anyway. Just wait to hear! Hope you get the result you want. Good luck!

I think interviews are very hard to call.

Try and put it to the back of your mind till you find out.

fingers crossed for you.

Thank you. I hope I get it. I'm going to try my best anyway.

• I tried my best anyway.

I'd never ask what a candidate like doing in their free time!

We always stick to a set list of questions.

It's just a method. I have had interviews like this with no signals at all and I almost always got the job.
Good luck.

It sounds good to me, fingers crossed you get it.

I've done interviews, it's a very tedious job for the interviewers especially if we have a lot to interview. Don't over analyze, she might have just followed the script. Good luck.

I'm not sure if you've ever interviewed people but it's fairly knackering and monotonous, you get candidate after candidate in, so with rhe best intentions in the world, sometimes you can be a bit jaded.

I wouldn't really think too much into it. You probably came across very well. I hope you get the job.fingers crossed.

Don't worry if she stopped taking notes. We take turns writing.

Thanks everyone. They all showed positive body language. Smiling and interested. You never know though. Simply depends on what the other competition was like.

I've had a couple of bad interviews recently. It seems no one shakes your hand anymore or gives you eye contact.one interview lasted 5 minutes it felt very unprofessional