By | Richard Moy | www.themuse.com
Job seekers have spent hundreds of years trying to decode the things the people in charge say before, during, and after interviews. You’re not the only person who’s trying to read between all the lines—or who whips out a high-powered microscope to attempt to read between the words and letters, too.
However, my experience as a recruiter and hiring manager tells me that the conclusions you come up with might be way off. So to help you spend less time overanalyzing (or worse, misanalayzing), I’ve translated three of the most common phrases. Plus, I’ll include why they get said and what to do when you hear them.
Translation: “We’ll actually be in touch very soon.”
In the minds of job seekers everywhere, this is the worst-case scenario. “They’re interviewing other candidates because they’re not going to hire me. This is the worst. Right?”
Not so fast. A hiring manager might be interviewing other people, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a good option. Sure, there are times when an interviewer will say this because they’ll be in touch soon to let you down. But that’s not the only reason you’ll hear it come out of their mouth.
Don’t forget that interviewers not only have a number of questions they need to ask you during an interview, but there are also a bunch of things they just get comfortable saying on autopilot. That includes, “We’re interviewing other candidates, so…”—even when you’re on the verge of being hired. When I interviewed in the past, I kept this line at the bottom of my notes for each person. And I even said it to candidates I knew we wanted to hire.
