When you’re interviewing for a position with a new company, particularly in the tech world, there’s a good chance that your first point of contact will be with a recruiter.
After that, you’ll likely speak with the hiring manager, members of the hiring manager’s team, and other members of the organization.
And after certain key interview in the process, the recruiter may check in with you and ask “how did the interview go?”
To that end, this article is intended to help you understand how to answer the question “how did the interview go,” when asked by a recruiter.
Let’s dive in.
How to Answer “How Did The Interview Go?”
When a recruiter asks how the interview went, they’re gauging if you’re still excited about the role and are trying to understand if you have any concerns about the position.
It’s important to remember that a recruiter is incentivized to find new members to bring onto the team. They are measured and often partially compensated by the number of new hires that they bring on, how quickly those folks are hired, and how long they stay with the team.
The point being, it makes sense that they would ask this question because they want candidates to join the team.
As far as how to best answer “how did the interview go,” I generally recommend a couple of key things:
- Always be positive about the organization and opportunity
Even if you have some concerns about the company, and you think there’s a good chance that you won’t end up joining the team, you want to exude positivity and enthusiasm about the new opportunity.
The reason is that companies want people to be excited about their new role. They want to feel like you’re going to be there for some time.
And if you express too much concern or hesitation about an opportunity, even if that’s how you’re really feeling deep down, then that may give them cause for concern when deciding to make you an offer.
- Ask questions if you have them
A recruiter check-in is a good opportunity to ask questions if you have them. Particularly if you have any concerns, you can find a way to get additional information about those potential concerns, while still expressing excitement about the opportunity.
For example, if you’re concerned that you’re joining a fast-paced environment and that there will be expectations to work long hours, you can ask a question like “tell me about the company culture” and gauge the way that the recruiter answers the question.
Additionally, if you’re not sure about the compensation, or are concerned about the compensation range, this is a good chance to ask about that and what type of flexibility there is.
Keep in mind that you’ll want to keep your questions focused on the types of things that a recruiter would be able to answer (i.e., comp, benefits, overall company culture), rather than specific things about the expectations of the role or you manager’s style.
How Did the Interview Go Email
In many cases, a recruiter will call you on the phone to ask you how the interview went. They often like to do that to hear your language and tone of voice to get a read on how you felt about the interview.
In others, the recruiter will reach out how email to ask you how the interview went.
As far as how to respond to the email, the same principles apply of 1. being positive about the interview and 2. using the recruiter’s outreach as an opportunity to ask questions.
Here is a high level email template for how to respond to an email from “how did the interview go” email from a recruiter:
Hi {First Name},
Thank you for checking in!
I thought the interview went well and I really enjoyed my conversation with {interviewer’s first name}. It’s clear to me that you have a great team at {company name} and that the {job title name} position is a great opportunity.
As a follow up to that interview, I actually did have a question that I was hoping you could help me with. {Insert question(s)}.
Warm regards,
{First Name}
Feel free to modify that template as needed. If you don’t have any questions, you can remove that portion of it. The big thing that I’m trying to show is how to express excitement about the opportunity, how to be thankful for the check in, and how to ask questions if you have them.
I also want to emphasize once more that even if you’re not sure that the opportunity is the right fit for you, it’s important to still express positivity about it. That doesn’t preclude you from walking away form the opportunity, while also preventing any red flags from coming up regarding your excitement about the opportunity.
How to Ask How An Interview Went
When a recruiter asks you “how did the interview go,” it also gives you an opportunity to gather some information on how they thought the interview went on their end. Doing so provides an opportunity for you to bubble up any concerns that they might have about you and potentially give you an extra opportunity to address them.
As a means of asking the recruiter how the person that you interviewed with though the interview went, I like the approach recommended by Scott Weiss, who is a managing partner at a recruiting firm called Makena. In this article, he recommends asking “what concerns do you have about me as a candidate,” which at a minimum helps to give you some data on where you stand.
Beyond that, it provides understand where you may not have presented your capabilities as strongly as you would like. And, if you don’t get the position, it tells you where you either need to bolster your skills, or revise the way that you talk about yourself within the interview.
Conclusion
As you’re out interviewing for positions, you’re likely to be asked “how did the interview go” at some point by a recruiter. Hopefully, this article helped prepare you on how to answer it by being positive, and asking questions if you have them. That question from the recruiter also provides an opportunity for you to gauge where you stand in the interview process.
