Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains how to ask for the job at the end of your interview.
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Today, we’re going to talk about ending the interview and asking for the job.
Asking for the job is one of those classic pieces of advice that recruiters offer and no one really explains how to ask for the job. You never want to go into that situation by saying, Please give me the job! I need a job!” or anything that could be interpreted in that way; instead asking for the job is really a euphemism for expressing interest. So, I don’t think it’s appropriate at the end of the interview to say things like, I would be a perfect for this job. When are you going to hire me?” . . . or words to that effect or anything they could be interpreting that same way. Instead you want to express interest.
So at the very end, when they signal they are wrapping up,” I think the smoothest way to end is to say,”I just want you to know how interested I am in this role. Have I answered all your questions? Is there anything else you need to know in order to feel comfortable with me in this role? Is there anything that’s left unaddressed that you might want to ask me?” In this way, you have you given them one more cut at asking you questions you also expressed interest.
When they say “no. I think I’ve gotten everything I need.”
“Great! What would the next step be there in the hiring process? When might expect to hear back from you in one way or another?”
“Well, I expect we’ll finish first round interviews next week. We’ll be back to you right after that.”
“As things stand now, how do I rank? Again, I’m very interested.”
That’s it of very blunt question that requires that they give you a candidate assessment. To me, it’s best that you know right then and there, but you don’t have to necessarily be that blunt if you’re not comfortable with that. You can again say,”Again, I want to be clear, I am very interested in this role and look forward to hearing from you about next steps in the process. If I heard correctly. I know this isn’t cast in stone, because sometimes cancellations and reschedules occur but I might expect to hear back from you within the next week.
“Yes.”
“Terrific, thank you so much look. I look forward to meeting you again as well as other people on the team.”
The idea is to express interest. I happen to like that question about where you rank in the process because I would rather have you get honest feedback than the current BS where they don’t respond back right away and getting delays and you are holding out hope unecessarily. Sometimes, people make the mistake of freezing other interviews, waiting for that one thing.
You keep going out there interviewing until you have the offer in hand because otherwise, you can get caught short. You can be misled by someone who doesn’t have the courage to be honest with you. And, again, if they say to you, “You did really well. We think very highlyof you,” they still not committing themselves to you. At least you’re getting good feedback by being told you interviewed well.
There may be reasons why they choose someone else that include in differences in the compensation, personality and fit and a variety of other things.
At least for now, you’re getting feedback that you interviewed well. So, to me, the best way to ask for the job is to simply say, “I just want to know how interested I am in this role. What would the next steps be like? When would I expect to hear back? How would I rank amoung the other people you’ve interviewed so far?
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Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.
The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.
JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.
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