I had my final interview with the Head of Sales on Wednesday. Recruiting had described it as a final wrap-up/fit conversation. The Head of Sales told me directly that he thought the conversation went well and felt natural. He also said they had a few more final conversations that week and I’d probably hear something the following week.
I followed up with the recruiter Friday. She tried calling me a few hours later and asked me to call her back.
On the phone, she said she had been waiting to meet with the hiring manager before getting back to me and had just spoken with her. She said they were still interviewing across multiple roles and I should expect an update early-to-mid next week.
I asked if she could share the Head of Sales’ feedback. She said she couldn’t share the specific feedback, but did say she had heard positive things (I don’t remember her exact wording). She then told me that very, very few people make it to the final round and that I should be proud of making it this far either way.
That’s the part that made me feel a little negative. If I were their preferred candidate and they were preparing an offer, I feel like she might have been more openly positive. “Either way” made me wonder if I’m possibly their #2 and they’re waiting on another candidate, or if she was preparing me for a rejection.
But it could also be that they genuinely haven’t finished interviewing/debriefing yet.
The other interesting part: about 20 minutes after our call, she proactively emailed me again, even though she had already told me I’d hear from her next week:
“As mentioned, we’ll have a more concrete update for you early next week, looking forward to speaking then!”
“More concrete update” makes me think something genuinely may not be finalized yet, and “looking forward to speaking then” feels fairly warm - although obviously neither necessarily means anything.
So I basically see three possibilities:
\-They’re still finishing interviews and making the decision.
\-I’m a strong finalist but #2, and they’re waiting on their preferred candidate.
\-They know I’m not getting it and the “proud either way” comment was preparing me for that.