Most amount of interviews you have had without receiving an offer?

I'm attempting to make the leap from network technician to network engineer and have had 3 chances so far.

1) Received a call from the company and had a 15 minute technical interview with them. Did well enough to get invited to a face to face interview. The interview didn't go so well. It was my first network engineer interview. I was pretty nervous and from a technical perspective I wasn't prepared for it.

2) Received an email for a technical phone interview with the IT manager and a system admin. When I got on the phone with them they started off by stating if I miss too many questions the interview would end early. They said they had already did it twice that day, lol. I was nervous throughout the interview knowing that. To my surprise I made it through the hour of questions. I didn't receive an invite for a face to face though.

3) Had an hour long conversation on the phone with the IT manager about my previous experience and a few technical questions. They invited me that same week for a face to face interview. I was able to remain more calm initially during the interview and it was going really well. About 45 minutes in they made a comment that it would be likely for me that I progress to the next step. After hearing that and realizing how close I was to an awesome job I let my nerves get to the best of me. For the last 15 minutes of the interview I felt I was stumbling a bit and not speaking as clearly as I was before (doh). That was last week so there's still a chance, I think.

The learning experience from each interview is pretty good and I have been doing a lot of self study to improve my weak areas. This will likely be my longest streak of not receiving an offer letter though. How about you guys? Do you hit them out of the park often or have you ever gone through a long period of time without receiving an offer?

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Comments

UnixGuy

yes I lost count. Hang in there, I went through similar phase when I was interviewing for some security positions. Part of it was luck as well, they either didn't like me or I didn't like them or they wanted something completely different to what was advertised. it happens. It's all learning experience. Enjoy the process.

mikey88

NoNameNoob wrote: »

The learning experience from each interview is pretty good and I have been doing a lot of self study to improve my weak areas.

I go in to each interview with an attitude that I'm doing them I favor for hiring me. I am however, polite and professional. There is no other way when you're competing with 100+ other applicants. Be confident in yourself and the skill sets that you bring.

Every interview is a good learning experience for the next time.

EANx

mikey88 wrote: »

Every interview is a good learning experience for the next time.

Absolutely. You didn't waste time, you simply had a learning experience.

gespenstern

Tons and tons. At this point I probably have been through 100+ interviews while landing only 5 jobs.

verbhertz

I had a rough time awhile ago but lately it's been great. Just recently had a few interviews and got offers from each one. What I learned is that projecting confidence and being genuine does wonders. Also, searching for a job while you are employed is a big boost.

josephandre

Every interview that didn't lead to a job is essentially a practice test. It sucks sometimes, but ultimately you'll find yourself in a situation where each of them eventually helped you walk into a room and nail it.

yoba222

NoNameNoob wrote: »

. . . Received an email for a technical phone interview with the IT manager and a system admin. When I got on the phone with them they started off by stating if I miss too many questions the interview would end early. They said they had already did it twice that day, lol. I was nervous throughout the interview knowing that. . . .

Easier said than done, I know, but a more successful attitude to embrace after hearing a comment from them like that is that if they present too many red flags the interview you'd end the interview early.

I wouldn't say that out loud, but I'd think it as hard as I could so the confidence bleeds through.

I landed a job once with that attitude; at the time I had a position aligned elsewhere and was cold-called from a different company. I figured what the heck, and I just spoke my mind confidently during the call. They hired me and the other position fell through.

Basic85

It happens to all of us. It's almost like dating, sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't and you never hear from them again so that's why you have to go on tons of interviews. There are many variables involved.

I agree yoba222, you've got to think of an interview as a 2 way street. Employers have no problem ending the interviewing so shouldn't you. It doesn't always workout to where you'll get an offer but at least you get to walk away with your head up high.

scaredoftests

ah..too many to mention. LOL. You will get it! You ask a lot of questions as well during the interview. Shows that you are interested.

joelsfood

Six was the most I've had for a particular job without an offer. Most at a company (multiple positions) without an offer is more than I care to consider.

joshuamurphy75

I had 14 interviews at one company. Was told at the end that they really wanted to hire me but didn't have the budget to give me the job. When they called back 3 months later to have me interview again, I told them that I wasn't interested any more.

josephandre

joshuamurphy75 wrote: »

I had 14 interviews at one company. Was told at the end that they really wanted to hire me but didn't have the budget to give me the job. When they called back 3 months later to have me interview again, I told them that I wasn't interested any more.

that's brutal, and more in line with what I thought this thread was going to be about.
I've never been a hiring manager in a large organization, but I really don't get the interview process where it's more than say 3 interviews.
And not getting the job after all that has got to be backbreaking

LordQarlyn

I read somewhere (I think it was Business Insider) that Amazon can have as many as 17 interviews, and any one of the interviewers can veto an application.

I did work with a Vectrus network admin who I witnessed him going through at least 8 interviews that I could see from Amazon Japan but he did finally get the job.

josephandre wrote: »

that's brutal, and more in line with what I thought this thread was going to be about.
I've never been a hiring manager in a large organization, but I really don't get the interview process where it's more than say 3 interviews.
And not getting the job after all that has got to be backbreaking

Squished

Tons. Almost all because the positions aren't as advertised. One recently was written as an individual contributor role and then when I went for the interview I found out it was overseeing a group of 65 individuals. Not one mention of even a single direct report in the job description.

pierrevilleres

Keep trying and practicing for the interviews. What sort of complex and difficult interview questions do you get as a network engineer?

BradleyHU

way too many to count...hell i've gone to too many interviews that had numerous rounds & still didn't get an offer

november24

I moved from Michigan to California last February for family reasons,
I had to search for a new Job in the tech field,
I've applied for more than 140 opening vacancy, I've got about 7 face to face interviews and I've received 2 offers (each after two interviews) and a half offer ( i've applied for a full-time tech position at some school district and I haven't been chosen for this position but they offered me a substitute tech position).

Basic85

Probably in the hundreds? Interviewing is tough as you say one small thing than it's over so really it's a numbers game.

nascar_paul

I'm so glad for this community. I've been going through the interview process and I've talked with about ten hiring managers/groups/panels and still haven't found a new home. I'm sticking in there though. Good to hear that my experience isn't unique!

epcg

Well keep your head up keep studing and keep trying. We all go through hard time a trust me. Ive had 10 interviews in the past 9 months and 3 wanted references and said I would get an offer in a day or two. Well didnt happen. My experience they love, certs love, my people skills love. But its life. I got an interview tomorrow at ine of the top places to work in the region but not in IT so Im more than likely turning it down. So see we all have hard times.

LionelTeo

joshuamurphy75 wrote: »

I had 14 interviews at one company. Was told at the end that they really wanted to hire me but didn't have the budget to give me the job. When they called back 3 months later to have me interview again, I told them that I wasn't interested any more.

Is the interviewer even intend to hire? There are cases where there interviewer only conducts interview just to get ideas/solution for candidates and they are actually not interested in hiring at all. There are employers out there who try to exploit the interview process to get candidates to do the free work for them. If I am in that situation, I would have pull out by the time they asked me for the 4th one.