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I have been at 3 job interviews in the past few weeks and I am a software professional with 6+ years of experience. I get a good feel during the interview and afterwards and feel positive about the outcome but I have been rejected all 3 times. The recruiters call and tell me that I have a good experience and blah blah but they decided to go ahead with a different candidate.

I am confused as I am not able to point exactly what must be happening that causes the negative outcome. According to me I prepare as much as I can and I am not sweating it at the interview itself and manage to answer all questions with confidence. Now, I am not even sure that all these companies were really interested in hiring or just plain wasting my time.

How do I gauge really how the interview went so that I am not this confused in the future?

It is very unlikely that three companies all brought you in to interview just to waste your time.

Companies are generally interviewing several people for an open position. That means that multiple people may well have positive interviews. Unfortunately, not everyone that has a good interview is going to get the job. Most likely, you just got unlucky that there was someone else that had a better interview. Not much you can do about it other than continuing to apply for other positions. If you keep getting interviews, you'll eventually get an offer.

Of course, if you've had 30 interviews rather than 3 with no bites, it would be time to start questioning whether your impressions are accurate and doing things like mock interviews with friends or trusted colleagues to see where you're going wrong. But 3 interviews is well in the range of simply being unlucky-- no need to look for a more nefarious explanation.

Now, I am not even sure that all these companies were really interested in hiring or just plain wasting my time.

Seems to me that these companies took the time to call you back to inform of the negative result, something many companies don't bother doing. This suggest that they were not looking to waste your (and their) time.

How do I gauge really how the interview went so that I am not this confused in the future?

I feel that you are taking this a bit negatively.

You say you performed very well and felt that you delivered a good interview. You also say that, when they called you back, they mentioned you were a good and experience candidate even though you were not selected.

These things tell me that your performance was not bad (in fact, it was good), and that you didn't land the job only because the other candidates were a bit more experienced (or willing to take less pay).

I suggest that you don't give up, and keep applying. You mentioned that these were 3 instances... most of the times one has to apply several times (way more than 3) to land an offer, so don't lose your hopes now. Keep focusing and delivering good interviews as you have been doing and you will soon get an offer you like. Good luck!

We don't know why you aren't being selected and can't give you any definitive answers.

This process doesn't need to be a mystery. Ask the recruiters or the interviewers to give you specifics on why you weren't chosen. Ask them what you can do to be better prepared and to present yourself better in future interviews.

You may not always get those details, but if you don't ask then you'll continue to be confused and you'll continue to not know why you aren't being selected.

It is entirely possible to have a good interview and still not be given an offer -- it's often not the candidate's fault. The fact that you've been given interviews is a good sign.

There are many reasons why a company might choose another person. Maybe another candidate is a friend of someone already in the organization. Or the person receiving the offer is a referral of a trusted employee, and the company decided that a referral was less of a risk. Perhaps another candidate has the exact skills the company is looking for.

One thing you might try is a "mock interview" with a friend -- either a peer in your industry or ideally someone who is in a position to hire people. Give that person the questions you were asked, or ask that person to create some questions.

You are unlikely to get feedback from an actual interview, but you can from a practice interview. Based on what your friend/peer tells you, you'll have a better idea what to work on, and how to improve in future interviews. Another way to improve is simply by continuing to apply and interview for jobs.