During any interview process, there are likely to be moments that are accentuated by silence. Yes, there will be breaks in the conversational dance.
These pauses can come with the ball in your court or in the interviewer’s court. Pauses are not an indication that something went wrong in the conversation. In fact, you might even ask for a moment or two to collect your thoughts so that you can better present your answer. This is quite natural during an interview. So don’t let the momentary pause distract you so you can use the time to make the most of your answer.
Also, if the person doing the interview is taking notes, there will definitely be pauses and moments of silence. So, don’t let this affect your comfort level at all.
In fact, if you see a lot of notes being taken, most of the time that’s a positive sign because the interviewer is probably jotting down memorable sound bytes so that you can easily remember who you are later when trying to remember the best candidates.
You don’t need to try to fill this time with any other type of conversation. Just sit quietly while they finish taking notes and wait for the next question.
If you feel you have fully answered the question and the interviewer does not continue the questioning immediately and yet does not take notes, just sit quietly for a moment. If you think the pause on behalf of the interview is a bit long, you can ask if you’d like me to elaborate further, but other than that, just wait for the next question.
Don’t worry one way or the other if the interviewer doesn’t offer positive responses to every one of your answers. Interviewers are not supposed to give the interviewee any indication of how they might be during the interview. They are trained to be neutral.
All interviews involve give-and-take conversations, so don’t worry about pauses and momentary periods of silence. If you feel comfortable and confident with your answers, you have done your part and any pauses to think or take notes will not count as part of any final assessment.