Why is it taking so long for a call back after a second job interview?

Travy1991

Hey guys, wondering if I could get some help. And I apologise in advance for the essay!

I recently graduated from college with a degree in Communication Studies, which as some of you may know means that my chances of being employed will be somewhat difficult. Anyway after months of making applications, I managed to get three job interviews in the space of a month. Two of them didn't work out which was fine as the third was the most promising and lucrative to my career. It was a job for the role of a Junior Executive in the digital department of an advertising company.

I was contacted for the job two days after I made my application and the first interview was held with the Office Manager and the Head of the Digital Department. Both were incredibly friendly. I'm pretty good at selling myself in interviews so it went really well. I've had very limited work experience...mainly I've got short intern jobs at some big companies doing basic administrative stuff. That didn't seem to bother them as I would be given a good deal of training in this job. I showed them an advertising campaign I did in college and they were impressed. When the Head of Digital asked me about my hobbies, I told him I enjoyed movies. He asked me to write a 1,500 word review of my favourite movie. I got home 2 hours after the interview and had emailed my review to them about 5 hours later.

A few days later, I was called back for a second interview on Thursday (June 27, 2013). The Office Manager was interviewing me again alongside the girl who would be training me. Both were impressed with my review and seemed very warm and receptive to me. The Head of Digital was supposed to interview me also but the company was pretty busy and he had a meeting so couldn't attend. Anyway, the interview went very well with the two ladies and I was informed that it was down to just me and one other candidate.

I was told I would most likely have an answer one way or another by that evening or the following day (Friday). Friday evening came and I heard nothing. I contacted the Office Manager, thanking them for the interview and politely asking to be informed when a decision had been made. The response was an Out of Office email saying she wouldn't be back until 15 July.

I contacted the office yesterday (Monday, July 1, 2013) and spoke to the receptionist, asking her politely to pass on the message that I would like to know one way or the other whether I had the job or not. She said she would do that. But it's now Tuesday evening and I still haven't heard anything from the company.

As you can see I'm panicking a bit. I know it's only been five days since the interview but the whole process is confusing me quite a bit. Is it normal for companies to take this long to get back to candidates? Are they purposely avoiding me in case I didn't get the job and the other candidate got it instead? That seems kind of cowardly, no? I'd much rather get a yes or no answer on whether I got the job or not. While I'd be ultimately disappointed if I didn't get it, I would understand and still be grateful to them for having faith in a relatively inexperienced 21 year old recent graduate. Anything is better than hanging around in limbo, making job applications for unpaid internships and other job roles which you get a vague rejection message from several months later.

I'm just wondering what you more experienced jobseekers can read from the situation I'm in and if you could offer me any advice? Should I do more to get some answers or should I stop panicking and chill out? Is no news good news?

Javan

Take it easy. A few days is not a long time.

There could be any number of reasons for not hearing from them, from someone taking a sick day to some minor crisis in the office.

You called looking for an update yesterday. That's fine; it shows you are interested and keen. Let it lie now for a few days and follow up again towards the end of the week if you still have heard nothing.

In the meantime, keep looking.

Best of luck.

murphym7

You need to relax a little. I know its tough and the only thing going through your mind at the moment is this job and whether you have got it or not, I feel for you. At the time of you posting this, it’s only been 3 working days since your interview (one of them a Friday!). I know they said they would get back to you that evening or the next day. Maybe they thought that they would be able to, that may not have happened because the decision meeting scheduled was cancelled because the boss was busy, something urgent came up etc….. it’s a business, so unexpected business emergencies come up from time to time and recruitment is often the thing to be pushed out first.

You have followed up, a little too early in my opinion, but you have followed up none the less. Leave it now for a while because you do not want to be thought of as a nightmare or an annoyance. From my personal experience, even good candidates can damage their chances by hassling a very busy hiring manager who wants to get back to you but is swamped trying to deal with some sort of crisis at work. You have got to the last two, they are not going to forget about you, leave it for this week and try again maybe early next week.

Deep breaths and try and relax, if you get it they will let you know and being one of two final round candidates I would be surprised if they did not let you know if you didn’t get the job.

Bit of advice, do not leave this sentence as your next message “I would like to know one way or the other whether I had the job or not.” Soften it down a little to “just wondering is there any news on the position yet. Might just be me but your first sentence is a little direct and I personally wouldn’t like it.

Good luck.

fricatus

murphym7 wrote: »

Bit of advice, do not leave this sentence as your next message “I would like to know one way or the other whether I had the job or not.” Soften it down a little to “just wondering is there any news on the position yet. Might just be me but your first sentence is a little direct and I personally wouldn’t like it.

Great advice. Some individuals might be a bit offended at a newbie coming in and laying down the law like that. I doubt that's your intention, but that's how it could sound.

Best of luck with it.

Bandana boy

You need to take a step back and take a breath.
There are several valid reasons for the delay ,and it is not unreasonable for a decision to take substantially longer than you have been made wait.

They might have offered the job to the other individual but he/she has not signed a contract yet or is disputing pay etc. This could resolve itself positively for you by the end of the week.
There might be a managerial change being forced on the company by a staff member leaving and your role has been placed on the backburner till this is resolved
A decision maker could have been pulled away to deal with a crisis or family emergency

I once got down to last two and it was 3 months after the final interview before I was offered the position.

I would continue looking for a job and if this one materialises then all good. I would not contact them again till at least mid to end of next week.
People make decisions at the end of the day ,and some people can be turned off if they feel they are being pushed too hard.
As foolish as this might seem I have seen it happen.

Travy1991

murphym7 wrote: »

You need to relax a little. I know its tough and the only thing going through your mind at the moment is this job and whether you have got it or not, I feel for you. At the time of you posting this, it’s only been 3 working days since your interview (one of them a Friday!). I know they said they would get back to you that evening or the next day. Maybe they thought that they would be able to, that may not have happened because the decision meeting scheduled was cancelled because the boss was busy, something urgent came up etc….. it’s a business, so unexpected business emergencies come up from time to time and recruitment is often the thing to be pushed out first.

You have followed up, a little too early in my opinion, but you have followed up none the less. Leave it now for a while because you do not want to be thought of as a nightmare or an annoyance. From my personal experience, even good candidates can damage their chances by hassling a very busy hiring manager who wants to get back to you but is swamped trying to deal with some sort of crisis at work. You have got to the last two, they are not going to forget about you, leave it for this week and try again maybe early next week.

Deep breaths and try and relax, if you get it they will let you know and being one of two final round candidates I would be surprised if they did not let you know if you didn’t get the job.

Bit of advice, do not leave this sentence as your next message “I would like to know one way or the other whether I had the job or not.” Soften it down a little to “just wondering is there any news on the position yet. Might just be me but your first sentence is a little direct and I personally wouldn’t like it.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Very helpful! I'll just take a wait and see approach for the next few days and keep applying for jobs. This would be my first proper job so I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to callbacks and interviews and all that kind of thing and just wanted to know what the usual conduct is. I was told I would probably know by Thursday or Friday and I would just hope the office would contact me if I didn't get it. I'd rather hear something, even if it was bad news, if you know what I mean?

Also, I didn't explicitly say on the phone or in my email that "I would like to know, one way or another". I just used that here for clarity. I was quite polite on the phone and just said "I would appreciate information on whether the role was filled or not" and talked about how much I appreciated the opportunity etc. I have no intention of bossing around the execs in the office!

murphym7

Travy1991 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. Very helpful! I'll just take a wait and see approach for the next few days and keep applying for jobs. This would be my first proper job so I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to callbacks and interviews and all that kind of thing and just wanted to know what the usual conduct is. I was told I would probably know by Thursday or Friday and I would just hope the office would contact me if I didn't get it. I'd rather hear something, even if it was bad news, if you know what I mean.

Also, I didn't explicitly say on the phone or in my email that "I would like to know, one way or another". I just used that here for clarity. I was quite polite on the phone and just said "I would appreciate information on whether the role was filled or not" and talked about how much I appreciated the opportunity etc. I have no intention of bossing around the execs in the office!

Wind you neck in there a bit tiger and calm down, I was just trying to help. I was using the language you used in your post where you did not say I would appreciate information on whether the role was filled or not" you said the message you passed on was "pass on the message that I would like to know one way or the other whether I had the job or not. Two different things altogether.

I am delighted to hear you did not use those words that you mentioned in the post. I do wish you the best of luck, hope you get it.

Travy1991

No your help was very much appreciated, genuinely. I apologise if that last message came across as hostile or sarcastic. It can be hard to tell on the Internet sometimes. Hence the smiley face at the end of my message haha!

I was just clarifying that I didn't use exact words when dealing with the office, just used them here to break down my situation.