"The Wait" - After the Interview....

slumped · 13-10-2005 11:04am #1

I did an interview yesterday for a super duper position. Interview went really well. They said they wanted to appoint someone in the next 2-3 weeks to start in December.

When would I expect to hear from them (good or bad), do they say 2-3 weeks and mean that, or do they mean 7 days or 28 days?

Dying to find out!!

S

Lump · 13-10-2005 11:13am

When I had my last interview, they said they'd be letting people know in the next few weeks. However, they rang me the next day, when I asked why they had contacted me so fast, they said they say next few weeks, for the people who don't get the job, as it takes time to get letters etc sent to them.

I guess I'm saying that if they know they want you, they'll contact you asap. Unless they are undecided about giving a job to anyone.

John

feylya · 13-10-2005 11:16am

I did an interview last Thursday and I was offered a job on Monday. I did an interview for a different company about 3 weeks ago and only got the rejection letter today. It really depends on if they have to decide whether to hire you or someone else or if they really want you.

seamus · 13-10-2005 11:28am

Depends on the position I guess. State companies and universities may wait to inform you by letter, whether you've been successful or not. My experience is as Lump says though. If a company tells you that "We're interviewing all this week", and then don't come back to you by the end of the following week, you probably haven't got the job.

AARRRGH · 13-10-2005 12:38pm

I dunno. It has always varied for me, company by company.

I had an interview about 6 months ago. They said they would contact me in a day or two. Heard nothing from them for two weeks. Sent them an e-mail asking if they could give me any pointers as to why I didn't get the job. They then made me an offer for the job immediately...

I think it really depends on the person you are dealing with. HR people are notoriously lazy.

When I used to hire I used to make people wait as long as possible before I gave them the job as I was always trying to get someone better (I always found it hard to get good staff - well, good accounts people anyway.)

Lump · 13-10-2005 1:02pm

Try hire accounts and not homeless people off the street :P

John

whippet · 13-10-2005 2:53pm

when I am hiring .. I will always tell them at interview that I have another few people to see and they will hear from me in a week or two. Should I find someone I want to employ I will contact them within a day or two after the interview, but I do not send out rejection letters until the person has committed to the job as I may want to offer the job to some one on your inital rejection list.

jrey1981 · 13-10-2005 11:03pm

Friend of mine recently got a high-up post with a US multinational after going over for an interview...it took a while for him to get the job and the go-ahead.

He called the interviewer every so often who kept him posted of the progress of other interviews and then he got the job after several weeks or so.

copacetic · 13-10-2005 11:59pm

it can take us a couple of weeks to interview a few people and another week or so to make a decision, we are a small company though with day to day firefighting so hiring always goes on the back burner, sometimes we even have to bring people in for interview before we are sure there will be a job. Usually there is not much of a rush since you would expect people to have to give a months notice anyway. Obviously it all depends on the company, so slumped I would say if they need someone to start in Dec why would they make the decision before end of Oct so you can give your notice?

Unless they are 100% sure you are perfect then maybe the call will come early, no harm giving them a call once a week for an update. best of luck and let us know what happens..

Kernel32 · 14-10-2005 6:07am

whippet wrote:

when I am hiring .. I will always tell them at interview that I have another few people to see and they will hear from me in a week or two. Should I find someone I want to employ I will contact them within a day or two after the interview, but I do not send out rejection letters until the person has committed to the job as I may want to offer the job to some one on your inital rejection list.

I recently hired a couple of people and did exactly the same thing. You don't know if the person you pick will even take the job so an employer will often wait to send rejection letters until they are sure of their choice. I always let people know if they didn't make it. I also send out two different types of letters. First one is to the ones I simply wouldn't hire so its just a stock letter. For the top 2 or 3 runners up I send something more personal just in case I need to hire quickly again, no need to piss off the next people you might want to hire.

Our man in Havana · 14-10-2005 6:35am

In my experience if you don't hear within 24 hours you don't get the job.

One exception was a job in the CSO where I was offered the job a full 13 months after the interview!

LegacyUser · 14-10-2005 10:19am

Bond-007 wrote:

In my experience if you don't hear within 24 hours you don't get the job.

One exception was a job in the CSO where I was offered the job a full 13 months after the interview!

Oh my God! Ar eyou serious? Jesus that is just plain weird.

copacetic · 14-10-2005 10:30am

Bond-007 wrote:

In my experience if you don't hear within 24 hours you don't get the job.

One exception was a job in the CSO where I was offered the job a full 13 months after the interview!

?? this couldn't be standard, how can this happen if you are interviewing 3 or 4 people over the course of a week or 2? If you are the first in you are talking about at least 2 weeks before a decision could be made.

Maybe we are talking about different areas, but in my line of work (engineering) I have never heard of anyone being offered a job inside of a week of the interview.

RainyDay · 14-10-2005 10:38am

If you are No.2 on their list, you might find that they are waiting to get an accept or decline from their No.1 candidate before they come back to you.

slumped · 14-10-2005 11:30am

The company I went for interview with are very political, lots of people to consult etc.

I was hoping for a call before tonight, but I suppose it could well be another week!

Will keep y'all posted!
S

copacetic · 14-10-2005 12:26pm

slumped wrote:

The company I went for interview with are very political, lots of people to consult etc.

I was hoping for a call before tonight, but I suppose it could well be another week!

Will keep y'all posted!
S

well there you go, give it a week and then give them a call, try to talk to the person who interviewed you and ask for a status update.
Don't ask did you get the job but more 'do you know when you are making a decision on the position'

Our man in Havana · 14-10-2005 6:13pm

The last job interview I went to I had a decision in about 5 hours. Its in general that unless you hear within 24-48 hours then you aren't going to get it.

Whats the crack with ringing the interviewer? Sure this is canvassing and will get you disqualified?

copacetic · 14-10-2005 6:43pm

Bond-007 wrote:

The last job interview I went to I had a decision in about 5 hours. Its in general that unless you hear within 24-48 hours then you aren't going to get it.

Whats the crack with ringing the interviewer? Sure this is canvassing and will get you disqualified?

What kind of sector/jobs are you going for? I've never heard of anyone hearing so quickly or indeed within 24-48 hours??

canvassing rules like that only apply to public sector jobs as far as I know, never heard of a problem with calling up to enquire when a decision will be made in the real world, I've done it and have had people call me to ask too....

Our man in Havana · 14-10-2005 9:00pm

daveym wrote:

What kind of sector/jobs are you going for? I've never heard of anyone hearing so quickly or indeed within 24-48 hours??

I am in computing and Internet ISP security.

nesf · 14-10-2005 10:42pm

daveym wrote:

canvassing rules like that only apply to public sector jobs as far as I know, never heard of a problem with calling up to enquire when a decision will be made in the real world, I've done it and have had people call me to ask too....

In some industries ringing up shows initiave. In others it shows impatience and/or neediness.

Which is which is a matter of who you talk to.

the_syco · 15-10-2005 1:18pm

Aye. Me's in the same boat. Interview last Monday, "let you know by the end of the week". I'll ring them on Monday, I suppose. Its a tech support job.

Also: always wondered this: can you ask why you didn't get the job, or how you could improve your chances for future jobs (what did you say wrong)?

RainyDay · 15-10-2005 8:14pm

the_syco wrote:

Also: always wondered this: can you ask why you didn't get the job, or how you could improve your chances for future jobs (what did you say wrong)?

If you've already lost the job, what's the worst that can happen if you ask for feedback? They might say no, but you've nothing to lose.

copacetic · 15-10-2005 9:12pm

the_syco wrote:

Aye. Me's in the same boat. Interview last Monday, "let you know by the end of the week". I'll ring them on Monday, I suppose. Its a tech support job.

Also: always wondered this: can you ask why you didn't get the job, or how you could improve your chances for future jobs (what did you say wrong)?

definitely ask, although you will prob only get 'just lost out to a better fit for the job' but you never know what little nugget of info you might get, eg you came across as thinking you knew it all or whatever...

"The Wait" - After the Interview....

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