So I just made it through a series of interviews, one that involved going across the country for an all-day interview with 8 people.
It seemed to go well-the decisions makers talked as though I already was hired…
So I left and they told me their decision would take a week. I heard a “we’ll be in touch” when I sent a thank you letter, and that was about 1.5 weeks ago.
When I sent an email following up I received no response.
It seems weird because we were very conversational right up until I left and after I thanked them via email.
Do you guys think this can happen when it’s a big decision and multiple people might be fighting over what to do? Should I now leave them alone as I’ve emailed them following up?
Did they pay your expenses to go to the interview?
Its hard to know. I know my daughter had an interview where she really thought she had the job. The guy had another three candidates to see & he must have liked one of the other people better.
Its awful to be kept waiting. I hope you hear soon.
I know it’s excruciating, but in my experience hiring decisions can often take quite a long time to finalize, and a week and a half is not really a long time in this regard.
They know they have a position to fill and they know you interviewed for it. They will tell you when they make a decision. Continuing to ask about it won’t endear you to them.
I have been on so many of these marathon interviews. I was on one that lasted from June to August covering 9 interviews. Another one was last fall covering two months and 6 interviews.
I’ve been flown (at their expense) all over the country.
The bottom line is this, if they want you they WILL contact you. No one is going to say “Yes he’s the best candidate but since he didn’t follow up we’ll go with this lessor candidate.”
And despite what these books tell you, it’s never a tie. They will go with the best candidate who meets their price.
The thing is employers are firmly in control now. You have to suit them. I’ve been flown to cities, and had employers spend hundred of dollars to interview me and then never hear form them again.
If you contact them, you may risk irritating them. The fact is if the employer wants you he/she will call you. So go on each interview and then act like you didn’t get the job and keep on looking.
Business know they can hire overqualified people pay them less, have them quit in a month or so, and rehire the next unemployed person. Business know people on unemployment and food stamps can’t be fussy or they risk losing benefits.
Normally this is a horrible practice and it wouldn’t work. But with so many people out of work or underemployed it’s easy for employers to choose.
I feel for your frustration. I just got turned down for a payroll clerk, saying I wasn’t qualified. I was an asst controller for goodness sakes. I did payroll for 700 employees on my past jobs. And somehow I am unqualified to enter data in excel for $9/hr?
Oh well just move on and hope tomorrow will be better. Remember the employers hold all the cards and till the economy gets better, you just have to wear it
I had an interview on March 12. Nice guy, knowledgeable, he finished by saying he’d forward me to Human Resources.
Didn’t hear from him or the agent again.
Then last Monday, March 29, I get a call from a different agent. Turns out she’d forwarded my CV to that same company and they’d told her “how dare you submit the CV of someone who’s starting on the 7th of April!”
WHAT? :eek:
FTR, I am going back to Spain after half a year in Scotland on the 8th, and I have been making a point of making it clear that I’d be available on the 12th. The situation has been cleared and I’m starting on the 12th, but apparently there were several people suffering from “I know this information, therefore everybody in the world does” syndrome. You already sent them the followup, if they want you they’ll call you.
I just don’t get this “12 interviews on the other side of the country” thing. I understand that times are tough, but I’ve known people who do this even when times are good. Are companies so desperate now that that they really need to fly someone in several times to interview? Really, there’s not even one decent candidate in their own city who can do the job? Are employees so desperate (even in better times) that they’re willing to relocate, because there are no comptroller jobs in their own city?
We just hired someone a few weeks ago, and the process took something like 9 months. As far as I know, we weren’t really considering anyone else, so it’s not like there was a lot of competition. What did we need? Someone with a little background in both statistics and nursing. Yeah, kind of an odd combination, but was she the only person in the country with that background? And did it really take us 9 months to decide on her? And were jobs for her so scarce that she not only moved herself but her husband all the way from San Diego to Boston?
Me, I pick where I want to live and find a job there. If a company wants me to move, I’ll just find another job.
I have been waiting almost a month for a second interview. It is for a Reception/Administrative position, so nothing major. I know that there will be one because I know someone who works there who is asking around on my behalf. They keep saying they are going to call to schedule that day, but then I don’t hear anything. Ultimately, the excuse is, “We do more then just hiring around here and we get busy.” This is especially true because they have some “re-organizing” going on right now.
Normally I would have given up by now, if not for my contact. Just keep waiting. If they want you, they will call (not to sound like a broken record, but there it is).
The other thing that happens is that they start clamming up for legal reasons. Between the time you interview and the time they make a formal offer is a dicey time for them. If the headcount suddenly goes poof, if the CEOs son suddenly puts in an application, if they suddenly find a qualified internal or qualified minority candidate…if, if, if…they don’t want to have spoken to you in a way that you might construe as an offer.
They apparently hired a more junior intern but the art director said I was their top pick but management wanted someone cheap. I was told to contact him directly when I get to the area they’re in (I’m moving to California) to start doing freelance for them. He said I’d be first on the list if they need someone else.
We have a friend who is a headhunter, for pretty high level jobs, and she says that companies are just frozen both by concern that they can’t afford the position and by desire to get the perfect candidate, who must be out there in this market. A lot of people are in the same situation as the OP - or before the OP heard.
I did five interviews at the same company. For four different positions. In a row.
Keep in mind I only applied once. I did the general HR interview, and they liked me, so they referred me to person A. Person A liked me, but had an internal candidate. Lather, rinse, repeat for each of the other interviews. Finally I botched the last interview since HR drastically misrepresented the position, so I was basically answering interview questions for a completely different job and skillset.
I was pretty angry about missing so much work to be jerked around, so much so that just driving past the building made me frown every time for a long while. Ironically enough, four years later, I work in that building, which is now leased by a completely different company in a different industry. Let me tell you, coming in for the interview was weird, but they only interviewed me once!
It worked out pretty well, the aforementioned company now is in a far less convenient location…
