I work for a well-known tech company in Silicon Valley. 1-2 weeks before hearing back is basically universal. It’s likely that there are a few other candidates, and we need time to get through those and talk with the other team members.
So, hearing that it might take weeks probably is an indication that your odds are lower–but only because it’s the kind of place and position with competition and extra due diligence, as compared to one where they’re desperate for anyone qualified. It’s not a euphemism for failing the interview.
On the other hand, if partway through the interview the HR person comes in and says the last few team members are stuck in a meeting and won’t be able to make it, that might be a bad sign…
When I interview, if you’re the last person I’ll say, “We’ll contact you within [1-2] weeks.” If you’re not the last person, I’ll say, “We’ll contact you within [1-2 +x] weeks.”
It means the candidate was so bad that the early interviewers said not to waste any more time on them, and asked the HR person to show the candidate the door (I don’t actually know what excuse they give, but “stuck in meetings” seems like an obvious one…). I’ve only seen it happen a few times (as an interviewer), and requested it once (though the interview kept going in that case). Usually the bad candidates get filtered out beforehand.
I’ve been looking for a job for some months now, and had one interview through an agency. I emailed the agency after a week and was told they had not heard anything from the company. Many weeks later, still no word. Meantime, a job I applied for in late August, called me for an interview mid September, called back a week later for a second interview, and I start next week, so about six weeks from application to start. No idea how typical that is. I worked for the same company for ten years and only left because I moved. Started there on a temp to perm contract, so didn’t even interview, just showed up one day and was officially hired three months later.
In my last job, I had my initial phone screen on December 20, and my first day was March 1. I’m told that’s pretty typical for that company (Fortune 100, 60k global employees). My current job was a 6-week process.
Frankly, I don’t want to be offered a job on the spot. I want time to think about whether I want to work there, and I want a written offer so that I can look over the benefit information, etc.
I just wanted to say, good luck. My husband is dealing with this right now. He’s worked in sales for years and honestly, it’s gone both ways for him. Sometimes it has been the case and he’s gotten an offer, other times we think it’s been a way for them to blow him off. Again, best wishes, hope it works out for you.
I interview/recruit quite a lot of people. For me…
if I am in a pinch, interviewing someone at the last minute for a position that needs filling and they are good enough for the job then I’ll tell them there and then - why wait? Usually in such cases I’ll still give them a couple of days to think about it - I’d rather someone come back in 2 days and say ‘actually, no’ than accept it on the spot then change their mind later.
if I am interviewing 10 people for 5 places, then I’ll tell everyone ‘Thanks, we’ll let you know in days/weeks’. Then, I’ll tell the 5 I want to hire first, and wait for them to accept. Once they have, I’ll give the 'no’s the bad news. If any 'yes’s don’t accept, then I’ll start looking through the least-bad 'no’s.
if I interview someone and don’t think they’re suitable, I’ll tell them ‘We’ll be in touch in a few days max’ and give them the bad news a day or two afterwards. It is less awkward for all concerned if bad news is communicated via email - and this avoids people arguing the point.
So, in answer to the OP, sure - interviewers will often say ‘We’ll let you know in a couple of weeks’ - what that means is 'We’ve got to do lots of interviews for a limited number of places, and need 2 more weeks to get it done and decide. It doesn’t necessarily mean ‘no’, but it suggests that a ‘no’ is definitely on the cards.
That does not sound like the norm to me. What kind of work? How many of those 10-15 are jobs you actually got?
My daughter interviewed for a help desk job and got the offer the same day, because they had several openings they were trying to staff. This is not typical of a company trying to fill a single slot with specific qualifications.
I am in the IT field. As an interviewer, I always give the candidate some idea of when they can expect to hear from us. Sometimes it’s a couple of days, sometimes longer, depending on the position and how many candidates we are looking at. If I know it’s the wrong candidate, we’ll let them know in a day or two; no reason to dangle people on a hook. In at least one case I told them at the end of the interview they were not a fit.
As a hiring manager, when I utter that phrase the hidden meaning is this:
I have more interviews scheduled and expect to make a decision in about 2 weeks.
I believe that means that your earlier interviews were sufficient to preclude you from being hired, so they’re not going to waste any more time on you, but they don’t want to say that to your face.
I’ve hired for big companies, and the offer has to be drawn up by HR and then approved by management. We never, ever offer on the spot or even make promises, because some exec VP might have just heard about a hiring freeze.
However I’ve never used the we have more interviews to do language, because it can be a downer. When there is a hot market you grab the fish on the hook not the one breaking water downstream.
The way to tell, for me at least, is whether I go into sales mode and tell you how great the job is. If I do, there is a good chance of getting an offer, if I don’t, not likely.
I check in with other interviewers but there is almost always a consensus. And when I was working my boos, who officially did the hiring, listened to me because the people I select have done very well once hired.
But we never had the strict hiring process other companies might have, so my experience is not universal.
I don’t do this because I don’t think it is polite, or professional. I’ve interrupted interviews (cut in on the interview schedule, between interviewer #4 and #5, say) to tell the candidate that it’s not going well and that the interview is ending. I wish them well and show them the door — or have someone else do all that, cut it short and wish them well. Why waste peoples’ time, and why mislead the candidate? Be professional, courteous, and direct. It hasn’t happened a lot but over the years sometimes it’s been needed.
Lately I’ve preferred pre-screening candidates over the phone on my commute. It’s been a good way to screen out substandard applicants, and it’s no loss of time on my part, I’m driving to/from work anyway. I ask some open-ended questions and let them talk. Since doing that, people who pass the screening are almost always worth bringing in for the team to interview.
For the OP, when I’m the job seeker, yes I’ve had it happen and I’ve gotten the job. On more than one occasion. Sometimes the hiring team is busy. Often they’re screening other candidates for comparisons. In the interview I usually ask the hiring company what their timetable is, and if they say x more weeks then I ask if I can follow up in x weeks, and they’ve always said yes. I’ve never been told, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” And I wait the x weeks before following up (not easy to wait, sometimes). I try to get a sense of if I’m being blown off, or if they really need the time. Sometimes they’re very disorganized, or are a small startup and don’t yet have a good candidate evaluation process.
I would never keep calling back every day to ask them. But I can see that depending on the position and situation where that may be a good strategy.
Some places just don’t seem to care about wasting applicant time; I remember going to a job fair once, spent literally half an hour talking to the guys on one stand, one of whom was their regular interviewer. Went through all my qualifications, experience, availability, their shift patterns, staff facilities, training schedules, everything. They kept saying things like how great it was to get more female applicants, because it had traditionally been very male dominated and they were keen to get more diversity. All positive positive positive. Then they offered me a formal application form.
Just as I was starting to fill it out, the guy I’d mostly been talking to suddenly says ‘Oh, by the way, we actually finished hiring for this year last week. It’ll be next March (i.e. almost a full 12 months) before we’ll be looking to take on anyone else. Just thought I’d let you know.’
:smack:
My employer opens applications for a specific time frame. 2 weeks for example.
Applications are forwarded to the contact person in the dept that’s hiring. They interview the best candidates.
Sometimes they don’t fill the position and we advertise it again in a few weeks.
EEO reports are VERY specific. I wrote several that provides the information the Feds want. The gender, race, and age of every applicant has to be tracked and reported. We have a full database just for applicant tracking.
It’s important to bring in several people for interviews. We can’t just offer the job after the first good interview. That could raise very awkward questions later. A hiring has to withstand any questions and be defendable.
I’ve had what I would consider a lot of interviews. I can remember one where they made such a remark at the end and I felt like we had a pretty good rapport so I joked, “Well, I guess you can go ahead and cancel those other interviews now.” The interviewer chuckled and said, yeah maybe. I did not get that offer, however he said he had another (higher level) position in mind for me if I could be patient. I maintained communication with him for over six months but nothing came to fruition, so I moved on.
It’s OK to cut an interview short, although to answer your rhetorical question, telling a candidate on the spot that “it’s not going well” has the potential to unleash an emotional reaction that nobody is prepared to deal with. An interviewing candidate is in a stressful situation to start with. IME that is extremely rare but a more detached process keeps everything on the rails. Also IME if it’s not going well, the candidate knows too.
When I interview people, I generally want to see all of the candidates before I offer - sometimes that will spread across a week. It would have to be a really outstanding candidate to make me offer on the spot.