I get asked this question all the time, and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to write a post about it:
Why is it taking so long to hear back after your interview?! What the hell are they doing? Are they freezing you out? Has your interviewer died? For the love of god, why haven’t you heard anything?
Over at U.S. News & World Report today, I offer you some answers. Check it out here.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. I can really relate to it.
After two interviews with one particular firm they pulled a number six (no response) on me. It was no harm to me as I had a great offer at that point anyway, but it pissed me off so much. All the studying, the preparation of interview clothes, resumes, questions, the longish drive not once, but twice!
I mean come on. If I’m not the pick after a round or two of interviews, fine – but you owe me a phone call. There is no way that you are interviewing so many people in the second round that you cannot let folks know who did and did not make it.
Incredibly unprofessional.
You don’t want to work at such a place anyway!
Because not hearing anything is so common, I like to spread the word about places that do communicate. Brevard College is one of those places. Before the application closing date, they send me an email saying that they had decided not to hire for that position. It would have been so easy for them to simply not contact people who had already applied. Even more unexpected, they used my name in the salutation and signed with a real person’s name and contact info, not a generic HR account. Completely unexpected and completely appreciated!
I wonder how many applications the university received. I think sometimes a personalized email is nice but impractical.
It’s called “Mail Merge”.
I don’t expect personalized communications. I don’t particularly care either way, as long as they communicate. But, I do notice when a company takes the extra few seconds to use mail merge.
I can definitely relate, something similar is driving me insane right now. I have two part time jobs and I’ve already applied for an internal position (actually two) that I really want at one, but they’re dragging their feet on hiring-even though they’ve hinted strongly that I’m likely to be hired. Now I have until Friday to decide if I want to apply for a full time job at the other job. I like both of my jobs, but I definitely have a preference (the role is similar, but Job #1 pays way better and has more opportunity to advance), and I don’t want to a) blow my chances at the job I want by quitting the part time gig or b) pass on applying for full time at Job #2 and have Job #1 take six months to even interview me. I hate hypotheticals, and that’s all I’ve got to work with right now. I’m ready to scream. Is all this bureaucracy really necessary? Really? It doesn’t help that I work in two notoriously slow to hire, bureaucracy loving industries (education and government). Grrrr! Thanks for the vent, I’m no closer to a decision, but definitely I needed that.
Can you tell Job #1 the time constraints you have? That may prompt them to move.
I was hired at my current job after going through #2 and #5 (bureaucracy) for months. I applied in a January, interviewed in March, by early April I heard they’d hired another candidate (from a third party, but no official word). HR didn’t give me straight answers, the hiring manager was out during the holidays, so I just assumed I was out of the running. Then out of nowhere in May I got an offer. :) It turned out they had hired an internal candidate earlier, but then got approval (after a few months) to hire me on as well which explained the delay and lack of solid answers. Although I’m sure it could have been handled better…
I know it can be a sign of a bad employer, but I love it here!!! All that pain was worth it.
This post was great, but I still don’t think I have a clear course of action. It’s been a month since my first interview, and two and half weeks since my second interview. I followed up in the timeline, then was given a new timeline as well as informed they’re still interviewing. That was a week ago. Now I’m being strongly considered by two other companies that I foresee two jobs offers by the end of this week…yet still nothing from my first choice. It would be awful if I accepted one of the two offers and next week am finally contacted by my first choice with a job offer. I have no idea how to proceed especially since the new timeline I was given (3 weeks from Sept. 14) is definitely not complete yet.
As Alison says above, try telling them if you actually receive an offer. That won’t necessary compress three weeks into an offer from them, but maybe if you’re already out of the running there they’ll be kind enough to tell you.
And congratulations–three strong prospects is doing very well indeed!
Yep, contact the first company and explain you’re about to get another offer but that Company #1 is your first choice. If Company #1 is very interested in you, they will expedite things. If I have a candidate I think I might want, I will move quickly at that point; I’ve even cut a vacation short in that situation in order not to lose the candidate.
However, do be prepared for them to tell you that they can’t move up their timeline. If that happens, then you have a hard decision on your hands. Are you willing to turn down the offer you have, without any guarantee that you’d get an offer from Company 1 in the future? It’s a risky move, especially if Company 1 hasn’t shown you they’re willing to expedite things for you (which says something about their level of interest).
Would it make sense to call company #1 before you actually have an offer in hand from company #2 or #3?
Also, if the company #2 or #3 offers do come through, would it be reasonable to ask them for a few days or a week or more to consider their offer and make a decision?
That extra time may be a long enough stall to allow company #1 to get their act together.
Tough situation indeed.
Yes, it’s smart to call and say you think you’re about to get an offer, as long as it’s true. And when you do get an offer, it’s fine to ask for a few days. Depending on the job, sometimes a week — although some places will assume that you should be ready to make a decision more quickly than that, by the time things are at the offer stage.
I have a co-worker who had this issue. An outside company put her thru a whirlwind of 6 interviews in 2 1/2 weeks, and then communication just came to a dead stop for a month and a half. She got a haphazardly written postcard saying “thanks but we hired someone else on this date” which was the date of her 4th interview.
I interviewed 5 times for a job (including 2 background checks), and after 2 months was sent a form letter. They’d talked to all of my references, including a woman who was actually related to one of the interviewers. I don’t believe that reference would ever say anything bad about me, since she’s written me some awesome, complimentary letters for other potential employers. I felt like they had led me on, and I believed that if they’d interviewed me that many times, for that long, and talked to my references, there was an offer coming. I was especially hopeful because they said they had 3 positions open. AAARRRRGGG. I have a great job now, and love my work and my colleagues, so I guess everything turned out for the best. But it really sucked at the time.
When I just graduated from college I was solicited for a position from a company (they found my resume on Monster and called me). I had a phone interview and at the close of the phone screen was then invited in for an interview. I interviewed with the department head I’d be working for for almost an hour and then was asked in for 2 subsequent interviews meeting with different higher-ups. After my third interview they said they were very interested and that the team thought I was a great fit, and they would call me within a week with their decision–I never heard from them again. They also did not respond to the e-mail I sent after a week had passed asking if I was still being considered for the opening. As someone fresh out of college, applying for my first “real” job, I was horrified and terrified thinking every company treated prospectives in this manner! Thankfully, I soon learned that wasn’t the case!
I once went through two rounds of interviews, including a three hour-long second interview that involved about eight people. A few weeks went by and I didn’t hear anything. (I did the normal follow up, etc.) I actually got an email from one of my peer-level interviewers, asking if I had heard anything! A definite no-no, but I was glad to learn that I had been considered the lead contender by the people who would have been my co-workers. About a year later, HR called me to see if I would be interested in the job since they were hiring again, and I was such a strong candidate that they were sorry the job had been cancelled last time. I had started a new job in the meantime, so I had no problem telling them how disappointing it was to not be told what happened, or given any sort of response the last time.
Good for you! This is exactly what they need to hear.
Wouldn’t it be nice to tell them that you’d get back to them and never call back ;-)
Thank you to everyone who left a comment! For some reason I’m not getting the notifications by email when I have new comments. Oh well…anywho Alison you actually answered the question I emailed to you pertaining to this in your fast Friday post, so again thank you!
For all who commented, I have emailed my first choice and I felt I was very sincere and honest about the two offers I now have. I hate to play games and pretend I’m not really interested when I really am. Many friends and family members have suggested I do different things, but I went with my what I’d hope someone would do if the shoe was on the other foot.
I haven’t heard back yet, that email was yesterday. In the mean time I am waiting to receive written offers since verbal offers are just verbal…but I anticipate having them today. My hope is that both companies don’t mind allowing me until Tuesday to review the offers(which I have already stated to them) since the weekend begins tomorrow and I honestly do want to review them fully and fairly. They’re both great opportunities, but I really really want my first choice.
And thank you fposte! It does feel good to have three strong prospects! (Ha, funny thing: my old manager asked me to use her as a reference so I have been. After given the two companies a reference, an employee under her management said they wanted to move into another position. She contacted me first to see if I’d consider having my old position back –same one I’d have with either three companies– and I felt so honored! Unfortunately, her manager thought it best to go with an internal candidate. But it’s the thought that counts!)
This is my situation right now! I went through a screening and then two rounds of interviews that went well at what would be my dream job. They said it was down to three people including me and they would contact me by the end of next week (that was the last week of August) and if I didn’t hear to contact them. I did, they told me there’d been a massive internet outage (okay, it was the aftermath of Irene) and if I didn’t hear anything within three days to contact the hiring manager directly. I did, and it’s been radio silence. The job itself is still posted. It’s human services nonprofit, so I know there can be snags but at this point I’d just like an email or a phone call to let me know I am out of the running or there are unforseen delays. Sigh. I’m applying for other jobs on the assumption I didn’t get this one, but it’s my dream job.
I interviewed twice for what I thought would be my dream job. I just talked to someone who recently left that agency. Turns out they’re closing down departments one after another, and playing fast and loose with their employees. Whew – dodged that bullet!
Definitely! I think the department I applied to was expanding, but who knows. Budgets are terrible.
Hi Danielle,
I don’t know precisely where your potential job is, but I work near VT and I know that human services agencies there have been totally swamped just trying to keep up with the amount of donations and the extent of displaced people’s needs. It may possibly be an all-hands-on-deck situation to get the very basic stuff done at that nonprofit right now. So don’t lose hope! They might have had to put hiring on the back burner.
Of course, take this with a whole handful of salt since I don’t know where you are geographically, precisely what kind of nonprofit you’re applying to, etc. ;)
I am in MA, so we’re close! I have a feeling some budget things came on, since human services and the particular subsector I specialize in constantly ends up on the chopping block when it comes time for cuts. Or else they were ordered to put hiring on hold. But they can’t tell me that? SIGH.
Sometimes, situations within a company change. I went for an interview in November (after submitting my resume 6 weeks earlier) with a company poised in an industry that is still in a period of decline (construction and building within Australia) with no significant move upwards, and is not set to improve until later this year. As such, I knew this was going to be a waiting game. I made it to the short list of around 5 applicants. I’m in a position where I am currently making a career change and don’t desperately need a job. Given this, I applied to my first company of choice, not just any company.
During the interview I was told that I was at the top of all applicants interviewed at that point, but they still had another two applicants to interview over the following two weeks. At that point, the company would be closing shop over the Christmas and new year period for about 3 weeks (this is the industry norm). They made it clear that they would not be making a decision until Jan/Feb, as this would be when all decision makers would be able to come together and new projects should be secured.
I sent an email the following day, thanking them for their time and received a reply the same day, stating that my application was very strong.
Following this, at the end of January, I sent a further email ‘touching base’ using an opening that one of the interviews had left me with. This also prompted a quick reply, again stating they were getting closer to making a decision, and that I would hear from them soon.
Keeping in mind their statement that they would not be making a decision until Jan/Feb, I decided to wait it out.
By yesterday I’d had enough and assumed that I had been given the run around. I sent an email stating that I felt that the position had been given to someone else and that whilst I understood I was disappointed.
I had resigned myself to the fact that I had missed out. To my surprise, I received a response within 20 minutes, stating that the position had not been filled and they were still very interested in me. They were not interviewing any-more candidates and they apologised for not getting back to me. They told me that due to market conditions they have been unable to secure enough new projects to justify taking on a new employee at this stage, but they will be as soon as they secure the projects they need. When this happens, if I’m still available they would be very interested in me and they hope I will still be available
I think it’s important to consider market conditions for the industries you are trying to gain employment in. I have started to put feelers out and it appears that only a handful of companies within my desired industry are hiring and unfortunately none of them are offering jobs for my desired position. Thoughts anyone? Does this sound like a run-around or simply bad market conditions?
Sounds like they’re being straightforward with you. And they have no reason not to.
I work in construction in Australia and I’ve noticed no one in my particular field are hiring as well, its a very volatile industry at the moment. However it’s poor form to not contact you to let you know what is going on, it can’t hurt to send your shortlist of people a quick email to let them know there has been delays.