Time-sensitive help with a job interview.

Chases Street Demons

I interviewed for a law enforcement position on August 28th. I feel that I did very well on the interview so my hyper-irrational fear that I have been disqualified is very, very small. The organization told everyone before the interviews that the interviews would run through September 5th. Part of our application was giving them full clearance for background check information. There is a pool of 51 applicants. So, I'm aware that this is quite a large amount of work for a small organization to get done.

As of now, it's September 15th and I have had no contact at all from the organization. During previous steps I had gotten email contact so I know that they have my contact information and that it works.

At the original test the Chief said he wanted to have the new officers into the Academy "he hoped" in October.

Now I'm on the horns of a dilemma. I want very badly to contact the department, but I don't want to make it appear as though I lack patience/fortitude/gumption and reduce my chances of getting hired. I have a valid email contact for a LT who is handling their recruiting, so I can either call or send an email if I decide to contact them.

Is it presumptuous to send an email? Normally I would not be worried about the time frame here but I know they want to get moving quickly and I'm afraid that they sent me an email that never got to me.

Dhalphir

Chases Street Demons wrote:

I interviewed for a law enforcement position on August 28th. I feel that I did very well on the interview so my hyper-irrational fear that I have been disqualified is very, very small. The organization told everyone before the interviews that the interviews would run through September 5th. Part of our application was giving them full clearance for background check information. There is a pool of 51 applicants. So, I'm aware that this is quite a large amount of work for a small organization to get done.

As of now, it's September 15th and I have had no contact at all from the organization. During previous steps I had gotten email contact so I know that they have my contact information and that it works.

At the original test the Chief said he wanted to have the new officers into the Academy "he hoped" in October.

Now I'm on the horns of a dilemma. I want very badly to contact the department, but I don't want to make it appear as though I lack patience/fortitude/gumption and reduce my chances of getting hired. I have a valid email contact for a LT who is handling their recruiting, so I can either call or send an email if I decide to contact them.

Is it presumptuous to send an email? Normally I would not be worried about the time frame here but I know they want to get moving quickly and I'm afraid that they sent me an email that never got to me.

That last part is unlikely. I know everyone always worries about that, but if they wanted to hire you, they wouldn't send one email and leave it at that.

That aside, it is not at all poor form to enquire about an interview down the track, particularly this long afterward.

For future reference, its good form to send an email with a thank you note a day or two after the interview. This is an excellent opportunity to show how serious you are and also an opportunity for extra exposure. In a large pool of applicants, the name of the game is standing out from the crowd, and an interview followup is one excellent way todo that a few days later. Won't helpwith this interview, but will in the future.

Invisible

I don't think it's presumptuous at all. The bureaucracy involved in getting someone hired for a government position is mindboggling and hoping to get something approved by this <month> is largely just wishful thinking that relies on entire groups of other people agreeing. A simple email asking where you stand, that you remember him stating to have the recruits in the academy sometime in October, isn't going to make them reject you. They may not be able to discuss specifics, but they'll probably be able to tell you where they're at in the process.

With it only being two weeks, less than that for some applicants, they are probably still conducting background checks.

amateurhour

There's nothing wrong with shooting an e-mail or phone call out there to check the status, but like Invisible said, they may still be going through background checks. I worked in Law Enforcement and it's not like getting hired in retail where they make a couple of calls and you take a drug test and you're hired two days later.

It can take a few weeks, if not over a month, to get hired, and there very well may be an issue where the budget is different (especially if the government agency is at the end of fiscal year and decided to push back hires until new money arrives)

Don't worry about it, and feel free to send an e-mail or call to see if you're still in the running.

Fantasma

You should just wait, many people think it is ok to call or send e-mails to obtain a "status report" of whatever they think it is important, but this will be annoying as hell.

Chases Street Demons

Thanks folks. I sent an email and couched it with the idea of "I'm contacting you to see if there's any more information needed" and asked about my status. I know LE is a time consuming field to get into, so i'll just cross my fingers.

Al_wat

Fantasma wrote: »

You should just wait, many people think it is ok to call or send e-mails to obtain a "status report" of whatever they think it is important, but this will be annoying as hell.

If I had this attitude I would not currently be employed.

Waiting an appropriate amount of time, and sending a short and concise email asking for an update is totally fine.