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Radio silence after interviews
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Okay, so. Talk me down or something.
BACKSTORY: I'm miserable at my current job. It's not in my (sub?)field, the pay is lousy, the pace is lousy, the benefits are geared way toward people who aren't me, and the goalposts have shifted so often that I haven't been able to get a handle on what I would say I do here. I've been in my current position four months, and I'm already looking for something new.
CURRENT STORY: Local Large Company seemingly randomly posted a position that is pretty much exactly what I've done in the past, including exactly what I did both during and after grad school. (I'm hesitant to say what, exactly, in fear of potentially leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, but it's mid-high level tech work in an enterprise setting, and you typically work under a CXO- or architect-level person.) It's kind of a specialist position in a subfield that doesn't really get that many openings in my area, so I pretty immediately bite on it.
I hear back from them the same day, and they're using works like "excited" when describing the reaction they had to my application. They want to do an HR phoner immediately, which goes well, and a Group Lead phoner within a day, which also goes well, and an in-person interview at the local office within a week.
So, all that happens, with lots and lots of pre-game communications from all parties involved at every step, and the people on their end generally being an order of magnitude more punctual than what I'm accustomed to dealing with. After the in-person interview, however, things seem to have gotten a little...loose? Lax? Questionable? Not up to the precedent previously set?
First, there was mention of a phoner with a CXO-level person soon to take place soon after the in-person interview. I was told I would hear from HR to schedule it, as per the several previous phone and in-person interviews. The next I heard from the company was the actual CXO calling to ask if "now was still a good time to talk." Apparently, the call had been scheduled without my knowledge. I scrambled just a hair (I was walking out of a meeting at my current position when the phone rang), but recovered gracefully.
At the end of said call, the CXO said I would definitely be hearing back from HR at the beginning of next week. He was careful to emphasize this, since the call which we were finishing up on had only been half-scheduled. This call happened last Friday, making "early next week" by my reckoning two or three days ago. Since then, radio silence.
So, I haven't heard from them for a week. Yes, I know, a week is typically absolutely nothing in terms of this process. However, the precedent for punctuality was really kind of set during the early-to-mid phases of the interview process (and then kind of averted for the last phoner).
I've been seriously stressing out about this, because I really want the job. It's pretty much what I was custom built to do, it's in a subfield that I really value (and that all the old, old, old people at my current job seem to disdain), the opportunities in this work are limited around here, and frankly, the salary range that they quoted me is a huge step up. So I don't want to screw this up, but I'd really like to hear something, even if it is that they went with someone else, in which case I could at least stop staring at my phone and stressing out about calls that haven't come. (It doesn't help that I've been burned before in this kind of situation.)
So basically, what's the protocol here? At what point can I start saying, "Hi, I was told I would hear something back by X, and that was Y days ago. Just checking in"? And who would I contact? The HR rep? Group leads? CXO?
Am I just being paranoid at this point?
BACKSTORY: I'm miserable at my current job. It's not in my (sub?)field, the pay is lousy, the pace is lousy, the benefits are geared way toward people who aren't me, and the goalposts have shifted so often that I haven't been able to get a handle on what I would say I do here. I've been in my current position four months, and I'm already looking for something new.
CURRENT STORY: Local Large Company seemingly randomly posted a position that is pretty much exactly what I've done in the past, including exactly what I did both during and after grad school. (I'm hesitant to say what, exactly, in fear of potentially leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, but it's mid-high level tech work in an enterprise setting, and you typically work under a CXO- or architect-level person.) It's kind of a specialist position in a subfield that doesn't really get that many openings in my area, so I pretty immediately bite on it.
I hear back from them the same day, and they're using works like "excited" when describing the reaction they had to my application. They want to do an HR phoner immediately, which goes well, and a Group Lead phoner within a day, which also goes well, and an in-person interview at the local office within a week.
So, all that happens, with lots and lots of pre-game communications from all parties involved at every step, and the people on their end generally being an order of magnitude more punctual than what I'm accustomed to dealing with. After the in-person interview, however, things seem to have gotten a little...loose? Lax? Questionable? Not up to the precedent previously set?
First, there was mention of a phoner with a CXO-level person soon to take place soon after the in-person interview. I was told I would hear from HR to schedule it, as per the several previous phone and in-person interviews. The next I heard from the company was the actual CXO calling to ask if "now was still a good time to talk." Apparently, the call had been scheduled without my knowledge. I scrambled just a hair (I was walking out of a meeting at my current position when the phone rang), but recovered gracefully.
At the end of said call, the CXO said I would definitely be hearing back from HR at the beginning of next week. He was careful to emphasize this, since the call which we were finishing up on had only been half-scheduled. This call happened last Friday, making "early next week" by my reckoning two or three days ago. Since then, radio silence.
So, I haven't heard from them for a week. Yes, I know, a week is typically absolutely nothing in terms of this process. However, the precedent for punctuality was really kind of set during the early-to-mid phases of the interview process (and then kind of averted for the last phoner).
I've been seriously stressing out about this, because I really want the job. It's pretty much what I was custom built to do, it's in a subfield that I really value (and that all the old, old, old people at my current job seem to disdain), the opportunities in this work are limited around here, and frankly, the salary range that they quoted me is a huge step up. So I don't want to screw this up, but I'd really like to hear something, even if it is that they went with someone else, in which case I could at least stop staring at my phone and stressing out about calls that haven't come. (It doesn't help that I've been burned before in this kind of situation.)
So basically, what's the protocol here? At what point can I start saying, "Hi, I was told I would hear something back by X, and that was Y days ago. Just checking in"? And who would I contact? The HR rep? Group leads? CXO?
Am I just being paranoid at this point?
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This discussion has been closed.
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I would feel that you would be justified in contacting the CXO to thank him for the interviews and calls and say that the HR department hasn't contacted you yet so ask if there is anything that you need to provide to keep the ball rolling. If you just contact the HR department they can brush you off or keep on being lazy, but if you contact a higher up then at least that person can hold them accountable.
Whether or not you call the CXO back I guess would depend on how familiar your conversation got; if they referred you back to HR, I'd go to them first unless they seem like a total dead-end.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Don't panic, but do follow up with a short note thanking them for their time, expressing your continued interest in the position, and offering to assist with any other information they might need.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
I've been on the other side where the HR person has fucked up. It's extremely annoying, and I when I've received similar emails from applicants, I light a fire and get shit figured out. Even if it's just a "sorry we've found someone we like more for the position."
SINCE WHEN ARE THERE EVEN HR CONFERENCES?
Where I work, it can take weeks to hear back about a job. It sucks, cause sometimes the person as moved on. But we aren't allowed to contact the candidate ourselves until everything is signed off and HR had had their call to award the job.
I'm currently in the midst of that process, though prospective-dream-employer gave me a clear timeline of two weeks to 30 days to hear back, and today was only the one week mark.
So, go me, I guess.
Big companies can't get out of their own way sometimes. It used to take me two months to get someone on board from the time I pulled the "Hire this person" lever.
Can I just point out that the need to "keep showing interest" when they often play fast and loose on their end is kind of fucked?
Anyhow, congrats guy!
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but not too much interest since you don't want to come off as needy
Yep. Also, sometimes there's a temp freeze while people completely unrelated to the job sign off on things (think rubber stamping), which can give the illusion of "we're not interested". Or reorgs, those often muck things up as the hiring manager changes midstream.
Why fucked? Employers aren't mind readers. If they like Person A and Person B and Person A follows up and seems enthusiastic, and Person B maintains radio silence, they will assume that person A is more interested, even if Person B is praying silently by the phone. If you assume a company is fucking you around when they are really just humans being human (not always perfect), you will screw yourself over in your job search.
@ceres please close.