I applied for a great position in the Midwest (I'm trying to move back to the Midwest from Washington, D.C.). The job is a great job, but I've been doing the recruiting for the position via phone and email (I work in D.C.). I also thought I was maybe SLIGHTLY underqualified for the job (wanted someone with 5 years of CRE finance experience with a decent legal background. I've got 3 1/2 years with only a little legal background).
Basically, I applied for the job, got a call in late November and did a phone interview with the MD. MD set up a lunch interview with a local D.C. guy. It went VERY well. MD set up a joint phone interview with the president of the organization and a potential colleague that took place Friday, December 17. I'd say the interview went well, but not VERY well (like a solid B on the A-F scale). The day before this interview, my references were called and it was reported to me from my references that they gave me SICK references.
At the end of the phone interview, the president said, "If you have any additional questions, you can refer to [the managing director]. I suspect [the managing director] will be following up with you."
It's been almost 2 weeks and I've heard, well, dick from anyone. I don't know if it's the holiday season or what. But in all my recruiting experiences 1) if you get to the calling references part, it's almost a slam dunk but 2) if they want you, there won't be 2 weeks of radio silence. I'm totally confused. Any thoughts on this?
It could be something like they're making sure they still have the $ for the position, it could just be the holiday and the people who need to do the paperwork are out of the office.
Have you reached out to the MD? It sounds like the president gave you that option.
Ya know, I hadn't reached out to the MD because I had already had about 4 hours of interviews with separate people (including the MD) and they actually joked with me that I was good at asking a lot of questions (i.e. you ask too many questions). So I didn't feel like I needed to (or should) follow up with the MD with more questions. I honestly thought, "Oh, it's Friday, December 17. Money on them getting back Monday, December 20, I give my 4 weeks notice and I'm home to KC by mid-January." I didn't expect the days to drag on like this.
I was planning on following up maybe in a week or so, but I guess I figured they have my information and will contact me when they're ready. I'm hoping it's just the holiday season, but I don't know. Surprised they'd give me total radio silence.
they probably have another candidate they like and are trying to figure out between the two of you guys - following up with strong interest should help if this is the case (budget at year end and vacations could be an issue as well)
It's the end of the year, I'd start worrying after next week.
If you really can't wait that long (like me) then go ahead and shoot them an e-mail.
What about sending a thank you email to test the water?
Just throwing it out there. Might be a bit late for that anyway...
In order to create a record of how recruiting might work during the holiday season to help people out in the future (who use the search function!), I will update this thread and let people know what I did and what happened.
I decided to send a short follow-up (about 110 words) about an hour ago indicating my continued interest. I got an auto response indicating the MD is out until January 3, 2011 (Monday). So I guess that answers some of the question. I'll wait another week before "panicking" (I'm really not going to panic--I've got a good job in D.C. and will just continue to search. No big deal).
Wanted to update this thread for future use by others. I got an email yesterday from the MD thanking me but indicating that they were moving forward with another candidate. I think the takeway is that when you make it to the very end of the hiring process and then get radio silence for a week or more it COULD mean that the firm is taking a hard look at someone else and that you are the back-up.
Another takeaway--it is VERY hard to find a job in another city when you don't currently live there. Getting beat out by local candidates is becoming routine.
From my experience (got dinged more than my fair share), when it takes a few weeks like that they usually have another candidate they have given an offer to and are waiting for a formal yes or for him/her to sign the contract. When i got my current job i had a voicemail from HR on my phone when i landed back home from the interview.
Sorry to hear VTech. I had something similar happen to me about 2 yrs ago - where I had very good interviews with the entire team, and then little to no follow up afterwards (but they kept stringing me along - which was annoying because I could have taken some time for vacation or other things). Same thing - they were looking at another candidate.
Agreed on the local candidate thing - makes a big difference. It's also a sign of commitment for firms if the candidate is - already there/settled in, has family, friends and personal ties (potentially less likely to leave for other firms outside the city)
From some friends' experience - radio silence can also just be that the firm is busy with other things, smaller and moves at a slower pace, or sometimes there's internal changes within the team that make them rethink or postpone the process.
Yep. I actually had a verbal job offer from a company in my target city but that was given the "pocket veto" when the parent company failed to give the company the green light for the position. Strange how these firms work--jerks didn't even tell me (and in fact still haven't followed up with me). Gave me a verbal offer and then cancelled the job posting and ignored my follow-up emails. So yeah, these firms will definitely reconsider positions in the middle of the process.
Yep, same thing with me.
Job 1: interview Friday, offer via email on Monday afternoon. Job 2: interviewed, offer about 2.5 weeks later via phone (I think I was the 2nd choice based on what I understand) Job 3: interviewed in the AM, offered via phone in the PM Job 4 (current): interviewed and invited back for a second where I was offered the job in-person.
So there is no formulaic or universal way companies offer jobs, but there is definitely a trend. If a company wants you (i.e. you're their first choice), there will not be a huge lag time in communication.
double post.
double post
triple post?
LOL.
Trying to get a job in a different city is a pain in the ass. I can't tell you how many times I'd kick ass on a phone interview, get invited to an in-person 2nd round, then have that get canceled/they stop responding. Every time it's because they find enough local candidates. In a bad economy, there will always be a large enough pool in their town, your reasoning for wanting to move there be damned.
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