Appropriate time to bow out of interviews

I recently was undecided about whether I liked a firm all the way up until I got an offer. I spent a week thinking about it and then declined. Now the headhunter that covered that opportunity won't talk to me (probably fair).

So, is there a time at which you can bow out of the interview process and it's still considered kosher? Is your last chance after the 1st round? After the 2nd round?

I need to maintain a really good relationship with the current headhunter is why I ask. I'm in a process that is "ok" quality, but the headhunter has an upcoming mandate starting next week that is a dream job.

3 Comments
 

I think the best way of handling is to provide immediate feedback after another stage. If you met a few people during interview stage II and you didn't like the culture, then say so in a polite email or call the HH. A week is probably a bit too long, to be honest.
From what I have seen from working in both the UK and the US, the pace is fairly quick in providing feedback to the candidate and it should be the same the other way round. Maybe 1-2 days max. .

 

Would agree with the poster who says that was likely in the long side to give feedback and that giving honest feedback to the headhunter sooner than later is good. A few times I’ve had interviews and told the headhunter I probably wasn’t interested and sometimes they’ve agreed and ended the process and sometimes they’ve said to give the second round a try and see if I still felt the same way.

 

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