August 06, 2012, 10:48 AM —
I had a great job interview two weeks ago for a position I think I’m really qualified to perform. I sent the interviewer a thank you email and left a phone message with the Human Resources person that set up the interview. What should I do next or have I already lost the job?
First of all, thank you for your question and I hope my answer is of value to you and others who are reading my reply. As the title of this column alludes, when looking for a job, time is not on your side. The more time that goes by between your interview and job offer, the more time there is to stop your offer from becoming a reality. These things include:
• A company-wide hiring freeze
• The job opening being closed for any one of various reasons
• The hiring manager changing jobs, thus putting the interview process on hold until a new manager is in place
• A current company employee coming forward and showing interest in and getting the position
• A company/department reorganization that changes the required job skills
• The interviewing of additional candidates that may be more qualified, better known, better fit, or just more recently interviewed
With all that said, there are a number of reasons why you may not have yet received a call from the company, some of them are neutral and some of them are troublesome.
The neutral reasons are:
• The hiring manager and/or Human Resources person may be on vacation or simply distracted by a higher priority issue
• The manager thinks you’re great and wants to hire you but is required to advertise the position within the company for thirty days before hiring an external candidate
• They want to bring you in for a second interview but they are having trouble scheduling the best time
• The company just moves slowly because there is a big difference between company time (how fast a company moves) and candidate time (how fast the candidate wants the company to move)
• The general phenomenon that because companies are not hiring as many people due to the economy, there is a lesser feeling of urgency to hire people quickly
• Because companies are currently hiring less people, they are less organized regarding the hiring process than one may hope
The troublesome reasons you may not be getting a call are:
• You are the company’s second choice and they are keeping you on the string in case the person they really want decides not to take the position
• They have either hired someone or closed the job opening and didn’t have the courtesy to call and tell you
• The company likes you, but has decided that they want to interview more candidates before making a decision
My suggestions to you are twofold:
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