When you interview for a job

and it goes pretty well, and you get the "we are interviewing candidates through the end of the week" routine. And you are told that they will be in touch the following week. And then they don''t contact you. And then you contact them and they tell you that they have not selected the candidate yet but will have word the FOLLOWING week and thank you for your patience.. It means you don''t have a chance in hell, right?\ \ I specifically asked if they went with someone else, I got a personal reply from the manager I interviewed with stating the following above..\ \ It simply means that they are looking for someone better, right?

It''s not necessarily "better"--during this economy, it may be (it happened to me recently) "cheaper."
It''s quite typical in large corporations for there to be a byzantine series of approvals required for new hires. This is particularly true in the current economic climate, when many companies have effectively frozen hiring for last 18 months or so in effort to control costs. \ \ Although my company is performing very well, it''s incredibly difficult to hire staff. Even if I have budget and headcount, I need to get sign-off from our divisional CFO and MD, company CFO, CEO, and head of HR, and then finally CFO of our $10bn parent company. \ \ This process can frequently take weeks to navigate, and we''ve lost huge numbers of great candidates who find alternative posts while we''re waiting for someone on the other side of the world to return from their vacation. \ \ While your reasoning that they are waiting for a better candidate might be correct, may actually be that they haven''t had the necessary approval to make you an offer, and have to make you hold-on for an additional period.
I do not think most businesses and corporations understand that rudeness in the hiring process can affect the bottom line in out years. It will not always be a hirer''s market\ \ I for one will not do business (if I can help it) with a business that has treated me shabbily after I submitted an application to work there.\ \ Due to two protected periods of joblessness over the past few years, there are lots of companies, corporations, and businesses on my "do not buy list."
It''s possible, OP, that there never was a job on the table to begin with or that there was a job but that the company had to go through the routine of interviewing people before they picked whom they wanted.\ \ You''re better off not being there. Better luck in your job hunt!
Were you wearing short shorts in the interview?
In this economy, it could also mean that as much as they want and need to hire someone they''re just uncertain about whether they can afford it. This is why it comes down to a week by week monitoring of their financial situation or they''re waiting for something else to fall into place so they can go ahead and hire someone.\ \ It''s the same thing with business purchases right now too.
Which means, in other words, that you cannot take any job posting or purchase order seriously at this point.
This world feels so completely hopeless at time. :(
OP
The world is meant to feel completely hopeless at times: that''s just the law of averages. What you need to do, OP, is to refuse to take the current bad luck seriously (just as you will need to refuse to take the future good luck seriously). Doing your best and then letting go with a shrug is the smartest thing you can do.\ \ I''ve been there, OP, and I know how easy it is to give advice. But all the same, this is the best way for you to negotiate the current rough situation.
It can mean all kinds of things. R9 gave the best advice.
Maybe you''ve never been involved in recruitment, OP but, the process can be complex and affected by many different factors from one of the panel being off sick to changes in internal finance. I''ve been in a situation where it took almost eight weeks after the initail interviews to make an offer to someone we saw on the first day, then of course we had to wait four weeks for him to work his notice period. Give it time, it might turn out all right in the end.
The only hope I have is that he cold have easily said, Yes we went with another candidate- And he didn''t.\ \ The search continues.\ \ But I really liked the people I met and the company... And yes it was a new position for the company so I am not surprised..
I''m in the process of screening candidates for a position in my company, and honestly the process just takes forever. \ \ The recruiting department sends me a pile of resumes, and it''s something I kind of have to do in my spare time, and then I write back a summary of pros and cons for each candidate. Then Recruiting does an initial phone screen, and then sets up another phone screen with me. assuming that goes well, they then come in for a series of inteviews. All of this takes time.\ \ While it would be great to be doing this process with all candidates simultaneously, it''s just not possible.\ \ One of the first people I screened is one of the top candidates and I haven''t talked to him for 2 weeks, but he''s still at the top of the running.\ \ Not saying this is a good process, but it''s just the reality of my current situation. Hope that helps, OP.
I can relate to the OP''s dilemma. I was laid off three weeks ago and a few days afterwards (thanks to the referral of a friend) I interviewed at a start-up. The thing is this particular position wasn''t exactly well defined and even though I had the impression the principals did like me, I suspected that I might be too expensive for them (I think they want to hire someone as cheaply as possible). The joke is I wasn''t exactly making a fortune with my last job but I''m not entry-level either. \ \ Anyway, I followed up with my friend''s contact (who I also interviewed with) once very politely and never heard back. The thing is I wouldn''t mind if they just told me they went with someone else or something along those lines because that''s how things go but the fact that this was through a friend of mine (who does freelance for this company) kind of gnaws at me.
Never pin your hopes on one particular job. Until you''ve been formally offered the job and accepted, you should keep looking.\ \ Every organization has its own procedures and takes its own time filling jobs. You can''t possibly know what''s going on behind the scenes and it''s possible the person who interviewed you doesn''t either.\ \ Don''t press them for a definite yes or no. Remember that if they offer the job to someone else, that person might turn it down, or could not work out for some reason, in which case you could be next in line. \ \ As with dating, the key to interviewing is not to seem as desperate as you really are.
It doesn''t mean you have no chance at all, OP, but it may be a sign that the company kind of sucks.\ \ I was once hired on after being delayed and told they were still looking for someone, only to find out later they wanted to hire in house so they could avoid spending a few dollars on a new employee''s name tag, door tag, etc. No one in house was as qualified as I was, so they reluctantly hired me. They turned out to be cheap bastards, surprise surprise.
I have never dealt with ruder, less communicative, more elusive hiring managers/recruiters than I have trying to find a job this past search (I just got an offer yesterday). There are many times where I feel like they were blatantly lying to string me along. I can't tell you how many "we love you and we'll be in touch next week" I've heard...and then nothing. Or "we're going to call and schedule an interview." Normally at least people bother to tell you they're not interested, but now they sound all excited and thrilled and then just stop talking. It's horrible and appalling, and as someone said above, the market isn't going to be like this forever. Don't think for an instant people like me aren't going to forget which companies jerked us around. The one good side of this - normally when I do find a job I email anyone I've been working with to look to tell them. Now? I'm not going to tell that company that was going to schedule an interview with me LAST FRIDAY or whatever, why bother. Makes my life easier. OP, just hang in there. I've been looking since July, and only interviewed 2 weeks ago for the job I just got. It all happened very quickly. When it's right, it'll work out. Until then, just keep looking, until you have an offer in hand, NOTHING is definite.
It''s so hard not to think about your interview and hope you get the job, but if you do that you''ll go crazy, OP.
It could also mean they cancelled the job, or, they are holding on the job for a period of time. It could really not be you, or the pool of candidates at all. Budget issues, etc. \ \ Don''t feel bad.
OP, I'll tell you the same thing I've told countless others for many years. When you interview for a job (especially in the type of economy we're in now), and once you've sent your thank you letters you just need to sit back and basically forget about it. The chances that you will never hear from them again are far greater than the chance that you will. Worrying yourself into a frazzle over it is not healthy. If they want you they will hire you. If they don't want to hire you then you'll just move on to something else. Do not expect most anyone you interview to do what they say they're going to do especially where timetables are concerned. They will tell most people whatever they can just to get the interview over with on to the next candidate. Also, the larger the company, the longer it takes to fill the job for all the reasons given by other posters. It's sad to say but the whole process of finding a job today is one of the cruelest processes a person can go through because most hiring managers are too incompetent and thoughtless to think about how their actions are affecting the people they interview. Most of them have a "better them than me" attitude. They're just glad they have jobs and don't care one bit about all the people they interview who are desperate for a job.
Interesting responses here, but it also depends on the field. I work in a creative field, in the advertising end of music and fashion. About twelve years ago, I was called back three times for an Art Director position in an in-house art department. I figured, if they're calling me back for third interview, they're very interested. The person doing the hiring was actually present, she was the Creative Director. One of the companies fashion designers was also present as well as the main Art Director, who was actually more of a Production Manger, than a true Art Director. This woman's job was to overseer the production of the graphics, not create the actual layouts. My experience and portfolio are excellent, having worked and freelanced for some major companies over the years. I never heard back from any of them! Three interviews and not even the courtesy of an email response? I then called the Creative Director's secretary, I was actually put through, I figured, who cares at that point, they just left me flat, who cares if they think I'm being rude or overstepping my boundaries. I didn't think I was. The Creative Director told me, "We've decide not to create another Art Director position." That came as a big shock to me, because I was told there WAS an actual job which needed to be filled. This entire runaround from this company took almost two months. Of course, I was going on other interviews as well as freelancing. The economy wasn't as bad twelve years ago as now, there was work out there. I discussed this interview with a close friend, who works in another end of the art field, he's had much experience in these types of situations where bosses give job hunters a false sense that they are really interested and the main candidate. Getting a second or third interview used to mean you were pretty much hired. He said, "Bottom line, someone in that interview was greatly threatened by you and your portfolio, You've worked for major fashion companies, major record companies, you have tons of experience. You are extremely personable. There probably was a job, you were just too experienced. Clearly someone or all of them were threatened." Bring this situation to toady's cutthroat job market, people with tons of experience no longer seem to being the running, especially when you're being interviewed by a 25 year old Art Director with much less experience than you have. No one seems to take any of this into account, especially when you're interviewing for a job which is paying much less than your old job, since it's low paying, they also figure you'll quit when something better comes along. The creative team at this company wasn't very cutting edge, mostly because of the type of items they produce and they're market. The Art Director looked like an ex nun, she didn't even know what type of questions to ask me. I almost laughed when she asked me if I knew certain computer graphic programs, sure this was 12 years ago, but most people in the art field started using computer graphic programs in the 1990s. The company seemed very behind the times, no wonder they felt threatened, on the other hand, you'd think they'd want some new blood to expand their market?! When we don't get jobs which we've gone on a few interviews for, we tend to blame ourselves, question what we did 'wrong' etc. We've got to look at the big picture. It's usually that we're too experienced, asking for too much money or the person hiring is simply threatened by our vast experience.
I had a similar experience interviewing for a legal job before the crash - in a town that really hasn't had a crash yet and was sort of booming at the time. It was an associate general counsel position that I was very well qualified for in terms of experience. I had a reference from within the organization as well as four other good ones. I had a great interview with the G.C. and the other associate G.C. that ran two hours and was in most respects the sort of interview you hope you have, minus some of the borderline illegal questions they asked me. The other associate GC walked out with me so we could finish our conversation. I wrote them both a nice letter. Then, nothing. Ever. No response to email, no telephone, nothing. This being a relatively small community, I knew one of the other applicants for the job, who probably was more qualified than me. He got the same treatment. As far as I know, they never filled that position. They just didn't bother to inform anyone of that fact. It's pretty weird, when you consider how often it turns out that all industries tend to be relatively small circles, and nobody ever forgets this sort of thing when they're mistreated in this way.
If you were still in the running for the job, I''m sure your desperate over-reaction to the manager and your stalker-like obsession over it on this message board virtually guarantess that you are out of the running now.\ \ Kiss the job goodbye, Geraldine, and move on.
My company doesn''t contact all the losers until the winner completes a week of work. I guess they''ve been burnt by people starting then quitting.
OP, I was strung along for a month after I interviewed for my current job (6 years ago - it's worked out well so far). They told me they were interviewing several candidates, and I'm sure that's true, but I knew my interviews had gone well. I wrote thank you notes to the people I'd interviewed with and then I just waited it out. I would never call or email to follow-up after the traditional interview/thank you note process. That paints a candidate as anxious (I also do some hiring, and excessive follow-up pushes a candidate out of the running for me). If they do have several candidates, they're going to lean toward the more confident one. The interview process is done -- it's now time to let them come to you. In my case, I did think the month of silence was strange, but I've come to think that it may have been because of a combination of factors, including formal budget/head count approval for the hire, perhaps mixed with a bit of deliberate delay so when they did call me, they'd likely have more bargaining power with the terms. I wanted the job, several others wanted the job, and they made sure I knew it when they made their offer. Sit tight. Don't worry. The job could be yours if you want it and they just haven't told you yet.
A good friend of mine works in HR. He got an interview at a big multinational. He checked it out with some inside contacts, only to find his job will disappear during restructuring, yet HR can continuing to advertise it and interview for it. \ \ This seems to be the trend in many companies, a job will be advertised, and either the company/HR are not sure they can afford to actually hire someone, or they intend to lay you off within a matter of months.\ \ My HR friend also said some big companies are looking at eliminate or slim down their graduate recruitment, in favour of non-graduates on minimum wage.
[quote]I would never call or email to follow-up after the traditional interview/thank you note process. That paints a candidate as anxious (I also do some hiring, and excessive follow-up pushes a candidate out of the running for me). If they do have several candidates, they''re going to lean toward the more confident one.\ \ I suppose it works, but it also exemplifies the type of nonsensical, personal bias that should not be part of the hiring decision. \ \ People have all kinds of reasons for caring about a timeline or wanting a decision on or off the table.
Companies just fuck with people. They drag their heels on hiring and just don''t have a lot of respect for people.
>>Companies just fuck with people. They drag their heels on hiring and just don't have a lot of respect for people.>> I agree totally. In today's economy, the keepers-of-the-gates are having loads of fun fucking with desperate people's emotions. They are doing everything we were told as not to do on interviews, but since they are the ones doing the hiring, it's OK for them to be total unprofessional assholes. I think I'd posted here once about a horrendous interview situation I'd had, I'd gone on an interview to a small ad agency, twice. They initially called me, they saw my resume somewhere, then contacted me. I never even sent in my resume to these people. Both times the Studio Manager was out sick. Her secretary didn't even know I had an interview that day! No one called to reschedule. The second time I showed up, a person from another department interviewed me, they knew nothing about the position. If that wasn't unprofessional I don't know what was! Yet, because we are perceived as a desperate job seekers, these companies will continue these bizarre practices. Companies are also hiring over qualified people for low salaries, they're getting the best workers for nothing wages.
R21 makes some great points. You can''t underestimate the insecurity factor, especially with such high quality people looking for work. \ \ I had a similar experience to r21''s and, surprise surprise, didn''t get the job even though it looked like I would. But I realized that it was a blessing in disguise. The woman I would have been working for was most likely intimidated by my experience. She and her interviewing buddy kept saying to me that whoever took the position would need to be "drama-free" as they had experienced dramatic episodes with the previous job holder. Well, I read between the lines. The two women were raging cunts and ran the last person out of the position. They wanted someone to walk all over, someone who didn''t know their rights and someone who wouldn''t stand up to them. I was in their top 3, or so they told me. Even though the job paid a fortune, I figured it wasn''t worth it. \ \ Some people are too much trouble.
I just need to vent: I interviewed on Wednesday for a job, and the very next day I was told they gave it to someone else. I am so sick of going through all these fucking interviews for nothing. WTF am I doing wrong? I dress nicely, I'm polite, and I even show them a portfolio of things like letters of recommendation, awards I've gotten, and glowing reviews that PROVE I'm a great employee, yet I STILL get passed over. Another thing that pisses me off is about 4 people interviewed me: One was a mean, ugly old cunt with the BIGGEST bitchface I'd ever seen and she had daggers in her eyes the whole time, another was a fat slob who needed to shave her mustache and was wearing a mou-mou, the third was a guy who seemed about as dumb as a box of rocks and was in his own world during the interview, and the fourth was a woman who looked like a wimp and had no business interviewing people. All I could think was how is it that trash and/or idiots like these people can get a job, but I can't? I'm so sick of this shit!
[quote]One was a mean, ugly old cunt with the BIGGEST bitchface I'd ever seen and she had daggers in her eyes the whole time, another was a fat slob who needed to shave her mustache and was wearing a mou-mou, the third was a guy who seemed about as dumb as a box of rocks and was in his own world during the interview, and the fourth was a woman who looked like a wimp and had no business interviewing people. All I could think was how is it that trash and/or idiots like these people can get a job, but I can't? Maybe you're not quite as charming as you think, R31.
I just interviewed for a job yesterday, and the interviewer was stupid enough to actually think I was giving her my portfolio of awards, letters of recommendation, work reviews, etc, to keep for herself! I said, "Uh, can I have that back?" And she said, "Oh, I thought this was for me to keep." Uh, no bitch. That's why I asked you if you wanted to LOOK at it, but you choose to keep rambling about stupid shit instead of reviewing it. God, these interviewers are stupid.
You think 3 interviews is a lot? Try 12! Yes, years ago before the economy tanked, I was interviewed by a very well known creative company with a theme park. I was working at the time, and looking for something better, I literally burned through all my vacation days, sick day and in the end I had to actually say stop it already. Turns out, this was not must my experience. A mutual friend described the say thing a few months later. Some companies feel they are so important that they can just endlessly use people like toilet paper because they think tier shit dose not stink.
I used to know an HR guy that said it was common practice among some of his other HR colleges to play games on people in the interview itself to see how they react. Like bursting into the room and telling them that their car was on fire. What kind of F-ed up people do that? HR people are the sickest bunch of looses I have ever met.
Yep R36, I've been through several job interviews (that I know of) where I was being "tested" to see how I would react /if I would slide right in and start working right then. Like, you're supposed to be smooth and save the day like the Dos Equis guy when they act out their inane situation. If you don't, then you just don't have the right stuff man. I work for myself, all by myself, and things are going good mainly because I just studied and adhere to Nordstrom and Costco's excellent customer service model. I don't steal peoples' dollars or fuck with my customers. It makes work fun, imagine that.
The problem with those games R37 is the expected reaction is delusional. There is no real Dos Equis man. A rational person will drop the intervew and react to save their car or whatever lie is told. Think about it, as discussed here, you are not an employee, just one of many possible interview. Logic says that you save what you have, not what you would like to have. I might have 5 other interviews to go to that week the HR person didnt think about. Fight or flight is a normal reaction to a threat. Only a Psychopath disorder would just sit there calmly. HR = FAIL
My industry was hit way back in 2004. My "friends", then in grad school, thought I was a flake who couldn't hack it because they just couldn't relate to or maybe believe my unlikely sounding encounters while interviewing. Off the top of my head: Called back for a second tier interview, the man who interviewed me stated that we were waiting for his colleage to arrive before the interview could begin. We made small talk and waited a while. A long while. We did accomplish somethingof an interview, but turns out that this was a test to see if I would express cpncern /get up and go looking for this missing colleague of his. I guess in the interviewers' minds, how I react to THEM in an interview is how I'll react to customers who might be lost, for some reason. I have more stories like this. Now these very qualified, capable friends who shook their heads at me have their turn with this nonsense. -R37
February 8, 2013 Dear Applicant: Thank you for your interest in our Word Processing Systems Operator, position #XXX in the Child Support Enforcement office. The hiring team has decided not to fill the position from the advertisement that closed on 12-26-2012. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and you may apply for future advertisements. Sincerely, Fuck Face _______________________________________ Just got this today - - Yeah, this is the kind of shit the unemployed have to deal with.
I%20changed%20her%20name
It's almost as if companies are trawling for the minimum salary requirements of actual qualified applicants just to see what they could get away with, should they one day decide to hire on. It's like employers are doing this backwards because they can.
Buy low!
What I find annoying is they always want to get you in right away. There are times in my career where I have taken days off of my current job to interview because it HAD TO BE THIS WEEK, OR THE XXX IS GOING TO EUROPE FOR 10 WEEKS!!..only to kill on an interview and find out they hired someone else two weeks later that they interviewed the week after me (guess that trip to Europe got cancelled!) I went to one interview with a Law Firm for a Senior position. I did excellent on the interview and was there most of the day. Two weeks go by I heard nothing so I called my recruiter. The Hiring partner called me personally to say they really liked me but at the last minute someone internally applied and they always promote from within. I told them I respected that and thank you for thier time. Six months later, they called me in for another position. Everyone had remembered me except one person, the person who got the job I interviewed for. During the interview he noticed I was very friendly with everyone and he said "oh do you two know each other" and the hiring manager said "he interviewed for your position." Everyone laughed. Two weeks later and nothing. I called my recruiter and the hiring manager calls me apologizing saying I know we called you in this time but XXX felt uncomfortable with you having interviewed for his position on lost it to him... seriously...
Sorry but 80% of HR people are just rude. Granted they usually cannot tell you why you were not hired due to lawsuits, but I always call them. If I hear "we went in a differnt direction" or "just not a good fit at this time" I will follow up saying "well thank you for your time, may I ask for some feedback on my interviewing so I can perpare better the next time?" A lot of them will brush you off, some will give constructive criticisim if they have any, most of the time they say "it's not that you were a bad fit, it was someone else was a better fit" which tells you nothing. But at least ask.
That sucks, R42.
R42, I hope you told that company to never call you again. For the same company to pull that shit not once, but twice, is unconscionable. Those people must be real gems to work with/for.
[R42] what is the name of the company? That is very unprofessional and people need to be aware of this tactic. They wasted your time twice, this is extremely abusive of power.
unbelievable
R42, I feel you, that sucks. I have some pretty unbelievable stories like this too, where the "professionals" in charge of hiring are just outrageous. - R37
Thankfully, working for myself now
I actually got into an argument in an interview once. Their "technical guy" comes in to give me the tech knowledge quiz. I fly through all of the questions. Then he asks me a pretty specific one about web servers to which I reply. He laughs at me and says "that is just a waste of money>" (the question was what kind of hardware would I order for a website). I politely replied that I was ordering the minimum for redundancy but if they had other standards I could certainly work with those. He got argumentative with me about what was standard to the point of being loud. The manager came in and asked if everything was okay and the "tech" guy said "hire this guy if you want to lose money." I explained to the manager I simply replied with a standard hardware config for redundancy and he looked at the tech guy and said "our web farm is not redundant??" LOL.