Hubby and job interview- what's your thoughts?

[rubberhead]

Long story short, DH went for an interview on Tuesday morning of last week. It was an initial screening type interview with the internal HR person. For clarity he met all the criteria and would be more than able to do the job ( just throwing that in incase it matters) Was told he'd hear towards end of week, beginning of next week. So it obviously now Monday. I can't talk to him as he has literally had 100 interviews This past year without any success so is very down about it all. So my question is if you're an interviewer and you think someone is a good fit, would you keep them dangling on regardless if there are people still to be interviewed? What's your thoughts ? When would you expect to hear?

I'd love him to be successful, it's his dream job so it makes the wait all the more anxious

i dont think they can get back until all candidates are interviewed and then a decision is made

To be honest, it totally depends on the organisation. There are procedures and processes to go through and there may be other priorities the recruiter needs to go through so regardless of how good I thought someone was for a role it might take me some time to get back to them. I wouldn't read anything into it

Oh and I would never get back to anyone until I had seen all the candidates, that's not fair on any of them

For this job, no-one can say, some companies move faster than others and it depends on internal processes, how many people they're interviewing for how many posts etc.

Is he currently working?

If he's had 100 interviews and no offers, does he need advice on interview technique?

Has he tried agency work, where he can get a foot in the door and possibly be taken on permanently, without having to 'perform' in the unnatural environment of an interview?

Thanks so much for all your help. I'm so nervous as it is theee perfect job for him. At least it means atm it's not a no!

Waiting is honestly the worst things ever lol

So even if he doesn't hear back by say Thursday do you think that as long as he hasn't been told no, they might be still figuring things out etc?

The longest I’ve ever waited is 4 days to hear. Other times, I’ve had to phone for an answer which I think is so disgraceful and actually makes me think it’s good I didn’t get the job. Impossible to say re your husband, could he phone to see whether they are interviewing everyone first before deciding? At least if he knows that he won’t hear before a certain date then it might help him to de-stress a little.

@BarbaraofSeville so ok my post my have exaggerated slightly his interviews, he's had a few and got down to the final stages then lost out because someone has 15 years more experience or someone has worked in another massive company doing the same work which has just by chance made them more appealing. His cv is fantastic and he's been head Hunted by recruitment companies but just loses out at the 11th hr.

@BalloonsAndWhistles it really is a disgrace- he says the same, people just don't care at all. He said he'll phone on Friday if he has t heard as he doesn't want to seem desperate.

It's just hard to know if they've ruled him out but haven't/ can't be arsed letting him know or if they are still interviewing

Waiting is so hard, especially when it's for a dream job! It's difficult as well as you don't know what's going on behind the scenes - I once interviewed for a job and was successful, but didn't find out for about three months - one of the interviewers had gone off sick with stress so they couldn't complete the process without his input as he was the line manager of the role. Luckily it was an internal move so I had a bit of insight about the delay, but that wouldn't have been the case otherwise!

No news is good news - good luck!!

@BarbaraofSeville also yes, he is working atm ( he's is executive level )

Honestly I would email after an interview to say Thankyou for the interview & hope they can favourably consider my application, followed by what kind of timeframe are they looking at for a decision? If I was being pissed about I would be clear and say I was also interviewing elsewhere and this post would be my preference so is there a timeframe in mind? I don’t think it’s rude at all - you’re well within your rights to know rough dates! It shouldn’t be a guessing game & if someone fannies about with a lengthy bureaucratic recruitment strategy it puts me right off the company tbh. Best of luck to your DH! I don’t know what role he’s after but if something very competitive and he really wants it, don’t give up xxxx

I would just follow procedure of completing all interviews booked in and then telling the interviewee whether they had been successful when all were completed

I hire people and always wait to interview everyone before making a decision on who to hire. Our internal process means that then HR have to look over everything, then pads it up to a director to approve the job offer. It is usually only a rubber stamping approval but it can take a while. I try to give accurate time estimates but it can take longer than I expect before I can contact the successful candidate.

You have all been a tremendous help. I'll keep you posted anyway. Please please have everything crossed for him 🥰

Can I ask what job he's trying to get, and what his background is, to have been for 100 interviews?
I'm interested as DH is retraining and hasn't been for an interview for 15 years(!) so I'm expecting it could be a bumpy process for him.

@ImplementingTheDennisSystem I don't want to say to much other than it's an executive level job. It's been horrible but his industry is particularly competitive unfortunately

I always wait for the interviews to be completed then I call my first choice pretty quickly. Especially if I have others who are appointable. I don't reject them until i am sure my first choice has accepted, else I go down the list of those who are appointable in order of preference. I let people who were definitely not suitable know quickly.

would you keep them dangling on regardless

Major corporate, we really don't want anyone to have a bad experience like 'left dangling' after an interview.

However, we do have to interview everyone before replying to anyone in each batch of interviews. There are also always a lot of people who have to ok the results before we reply to anyone. It just takes one of those to be out of the office, and then it can take days to identify an alternative approver, sometimes the original approver is back from a few weeks hols before we have found anyone.

I spend a lot more time chasing finance and hr for approvals than I ever spend interviewing. I wish it were not like that, we all wish we could be better at this kind of stuff but it always takes longer than expected.

Sorry.

The best way round it is to network and find someone who can advocate for you in the process. Good luck.

Everyone is drying out for good people so most schemes have a referral scheme going. Whoever refers gets to see the progress through the system so you get early warning.

@FinallyHere that's so interesting! Do you email candidates to update them on times scales ? This is the frustrating bit I find, all the indefinite waiting

Sorry we don't keep candidates updated.

Firstly because it would be a monumental task. In line management recruiting is just an overhead we have to do until we have someone in place. There are of course people in finance snd HR where this is their full time job, not for us , though, and we are already down by the number of people we are recruiting for.

Also secondly because we really don't know how long it's going to take. We know how long it supposed to take, but there are always delays eg someone is ill or away and their interview needs to be postponed for a week, if we want to interview them, we have to keep everyone else waiting for that time. Then all the approver who have been set up might not be around when we have results all a week later so that brings more delays.

It's all because we are trying to go as fast as possible. We could build in delays and then run to a schedule but are so keen to get good people it's run like this.

That's so much @FinallyHere it's great insight seeing things from your prospective!!!

My best advice is to make sure he has a few really promising irons in the fire at any one time.

Especially the more senior you are, it's really quite unlikely that there will be a role where you know no one at all, so time just having a chat or even a drink.coffee with anyone, is going to be a good investment. It's really hard because you can't let any frustration at the time the process takes show, got to stay upbeat etc.

No need to ask directly for role. Just ask for five minutes to hear 'your thoughts on the current industry (or sector whatever? and where you see it going. And finish up by asking who else you might talk to.

Almost anyone will be prepared to share their thoughts. At some point, you will get to do your spiel about what you might contribute, then you will be in the process. With enough irons in the fire, it's not so bad if one falls through and at dons point, there will be 'that' one. All the best

Any news?

Did he get it