Job interviews....how long to get back to you?

[BoysofMelody]

First academic job interview last Tuesday and still no news of the outcome! Is this normal? Should, I just take it as a sign that I haven't got the job?

Sorry, but in my experience they're usually pretty quick to tell you if you do have the job - a day, or two. It's also normal not to hear anything. But you could always email and ask.

Oh well. A bit pissed off they didn't have the courtesy to email, given it was a really involved application which took a week of work. A simple email would have been all it would have took.

I would just drop them an email asking what the timeline is for finding out if you have been successful. They may have had a week of interviews to get through.

Sadly this seems quite common. My partner has gone for numerous interviews over the last year and frequently no one would get back to him. Sometimes they left feedback on jobs.ac.uk instead..cowards!

Cowards indeed!

I don't think it's cowardly. I think it's just volume of applications. If they have 500 people, it is a lot of emailing. I've had BCC lists, though. And I prefer applications that state 'if you have not heard by [date] then we are sorry to say ...'.

It is depressing.

I was actually interviewed though and they only interviewed four of us. I can understand if applicants who weren't called to interview are told if you don't hear by x date assume you haven't been successful.
However I think if they asked you to interview with all the time and money that takes, it isn't too much to expect an email saying 'thanks, but no thanks'

Oh, that is really poor!

Yes, I think you're absolutely right. Sorry, I hadn't understood that and was filling in from my much-less-successful experience.

I suppose it is possible that they are in negotiations with choice 1, and don't want to let the rest of you know until they're settled? Which sounds grim but might be hopeful in the end.

That's what I'm hoping LRD I a bit of a forlorn hope I know!!!!

Sometimes there can be an innocent reason. I waited longer than that to hear back about a job I was successful for. Often the decision needs to be run by a number of key decision makers, some of whom might be absent or otherwise indisposed. If it's a non-urgent appointment, they may just simply have no reason not to take their time and think it through properly. However I still think it's fair enough after a week to email and ask for an update.

Never let them just not reply at all. A company needs to be called out on poor behaviour like that.

Yes that's the other possibility, an admin / procedural holdup, that's what I tell myself in my more optimistic moments.

For my first academic post it took 4 days between the interview and the offer while various things were done internally.

Realistically, I'd have thought you've not got this. Rather, you're not the first choice candidate, but were deemed appointable, so they'll keep you 'not rejected' for as long as possible in case anything falls through with the first candidate. The negotiations can take forever, and it's not unusual for candidates to just come back with 'actually my current Uni has now made me an offer, so thanks but no thanks'. If you're 'not rejected' they can make you an offer if this happens. Otherwise they have to advertise and interview again from scratch.

Generally, a delay is because we have a 1st ranked candidate, and they take some time to decide - it may be that they need to go back to their current institution, or really hash out stuff with family , or deal with thinking through the logistics of a big move.

In this sort of situation, my Dean gives the preferred candidate up to a week - if we really want the person, it's not worth rushing the acceptance process.

But it's frustrating for the candidates not being offered the post - it's frustrating for the department too, as we want to get on, and start to welcome & integrate a new colleague.

A quick email to HR to find out what's going on would be reasonable.

What sammy says.

Thanks everyone! Will update if/when I hear something

And boom! There's the 'thanks, but no thanks email.' ouch.

Ah well, you tried. Keep going I've found that things I didn't think I would get a chance for have asked me to interview, and things I really thought I would get shortlisted for I didn't. You got an interview, with so many applicants these days, that's good going, so take that as a positive.

Cheers four

I know, I hadn't expected an interview, but then I felt I'd done well at the interview and whatnot and really liked the place and the department and the sound of the job, so was a bit gutted when I didn't get it. I've applied for upwards of 30 jobs this year and this is the only interview I've had. It feels like a death by a thousand cuts and starring down the barrel of unemployment in September is a bit of a grim prospect.

In my first academic post, they phoned me about an hour after the interview and gave me 3 weeks to decide if I wanted to take it. I assume knowing what I do now that I was the only appointable candidate. (In hindsight, I should almost certainly have turned them down for various reasons but I was worried about having a job and paying the bills).

For my next post, they phoned the next day. The delay was in getting references (I know because I was with my supervisor when he received the email saying they needed a reference quick as they wanted to offer me the job). It was a Friday and I can only remember that because they said they could only give me the weekend to talk it over with my partner and decide because there were other appointable candidates.

Where I've been unsuccessful universities have generally let me know very quickly. That will either be because they've decided I'm not appointable for their post (the most likely scenario in pretty much all the interviews I've been to) or the first ranked candidate accepted immediately. That definitely happened in the last interview I had because the woman told me that was the case and was incredibly apologetic that they couldn't get two posts. I remember thinking how odd the conversation was at the time. They also asked if they could keep me on file for any other posts that came up, so when one did within 6 months they phoned me up and offered me a job without any additional application or interview. So she clearly was genuine.