Thought interview went well.. feeling bummed

[Khtchkn]

So I’ve been made redundant after my maternity leave ended in March. My son starts nursery in August and I’ve been looking for jobs the past 2 weeks. I had a job interview this time last week for an assistant accountant role and I thought it went really well, it lasted for 1hr, they were really selling the company. A day later the person who was doing the interview emailed me and asked me a few more questions such as; when am I available to work, to send proof of my qualifications, what’s my expected salary, give 2 references from my previous job so they can talk to them etc.. I replied back, and the 2 ppl who I asked for my references told me they gave excellent reviews about me.. that was last Friday. I haven’t heard anything since! Last time I spoke to the ppl interviewing me said the process would be second interviews this week and they would make a decision by this Friday. I think it’s pretty obvious they’re not going to contact me as it’s been 7 days and second interviews should’ve started by now. I just feel so bummed, I haven’t had a job for over a year and I was looking forward to getting back to a routine and having some sort of life!!! And it’s also frustrating to not know what went wrong as they didn’t even call to let me know I didn’t get the job or give any feedback to where I went wrong.. I’m thinking is it bcos I have a 1 year old? For any of you searching for jobs during these uncertain times, how easy was it to find a job? ESP part time I think it’s not that easy to find.. just want to have a moan!!

I would email or better still ring them up to speak to them, the personal touch goes a long way with employers, it also shows that you are really keen on the position again a really good sign for the employer. You need to stand out and be different from anyone else who is still in the running for the position and speaking to them rather than a few lines in an email might just seal the deal. Good luck

I was called by the recruitment person of a company who saw my CV online. Had a positive phone call, completed an application form and was told I'd be contacted with an interview date. The recruitment person then went on leave but said she'd handed my details over to someone else. Complete silence from that moment.

I called and left a message but still no one got back to me. As a last resort I e-mailed thinking I'd give it one last shot as I had nothing to lose. Seems I got lost in the ether somewhere. I had my interview and have now been working there 4 months! Follow it up....you have nothing to lose :)

I don't think it's pushy as they gave an indicative timeline for the next stage, which is this week. It's reasonable to follow it up.

Thank you all... I’ll let you know what Happens in the next few days... 🤞🏼

Either they are running behind or they are interviewing people who have a lower salary expectation and are holding out to see if they can get someone for cheaper. Fingers crossed they reply to you!

Have you checked your spam email box?
I nearly missed out on my current job when my invite for round two of the interview process ended up in spam.

Agree with pps they’ve probably just been delayed. My company are dreadful for that as in it could be two or three weeks after the so called decision date!

For future reference I think you should always avoid saying whether you have dc. It’s nothing to do with “honesty” and viewing it as such suggests you think it’s dishonest not to say. Why? Employers don’t need help discriminating against women of child bearing age! The fact is it’s completely irrelevant to the job and there’s a reason they’re not allowed to ask.

If a company advertises a 4 day pw job then I think the only possible reason to ask why you’ve applied for it is to check you’re not going to leave them in the lurch if a 5 day pw job comes along. Just have a response ready such as it seems to be a good work/life balance but throw in something enthusiastic about the actual role/company so it’s not all just about how well it suits you iyswim.

Call them

Don't leave it till Friday! Email tomorrow morning. That's interested, not pushy. Employers want you to be proactive and follow up about a job, they don't want you to just sit on your hands. How does that show them you're interested?

@StepAwayFromGoogle I don’t know I just don’t want to seem like I’m hassling them. I’ve always gone through recruitment agencies except for my previous company and whenever I’ve been successful to go to a second round interview/job offer I get called back almost immediately on the same day/the day after. And when I haven’t been successful the recruiter never calls me back to let me know unless I call and ask. It’s been 7days now and I think that’s a good sign they’re not interested.
@roses2 yes they did say they were worried about budget, but I requested £2k below their maximum salary offer so I’m baffled why they’d say that.
@CantSleepClownsWillEatMe I’ll definitely not mention I have a 1year old in future interviews

Fingers crossed OP xx

"Hassling" or showing enthusiasm? - depends how you look at it.

I agree, if it's past the timeline they had suggested then totally reasonable to get in touch for an update. I wouldn't feel a candidate was hassling in that scenario. Best of luck

Update.. I emailed him today and I got a response saying;

1. We have now finished our first round of interviews and preparing four ppl to do the second phase of the process

2. “I would like to let you know that you have very good chances to be part of it but the decision will be made tomorrow. The second phase will be in our office and it will be done next week. If you get to be in the last four candidates, we will contact you as soon as possible to arrange it. We have received a good reference about you from ”

Ah.. this process is so long! They said second interview wouldve be this week and a decision would be made by this Friday! Things are behind scheduled, wish they would’ve emailed me to notify me! Now if I have the chance to do the second interview I have more anticipation and against 3 other candidates 😫

That's good though OP, I have done a lot of interview campaigns, and unless someone emails daily it's not seen as negative to ask for an update or whatever. Fingers crossed for you.

Glad you got an update. It can be such a slow and painful process but remember you are a strong candidate and have already out performed others in the process. Hang in there!

Glad you emailed. I was made redundant in March, and applied for a part time role at the end of May. It took over a month to do a phone interview and a second interview due to personal issues for a staff member. I started Wednesday last week.

Glad you got an update.

If they haven’t made a decision on which four candidates to bring back for second interview then they clearly had a strong pool of candidates. As much as people are saying that it must be because you have a child/want too much money etc if you’re not offered the job, the reality is that it’s possible you’re just not the best candidate. That doesn’t mean you’re not any good, but we’re currently in an employer’s market. They generally have the pick of several suitable candidates and truth is you won’t always be one of them..

you should always keep looking even if you have an offer on the table.

I was offered a job last October and in April they withdrew the offer because of my disability. I never stopped looking, unfortunately I haven’t had any luck finding anything else, but I’ve been applying all the while because you can’t take anything for granted until you walk through the door.

FWIW, I had a contract and everything,

That’s good news. So they’re just being slow on their process. Get prepping for the next stage!

Not professional comms from them!

Fingers crossed for you, I know that we had interviews in my workplace yesterday and there were 8 candidates getting interviewed, but they had to close the application date after a week because there were over 50 applicants already!

There are so many people looking for work just now, good luck!