To chase following interview?

HireStarter · 2021-11-10T00:33:51+00:00

Currently not in work and had an interview last Thurs (so 3 working days ago). Large employer. Not sure how many applicants there were and forgot to ask when I should hear back 🤦🏻♀️ AIBU to assume I've been unsuccessful? When would you chase/ask for feedback?

orangejuicer · 10/11/2021 00:35

3 working days isn't very long. Give it til Monday I'd say.

Orangebonbon · 10/11/2021 00:36

The last 2 jobs I’ve had I’ve always chased them up, was with 1 company for almost 7 years and 3 years with present. Chase them up, it’s not as though you’re gonna lose anything.

Alpacalunchbox · 10/11/2021 00:42

As an employer I like when candidates send a follow up after interview. Shows that they’re still keen and committed. Word it as “thank you for taking the time to meet me, I look forward to hearing from you” kind of thing.

iklboogiemaninthecloset · 10/11/2021 01:12

My employer

Interviews Gsinrvrebirerv

Original poster

HireStarter · 10/11/2021 08:11

@iklboogiemaninthecloset

My employer

Interviews Gsinrvrebirerv

Huh? 😂

Fingers crossed I receive something today, even if it's just too say thanks but no thanks!

OP posts:

iklboogiemaninthecloset · 10/11/2021 08:14

Well I have no idea what happened there! Sleep posting?!

Tayegete · 10/11/2021 08:25

My friend had an interview (Civil Service) and didn’t hear back for a couple of weeks so assumed she hadn’t got it. Thought she’d just ring to make sure and the recruiter administrator had just forgotten to send the offer on the online system. Always worth chasing.

Tayegete · 10/11/2021 08:25

I’d leave it a week though.

IKillHousePlants · 10/11/2021 08:56

Did you send a thank you email after the interview?
If not send one now and say you are very interested but you realise you forgot to ask on the day when you might expect to hear back.
I do recruitment as part of my role and I wouldn't take offence to sort of email, shows you are keen without nagging.

KrisAkabusi · 10/11/2021 09:10

Wait a week. 3 days is too soon to chase.

Darbs76 · 10/11/2021 09:49

Don’t he that annoying candidate. It’s not like they will have forgotten. There’s a lot of admin to do usually before job results can be released

HundredMilesAnHour · 10/11/2021 09:59

Did you send a thank you email after the interview?
If not send one now and say you are very interested but you realise you forgot to ask on the day when you might expect to hear back.

This is bad advice. Don't send a thank you email. You thank them at the end of the interview. Sending an email is just annoying to the interviewer. It doesn't add any value. If they want to offer you the job, they won't decide against it because you didn't send a thank you email. And if they didn't think you're the right candidate, a thank you email isn't going to change their mind.

And don't volunteer that you forgot something. What else might you forget? That's a way to create doubt in your competency.

HarrietsChariot · 10/11/2021 10:06

I'll be honest candidates following up after interview always puts me off. When I've completed the interviews I'll make a decision, someone pestering me isn't a good sign. I have other work to do as well as recruitment and who are they to tell me I've got my priorities wrong.

My thinking is, if they are pestering me now when they're not even employed, what will they be like if they actually get the job?

Terribleluck · 10/11/2021 10:15

Same position but mine were on a Thursday and a Friday. I'm just waiting now. Thank you emails work for American companies, in the UK not so much (I believe they're seen as pushy). I'm going to chase mine Monday next week.

Peppermint81 · 10/11/2021 10:46

At least a week if you have to! Sometimes there are a number of interviews that can be spread out over a couple of weeks.
If it's a large company then a polite enquiry to HR department won't hurt after a week or so then you are not annoying the manager. But word it like you were wondering on timescales when a decision will be made...don't say you forgot to ask.

Also I've interviewed hundreds and I find thank you emails just come across like their desperate and brown nosing I don't like them personally!

SusieBob · 10/11/2021 11:14

Don't chase after 3 days, these things take time. I wouldn't chase for a couple of weeks at least.

I don't really think there is any point in sending followup/thank you emails. Whenever I've got them they have had zero impact on my decision making process.

BigYellowHat · 10/11/2021 11:17

I would. I once chased after an interview and was told that an email had been sent (it hadn’t) telling me I was unsuccessful. I’d been waiting on tenterhooks for about two weeks at this point. As it turned out it was for the best as it was two weeks before the first lockdown, it was for a charity and the sort of work I would have been doing literally couldn’t have happened. Lucky escape.

TractorAndHeadphones · 10/11/2021 11:52

I’d wait a week. If they take ages to hire for no reason it’s not a good look anyway.

Some graduate roles for example involve mass recruitment , rolling basis so it somewhat makes sense that there are long waits. If you apply late then you’ll only be called up if the people ahead of you fail/ reject their offers. There are also companies that keep candidates on a reserve list but it’s not hard to communicate this rather than maintaining radio silence!

Frankly the best candidates have choices and if there are long wait times they’ll be snapped up. That’s why recruitment communication is a major KPI for our recruiters

IKillHousePlants · 10/11/2021 12:51

Wow I wouldn't want to work at some of the other posters places if they get that upset by thank you emails. Shows there are very different attitudes to recruitment/interview etiquette out there. Perhaps it's sector specific.

TractorAndHeadphones · 10/11/2021 13:38

@Peppermint81

At least a week if you have to! Sometimes there are a number of interviews that can be spread out over a couple of weeks. If it's a large company then a polite enquiry to HR department won't hurt after a week or so then you are not annoying the manager. But word it like you were wondering on timescales when a decision will be made...don't say you forgot to ask.

Also I've interviewed hundreds and I find thank you emails just come across like their desperate and brown nosing I don't like them personally!

How are all of these people getting your personal email rather than the recruiter’s? I’ve only received interviewer email adresses when we’ve connected well and been given their business card/invited to contact them personally.

Most of the time I don’t even have the full names of the interviewers let alone their emails…

Original poster

HireStarter · 10/11/2021 16:37

Thanks for the sound check guys. Ill leave it now I think. I'm not feeling very optimistic!

I'm surprised though that following up is perceived so negatively by some. I mean, it cost me nearly £50 in transport costs to get to the interview. £100 for an outfit. And a days worth of annual leave for my partner to allow me to go to the interview (childcare). The least they can do is put me out of my misery with a quick email and not be offended by a polite follow up email?

Every job I've had in the past I've been offered it within 2 working days. So waiting a week, which it will be tomorrow, seems a bit poor to me...

OP posts:

MrsTulipTattsyrup · 10/11/2021 16:52

@HireStarter

Thanks for the sound check guys. Ill leave it now I think. I'm not feeling very optimistic!

I'm surprised though that following up is perceived so negatively by some. I mean, it cost me nearly £50 in transport costs to get to the interview. £100 for an outfit. And a days worth of annual leave for my partner to allow me to go to the interview (childcare). The least they can do is put me out of my misery with a quick email and not be offended by a polite follow up email?

Every job I've had in the past I've been offered it within 2 working days. So waiting a week, which it will be tomorrow, seems a bit poor to me...

Depends what they have to go through before they are in a position to make an offer. For me, I might have to wait a couple of days before the candidate who was on leave the day we did most of the interviews is available for theirs. Then I need to collate the scores from the rest of the panel; agree our top three candidates if they all passed the board; get that information put into the HR system; check the budget position in detail so I know if I have leeway in a negotiation; get approval from my regional director to make an offer to our preferred candidate; make the call to the first choice; wait for them to decide; go to the second choice person if they say no.

All that AS WELL AS DOING MY DAY JOB.

Give it a few more days, please!

GiltEdges · 10/11/2021 17:02

Having to wait a week for a response is not “poor”, it’s completely standard for a lot of businesses

If you think about it from their perspective, they’re hiring for a role because the team you’re potentially going to be working in is short of resource. The interview process itself is a resource burden, taking the time out of regular work activities to look at CVs, interview people, etc. I’ve sat on interview panels before where there’s been a clear frontrunner so the offer has been made quite quickly. Other times there are a few comparable candidates, so we’ve needed to get back together at another time to discuss further and depending on our respective availabilities, that wouldn’t necessarily happen straight away.

Ultimately, it’d have been good practice for the company to set your expectations at the interview in terms of when you might expect to hear, but if it bothered you so much you should have remembered to ask 🤷🏼‍♀️

Original poster

HireStarter · 10/11/2021 17:12

@GiltEdges

Having to wait a week for a response is not “poor”, it’s completely standard for a lot of businesses

If you think about it from their perspective, they’re hiring for a role because the team you’re potentially going to be working in is short of resource. The interview process itself is a resource burden, taking the time out of regular work activities to look at CVs, interview people, etc. I’ve sat on interview panels before where there’s been a clear frontrunner so the offer has been made quite quickly. Other times there are a few comparable candidates, so we’ve needed to get back together at another time to discuss further and depending on our respective availabilities, that wouldn’t necessarily happen straight away.

Ultimately, it’d have been good practice for the company to set your expectations at the interview in terms of when you might expect to hear, but if it bothered you so much you should have remembered to ask 🤷🏼‍♀️

Alas, the nerves impacted my memory!

I don't know, when I've interviewed people before (admittedly for entry level jobs), we've always come to the decision as soon as interviews were complete, it's never taken days to agree.

I suspect I haven't got it, and they're either not going to let me know, or have put it way down on their list of priorities (which I would find rude given the investment I, and I'm sure others, have put in).

A good employer will value people's time. As I value the interviewers time (responding quickly re interviews, making all arrangements to fit in with their timescales, arriving promptly to interview etc)

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sonjadog · 10/11/2021 17:17

Maybe they had candidates who couldn't meet up until a few days' later? Maybe the hiring committee hasn't been able to meet yet? Maybe someone has been offered and they are waiting their response so can't tell you anything yet? There are many perfectly reasonable reasons why you might not have heard yet. You are going to have to patient!