To think it seems I haven’t got the job? So fed up

[Huaaaa]

I applied for a job that I was really interested in and when I went to the interview I just felt like it was the perfect role. It ticked all my boxes and the pay on offer was great. It’s professional role and my confidence has been low recently so I really pushed myself to go for it and was happy to get the interview.

The interview was yesterday and it was more of a chat with four men in the department. They were all nice. I was quite nervous and told them I hadn’t had an interview for a while (been at my current place 10 years).

I feel silly as I told them I really wanted the job and probably sounded desperate. I was with them for two hours and when I left they said they’d be in touch but there’s a process they are going through.

Anyway, my recruiter has said they have only interviewed me and one other, a man with more experience but not as much as in the area I have experience in. She thought they would be in touch today to say if I am progressing and I’ve heard nothing. I am really surprised at how rubbish I feel about it and want to manage my expectations a bit over the weekend…do you think this is a bad sign and I need to mentally be prepared for being rejected?

Phone them and ask?

It's still very soon. Good luck!

It is very very normal for jobs to take a week or more. Don't get inside your head yet. Even when they know who they want they have internal processes to agree like what they are offering from their salary band.

@FartyAnimal i can’t as it’s through a recruiter. Recruiter said they’d requested a response on whether they were progressing but hadn’t heard yet.

It’s one of 3 options. They haven’t yet made a decision and need more time, it’s a no and they haven’t told you yet, it’s a maybe and they’re waiting on more conversations or information from the other candidate. So not a given that’s it’s no.

@tweddler thank you

@Barleysugar86 I guess so, I just know it’s going to really set me back if I’m rejected. It felt like my ‘break’ since having dc and my time to progress

Just wanted to send some support, OP - have been through the wringer with jobs / applications / interviews over the last few years due to redundancies, etc and it is EXHAUSTING! Not to mention would destroying when you feel really hopeful and keen on a role and it doesn’t come good.
Whichever way it goes, try and keep your chin up - the right opportunity will present itself 🍀

@YellowGuido thank you so much

It’s really tough and stressful when it’s a job you want but remember that for you this is a huge life-changing thing, while for them it’s one of 100 other things on their to-do list (although obviously an important one).

I hire a lot of people and there can be endless delays - in this case there are 4 people who need to agree and they might have time off, be on a course, have a committee to prepare for etc etc. Add to that HR processes, sign off and whatever as PPs have said.

Don’t panic and have confidence that you have done your best - and it sounds like you did great.

I can remember the last time I really wanted/desperately needed to change my job. I applied for one that I really thought I should have got. I didn't get it and was really, really upset.

Two months later an opportunity came up in the arena I was already working in but to diversify to a completely new job that I had no experience for. They were looking for someone and that same day I got in touch. I went for an interview and got the job. Fast forward 18 years, I'm still in the same job and love it.

It sounds a bit bonkers but sometimes I think there's something/someone out there who puts spanners in the works to stop us getting into a pickle; twice I have been 'cheated' out of a job that would have been horrendous.

I'm not sure that any of that is relevant to you, OP, but you have the experience, had a good interview and you really want the job. I think (and firmly believe) that if you don't get it, you really weren't meant to and as devastated as you may feel if that is the case, it will work out in the long run and, like me, you'll be thanking your lucky stars that you didn't get it but were available for the right one that will eventually be yours.

If you do hear today and it's not positive, allow yourself some tears but also some hope that it's a job, not your life, and that other things are coming.

All to play for! You might not get it and can email them to say how much you likes the job etc and they might find another job. Or the candidate could leave. Or you could get it. Stay positive

@Newgirls thanks, good points. All is not lost

FWIW, hiring processes I've been involved with usually communicate with people in this order:

1 - Definite no; this can usually be same day or next day
2 - First choice - it might take a few days to finalize all the paperwork and approvals so that we can actually make an offer.
3 - Second choice - we wouldn't reject them in case our first choice doesn't take the offer. So it might be a couple of weeks before we can confirm where they stand.

I worked in recruitment and these things do take time. Not to mention unexpected delays like sickness or an urgent situation has arisen and it's all hands on deck etc.

Mmm Do not do this!

I have never ever heard of anyone being offered a job the day after the interview. Do you even know if they’ve interviewed the other candidate yet? If you haven’t heard within a fortnight, then you can probably assume you weren’t there first choice.

But even then, you know you are their second choice because they interviewed only two people. At my work, we don’t tell our second-choice candidate that they have been unsuccessful until we know whether the first choice candidate has accepted. Sometime people say no when they are offered the job - they were only doing it for interview practice or they decide after learning more about the role in the interview that it’s not for them.

So don’t give up hope yet!!! And even if you don’t get it, pat yourself on the back for having done so well as to be one of only two people they interviewed.

We generally try and call people the same day so we can get moving with notice periods etc. However there’s a million reasons it can take longer. Don’t give up hope yet!

Feeling really flat today .. the more I go over the interview the more I feel I wasn’t what they wanted.

So rubbish as I’ve never been so excited by a job since I qualified in my profession many many years ago. I think I sounded desperate by saying I really wanted the job.

Wait and see, recruitment isn't usually a fast process

OP, not hearing yet is not necessarily bad news at all. I often interview and the process with us is pretty much the way @tweddler described it. Also, if I interviewed two final candidates on a Thursday I would definitely give myself that weekend to think about it.

But also, my friend was interviewed last year (3 rounds!) and it was in the end between him and another candidate. He was told they'd let him know within 48 hours, nothing happened for a week. It turned out the company wanted both but as they only budgeted for one, needed further approval. Both got offers.

No news yet is not necessarily bad news at all!

This is a very emotive response to your first interview in 10 years.
You are placing a huge burden on yourself

Far better to view this as an opportunity but to keep going even if you don't get it.

If it doesn't work out, ask for feedback and keep trying!
Good luck

Still no word…

It’s only the second working day after your interview and on top of that it’s Monday morning - hang on in there!

@FeatherDawn thanks for your post. I just really wanted this job. It has been the only thing I’ve genuinely felt excited about work wise for a while. I know I need to be a bit more robust though and prepare for the worst and just move on if so.

@LiveLaughGoblin thank you. The recruiter said they would have had a decision by Friday as I was the second (and last) candidate at this round of interview. So I feel a bit like they may have confirmed they want the other person instead