to think that a sucessful applicant should hear within 24 hours?

[cigarsmokingwoman]

I had a final stage interview for a job that would double my salary. I was down to the final three and they were interviewing all three on Tuesday. I was the middle time slot. They said they wanted to appoint someone quickly. I felt I really clicked with the panellists, I nailed the presentation and interview and came away feeling pretty positive.
Its now Thursday and I haven't heard a thing yet. I did send a 'thank you' email today and got an out of office from one of the panellists although it only mentioned being out of office today, not yesterday.
AIBU to think if you were successful and they had no one else to interview, they'd tell you within a day? This is a well known national HR provider.

ETA: They asked my availability and if I were searching elsewhere. I said I dont have anything else lined up although I was honest and said I was actively job seeking. I also said this would be my first choice. I said I had no notice period as I had been made redundant (they asked about notice). I thought all of this would be fairly positive and make me an attractive candidate.

That timeframe has not been my experience. Usually at least a few days, if not longer.

Anything could be going on - people on holiday, other work priorities taking their time, waiting for senior sign off etc.

If you haven’t heard within a week I personally would think they’ve gone for someone else and finalising the offer before telling you.

Good luck!!

This. Delays can occur for all manner of reasons.

If you are not first choice but I like you and would hire you if the first choice declines, I won’t want to tell you that you are unsuccessful until first choice has accepted in case I need to offer to you instead.

In my workplace the hire needs to get final approval from head office as well as various other people. Bureaucratic and time consuming unfortunately!!

24 hours would be nice, but it's definitely not standard. If anything, it's unsuccessful candidates who hear soonest. I wouldn't read too much into it although I would expect an update by Friday as I think it's a bit harsh to send people into the weekend with no idea, particularly they said they would make a decision swiftly.

I agree with previous posters. If you haven't heard within a week I'd start getting worried. Good luck OP!

DD had her second interview with a large firm last Tuesday and found out she had got the job yesterday- I think it’s fairly standard

I think a 24hr turnaround is unreasonable. I understand you are anxious to hear back, but your anxiety is not theirs to manage or alleviate, especially in that timeframe. There are plenty of factors to think about, depending on quality of the candidates and everyone necessary should be available to discuss the outcome properly.

Good luck!

No, that's very quick with everything that needs to be done.

However they should give you a timescale as to when you will hear back and stick to it, and you should receive an actual direct and personalised communication whether you've been offered the job or not. I think it's disgusting when companies do "if you haven't heard from us assume you haven't been successful" at all, and even more so when you've got to interview stage.

My experience is that they often leave you dangling over a weekend. God knows why.

YABU. Even if we had 3 candidates to interview there are then things we have to do internally before we officially decide & make the offer, depending on availability those things absolutely take more than 2 days.

In my firm, even if we had interviewed all three candidates, we often approach the first choice with an offer; they don’t always accept so we don’t rule out other candidates at this point. The offer might end up going to a close second if the first choice doesn’t accept.

Depends on the number of candidates and how close the scoring was. I interviewed a couple of people last week but the panel then had to convene afterwards and go through our notes to decide a final scoring for them, if our scores were wildly different then we looked at why and then determine who was appointable. Usually the people recruiting also have their "day jobs" to fit in and if you spend a day interviewing you're already playing catch-up. It's frustrating but I do make a point of letting people know a time frame for hearing from us so they aren't stressing. It can be upto a week

Several days is the norm in our experience. You need all the key figures together, or for it to be approved by a higher authority , and s/he could be ill, on holiday etc. They may also be preparing the contract letter which can take time to sign off.

Sorry to say that it may be a case that you’re second choice, and they’re seeing if the first choice accepts or declines the offer, before coming back to you.

DD1 had an interview several months ago and the manager was desperate to employ her but when it came to the sign off from further up the ladder they were told that there wasn't the budget in the current financial year despite there being a vacancy. It took several weeks for them to even communicate this. She was still talking to them for weeks even after that and they were still keen to take her but she has now given up on it.
DD2 dropped out of uni earlier this year and was applying for admin jobs. One company called her for a second interview and then the day after it contacted her to say that based on her skills they reckoned that another role was a better fit for her so she had a third interview. This was a new role that was being created for her so it needed approval from the board of directors before they could employ her. That took a few days but she now has the job.

Also it can take time to complete internal admin processes to collect feedback and have the candidate, role and salary expectations etc approved by business. I would expect to hear something by Friday or possibly eop Monday!

No, I don't think 24 hours is necessary. And I say that as someone who is currently in the "long wait" between interview and decision. My interview was Tuesday and they said they would give me a decision on Friday. I think that's acceptable, especially since - and this is crucial - they specifically told me Friday, so I haven't spent the last couple of days on tenterhooks.

I think being given a clear time frame is very important and I think maximum of a week for a decision, unless they can give you a good reason why not earlier.

I once went for a job I really wanted. I spent three full days really researching hard and preparing as best I could for the interview. They also wanted me to do two pre-interview tasks which I completed and which was basically hours of work that I did for them for free. The interview was two towns away so there was a bit of travelling and expense involved too. I bought a brand new outfit.
I thought the interview went well and I know they were impressed with the tasks. I asked how long and they said "week after next" which I thought was a bit crap, but what can you do?

Week after next came, I waited until the end of it, and nothing. I sent a polite follow up on Monday, nothing. I sent another follow up the following Monday... tumbleweed.

After another week I sent a professionally worded but very cutting email telling them exactly what I thought of the recruitment process and how rude I thought they were. 7 minutes later, I get an email back offering me "a chat on the phone" stating she was available all day and what time should she ring me, I gave her times and she... never even rang me. She then emailed back a day later to say, sorry, was busy, please call me whenever you like. At which point I gave up bothering.

That sort of thing is never acceptable it's RUDE AF and show such a lack of professionalism and organisation.

And the worst bit? This was a job in an MP's office!!
Aren't they supposed to care more than anyone about their image??

You may have been the last interviewed, but it could take time to review all the candidates. That shouldn't happen quickly, you want everyone to be treated fairly. One of the panel may not have been available immediately after the interview, or even over the next couple of days.

And I don't agree with the poster that said unsuccessful candidates hear first. You always offer it to the best candidate first, and only if they turn it down do you let the unsuccessful people know. Otherwise you risk having told everyone they didn't get the job and then having the one you want say no, and you're stuck!

You need to think of it from their point of view.

Their job is not just to appoint you. They probably have a million things to do as well as filling the job role.

They might want time to reflect and consider before coming together to decide who is their preferred candidate. They may need sign-off and approval before an official offer is forthcoming.

They should have told you when they expected to appoint (if not, you should probably have asked - it's a pretty standard question, in my experience).

I think it's appropriate to get back to them on Monday if there's no further correspondence, to ask when you might hear.

I think 24 hours is likely too quick. They have to finish interviewing then discuss the applicants. It'll also depend if they check references before or after offering.

DS recently got a call three months after his interview offering him the job and giving a start date. They were genuinely gobsmacked that he'd got another job as they said 12 weeks is "quite standard"

We interview one day , then confer the next . Day three it goes to our HR team to review decisions (rule out unconscious bias etc) day 4/5 contact candidates. Good luck !

Would you say most favoured candidates are usually interviewed last?

I mean, the recruiter usually has favoured candidates from the application stage before interview and I have heard that if you're first, you're less likely to get it because they always put the favoured ones last.

I'm not sure why that would be, if it's true?

Edit: having said that, I actually got to choose my own slot on my last two interviews so maybe there's no truth in it

In my industry, it’s quite normal for decisions to be made same day and calls made by end of day of the interview.

This doesn’t always happen as planned though. I was once interviewed for a role and one of the panelists became ill later in the day and they had to re-schedule the last interview for a week later. They told me they’d make a decision by end of day, but obviously no one anticipated that Bob was about to come down with d&v or whatever in 2 hours time. Then the other panelist was on AL until the following week.

I’ve also sat on a panel where the decision was so tight that we had to sleep on it and reconvene to discuss again the next day. So it isn’t always that fast, but it’s pretty quick.

Going against the majority here, we always phone with the job offer within 24 hours. If they accept we follow up with an email immediately. Once they have confirmed in writing we like to let others know. However there is a new automated system for rejections that can take a week or two.

At interview we will say that we aim to let people know by x date and that’s about 3 working days, so they don’t worry if they don’t hear sooner, and so they’re usually happily surprised when we call.

I applied for a job in MAY, 3rd and final interview completed in JULY. In the 'thank you for interviewing' email, they categorically confirmed, twice, we would be advised of the outcome, either way, so not to chase.

I am still waiting.......

To amuse myself, I have decided it's between me and one other person, and they just can't choose - So they have decided that the person who cracks first and chases up for a reply loses out on the job, automatically failing due to not being able to follow clear commands.