Delayed decision on interview?

[Laura2121]

Hello all
Yesterday I had an interview that I felt went very well. They said they’d get back to me soon.
The job was actually for a January start, and their original interview week was actually the end of this month but they saw me early upon my request. I’m not sure whether any other candidates have applied for this vacancy yet, since I applied shortly after the ad was up and was swiftly seen.
I am wondering if they’re likely to make a decision soon, or to wait for more candidates to apply and decide closer to the time that they originally intended to?
Thanks very much

I would assume they will interview other candidates at the end of June and contact you then. Has the closing date on the ad passed, and if not has the ad been taken down?

Thanks for your input. The closing date for the ad has not yet passed and it is still up; perhaps they would keep it up in either case until an offer of appointment has been accepted by a candidate.
Would you say though that if they’re happy with an early candidate, they would still wait for others as per their closing date and all, even though that would mean keeping candidate 1 on hold for 2 more weeks?

From the school’s perspective there is little reason to pull the advert early, and if they intended to do so they would have told you. Occasionally there is a section in an advert along the lines of ‘we reserve the right to withdraw the vacancy before the published closing date’.

However, there would only be a reason to do this if they had an exceptional early candidate and a particular circumstance which created urgency, eg that person has an offer from another school, or they can start earlier (if desirable), or a resignation date is looming. The resignation date for a January start is some time away so from their point of view there is little urgency. It isn’t necessarily any reflection on your performance in the interview so don’t lose heart. Good luck!

Thanks a lot for this. They are aware though that I’m also interviewing at other places this month- I hope that makes them not delay a decision too much.

It’s good they’re aware that you’re interviewing but it only becomes relevant to them if you get an offer from another school and they decide they want to secure you.

Please don’t be disheartened if they don’t appoint you early. You would be asking them to decide that you are a better candidate not only than the field to date but also than anyone who might yet apply before the deadline. A lot depends on how challenging the school is currently finding recruitment but over many years of interviewing I can only think of a couple of candidates who were so impressive at interview that I’d be willing to make that kind of leap of faith.

Thank you. The other thing is though, that this school also has a vacancy for a temporary, more junior role in the same department that’s a fixed term from September to December.
This would fit in nicely with my transitioning to the more senior role that I originally applied for, that starts in January.
I briefly mentioned in my application that I can do both roles consecutively.
However, this temporary junior role wasn’t touched on at all during the interview itself where the only focus was the senior role.
I am thus wondering as to whether to provide them with a gentle reminder for this? That way, they’ll know I can definitely start there from September, albeit in the junior role at that time. Will it also serve me as an advantage that I can do both roles for them?

It's hard to say without knowing the context. You sound very keen on the place so it can't hurt to make contact, but if the interview was only on Friday then give them a chance to contact you first - maybe 24 hours. Friday is only yesterday in terms of working days!

Hello all,
I got a missed call and voicemail a short while ago (7.30pm) from the Head of the new school. He has asked me to call him back tomorrow morning and that he would love to have a conversation.
Does this sound positive?

To me it does - in my experience, when I've been rejected after an interview and had a missed call from the Head, they've usually left a voicemail telling me that I've been unsuccessful rather than telling me to call them later (though I'm sure others will have different experiences).