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Reader Sal from Boston writes:
“I had an interview a week ago today and I haven’t heard anything back from the employer. Is there a standard amount of time I should wait before following up with them? I don’t want to seem too eager.”
Brian answers after the break…
Brian sayz:
Since last week was Thanksgiving, I’d give it at least two more days. For all you know no work got done the second half of last week, or the office was closed. So maybe they’re still planning on getting back to you, but they’re running behind because of the holidays.
But to answer your question, I think waiting one week is pretty much standard. I think you can call them up, or follow up in general and it won’t seem untoward.
If they said something specific, like, “We’ll get back to you in two weeks,” or “We’ll make our decision next month” then you should definitely wait the amount of time they specified. If they told you specifically it will be two weeks and you’re calling after only a week, that might seem a bit eager.
Something else to consider: I know of several employers that make their interviewees wait a specific length of time before they make their decision. Why? If the interviewee doesn’t follow up, then the employer thinks they weren’t that interested in the job to begin with. It’s a sort of informal test to gauge the person’s level of interest/commitment to the job.
So, rule of thumb, wait a week… or wait the specific amount of time they specified… but then definitely follow up.
What do you think, readers? Is one week too soon? Tell us in the comments.
And you will be more likely to hear back if you use a professional resume service.
22 responses so far ↓
1 Kevin // Dec 5, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I agree with the policy of waiting one week. But I think sending a short ‘thank you for your time / look forward to hearing from you’ note or voicemail just after the interview is a good idea as well.
2 Anonymous Poster // Feb 28, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Like Kevin stated, following up within 1-2 days with a thank you letter is important and very professional. However, when a company tells you someone(or a specific someone) will get back to you within a certain time frame, its important to be patient during this time period. Once you are nearing the end of the period, at this point, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by initiating contact with the company again. But, remember to be professional and confidant when speaking, as the other person will sense this.
3 Will // May 14, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I had a second interview and was informed it would be 2 days, and have heard nothing. I am almost sure it went well because I was told the salary and location I would be placed. Should I call or just wait?
4 Sara // Jun 10, 2009 at 12:57 pm
same situation here: I had a second interview. I ‘ve sent a thank you letter a day after and knew that destinators read it.. I was informerd that decision will be taken within a day and I have heard nothing.. what should I do!! waiting till the end of this week or calling them!!!
5 Joshua // Jun 18, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Same situation, Sara.
I just had my interview on June 12. I was told by the HR manager that I was the only one that the department managers wanted to bring in for a second and so she’d probably would be calling me soon. I went through a recruiter and he read me an email that was passed from the QA Manager to the HR Manager to him that had all positive responses from her. So NOW I’m waiting until Friday (tomorrow) to call. They didn’t give me a definite time frame though for a decision.
6 Ryan // Jul 29, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I interviewed for a civil service job with the city and this was on July 7th. Its been 3 weeks. Should I follow up? I know that during the interview one of the panel members mentioned that there was a significant amount of people that applied.
7 Alex // Aug 7, 2009 at 8:59 am
To Ryan, I feel sorry for you. Civil Service job placements are often false. The person has been picked already. The interviews are to satisfy legal requirements. They are also very rude people and never get back to you. I should know I have been working for the City of New York for 22 years. There is no harm in contacting the interviewers. ns are otorious fn
8 hickory // Aug 14, 2009 at 9:39 am
i went to an interview with bank of america yesterday and after the interview all the interview told me was “it was a pleasure to meet you.” What does that really mean?
9 hi // Sep 3, 2009 at 10:43 pm
It aint good^^^^^
10 Shawn // Sep 17, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I think, if an employer really finds interest in hiring a job applicant, there is no reason not to make an offer or inform the applicant within a couple of days that there is a potential job offer and stay put. I understand certain jobs require background checks which may cause delays, but these things can be done after a conditional job offer.
If an employer finds a qualified candidate that he/she needs to hire, and then waite for days or weeks to get back to the candidate after 1 or two interviews, then that employer may be far from an ideal employer. To make an analogy I would say: if one gets hungry and there is food available why avoid it?!
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12 Andy // Sep 30, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I agree with Shawn. If they are going to hire you, there are going to get back to you in a very short period of time, almost always within a few days. While it is technically possible that you may get a job offer weeks and weeks after an interview, I would say that those cases are very rare. If they tell you at the end of your interview that they are still going to be interviewing for a while and don’t know their decision yet, it means that either you or your qualifications didn’t wow them enough for them to stop their interviewing process. Simply put, if you are going to be hired, they are going to let you know very shortly after the interview.
13 Matt // Oct 1, 2009 at 12:26 am
But say you have two interviews, write your thank you notes and then follow up appropriately (with thank you letters and then emails) and still hear nothing back… what do you do then? Isn’t that just rude on the employers part?
14 Laura // Oct 16, 2009 at 2:23 pm
However, sometimes there are delays due to HR. Once, i interviewed and didn’t hear anything for 3 weeks- then suddenly was passed to 2nd interviews. After I received a verbal offer, it took 2 more weeks to get the written. Turns out they offered me a job they hadn’t made available to the public and due to company policy, they had to interview at least 3 people.
So much of it depends! But yes, it is so rude of companies to not let a person know either way.
15 Layla // Nov 5, 2009 at 10:57 am
I hate this idea that employers could deliberately wait to see if the interviewee chases them up and is therefore eager – that’s sneaky! Personally, if an employer doesn’t get back to me within 1.5 weeks then I’m concerned about their reliability, care of staff and efficiency and will think twice about taking the job.
16 Lisa // Nov 11, 2009 at 9:52 am
I went for an interview for a PA to MD job on Monday – seemed to go really well – I sent a thank you email today (Wednesday) but because 2 days have elapsed i’m thinking maybe its not a good sign?? ahhh i hate playing the waiting game! :0(
17 Jack // Nov 11, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I was told that they would call me on a certain date. It is now 2 days past that date. I’ve decided to wait a week after the promissed call back day. Why? well things happen. Maybe they got busy. Maybe he was out sick for a few days. Maybe HR is dragging their feet and holding up the works. What ever it is it is pure torture! If they don’t want you they should say so and not leave you hanging.
Another thought. If they want you they will call you! It’s not like you’ll call them and they will say: Oh, we are sorry for not calling sooner, but we would like to offer you the job! THAT NEVER HAPPENS. If you don’t hear anything after 2 weeks you can bet (90% of the time) you didn’t get the job. So, like I said earlier, wait a week after the interview or a week after the promised call back date.
18 Fritz // Dec 6, 2009 at 10:41 am
My experience,…
Sometimes there is an affirmative action “goal” attached to a position in a company, especially if that position is in mid-level management. If you are chosen for the job and do not fit the pre-defined “goal” there will likely be an internal battle between the manager who wants to hire you and his/her own HR department. Sometimes the manager wins,..most of the time HR wins. It depends upon how hard that manager will fight to hire you. If you get caught up in that process it could take a while before you hear anything, especially in public sector jobs (three times for me now, and third time was finally the charm). Each of the three times it was at least one month before I heard anything after the second interview. Anything that gets sent to a human resources department is going to be dragged out endlessly.
19 jf // Dec 19, 2009 at 12:39 am
I had a video conference interview and it was a week ago, how long should I wait.
20 TJ // Jan 12, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I think theres no magic number of days to wait for following up. I base it on the company and it’s habits. If it’s a small firm (a few 100 employees), I’ll follow up a few days after and keep following up with the hiring manager about once a week. Especially if it’s a sales gig as you are expected to be persistent. If it’s a large company that has their own internal recruiters, I typically send the hiring manager a thank you email within a day after the interview and then wait about 2 weeks before contacting the recruiter. All of my contact is with the recruiter. Hiring managers at large companies usually don’t like dealing with candidates. Note that I have broken my rule in the past and contacted the recruiter within a week after my first phone interview, and although I can’t say it hurt me, it certainly didn’t help. Both times the recruiter said that they didn’t have any feedback yet from the hiring manager. Both times the recruiter did contact me at a later date and I progressed all the way through to the final candidate stage. I don’t think I’ve ever heard back from a recruiter within the timeframe he/she laid out for me when they first contacted me. Recruiters get bombarded with resumes and emails. Also many times they haven’t followed up with the hiring manager by the time I’ve contacted them. They truly had no information to tell me. Oh, and I’d also advise not to get worried if you haven’t heard right back from a recruiter. In my experience if you were not a good fit for the position, they will call or email you and tell you right away. This gets you off their radar while they work the other open positions that they need to fill.
21 Narendra // Jan 15, 2010 at 4:12 pm
I was interviewed on last month,i have also sent them thank you email,After interview the HR manager asked my salary slip and after producing that salary slip,they didnt replied me.
one of my friend inside that company told me that the company made the decision to hire me but my existing CTC is little more.
Still i have not done any follow up,please suggest what should i do?
regards
Narendra
22 hatethewaitinggame // Jan 22, 2010 at 2:37 pm
I had my first interview with employer on Jan 12 with the Hiring Manager, VP of the department I’d be working for. He said he loved me and my work, and set up a second interview with the team I’d be working with on Jan 14th. The 2nd interview was with 3 different members, 90 minutes total, all of whom I’d be working with, and they all went really well from my perspective. I sent a thank you email the next day (Jan 15th), and have not heard anything back. I am working with a recruiter who landed me the interview, and he said that he would get back to me if he heard anything. Nothing yet. Yesterday, I saw that the job I was interviewing for, posted on some job boards. What does that mean? It’s been a week since my 2nd interview and this morning I sent a follow up email to the hiring manager to express my interest in the position. The second interview was set up so quickly, and went well ( so I thought) , I’m wondering why I haven’t heard anything yet.
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