Way OT- Professional Job Market

exodia

I am out touch with the current job market. I have been with the same company for 28 years.

A friend of mine recently interviewed for a marketing middle management position for a small technology company. The process started in August with a phone interview, then an in-person interview with HR, a second visit with the VP of marketing. His last visit was with president/owner of the company on 9/5. He followed up each interview with a thank you email. For the last two weeks he followed up with a phone call to the HR manager. They have not returned his calls or emails.

Is this normal in today's marketplace? He is going on the assumption that he did not get the job. (I agree). I think after three interviews they "owe” him the courtesy of an answer. I have told him not to contact them anymore? Does anyone agree or disagree ?

Is there anybody in HR that can comment on the situation?

Thanks

Tom

Archaninator

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AlanAllen

That's typical of my experience. Last summer I found a job listing that asked for very specific experience, so specific that maybe 1000 people in the country would meet the minimum qualifications. I sent in my resume, and didn't hear anything. Not even a "we got your resume" e-mail. I resent it two weeks later, and heard nothing for three more months. I assumed they had filled the position. Then one Monday night at 9:30, they called and did a phone interview right then and there. I called back the next day and the HR rep said they wanted to bring me out for an in-person interview the following week, and she'd call me with specifics. I got no call that week, so I called her and got her voice mail every day for two more weeks. No returned calls. She finally called and said they wanted to bring me out as soon as possible, and I was on-site interviewing that Friday. After that it went quickly... I was told informally that afternoon that they'd be making me an offer, and I had the offer in my hands the following week. I should have heeded the warning signs about how poorly the recruiting process was run, but I took the job anyway .

Joe

exodia

Thanks

My friend is also my younger brother so I try to give him non emotional based advice. He has only been out of work for for 2 months .

The job isin his field and pay about $ 90 K. He is tried calling the president of the company but he not received a response. I told him to just keep low profile and continie his job search. He can decide if he gets an offer if he wants to work for them.

Based on the small sample it seems this is the way the hiring process work today, hurry up and wait

5STAT

That's one of the many reasons I left corporate America!! Our HR department used to make a game out of it to see who wanted the job the most!! They pretty much would make people grovel to get in the door..and the overly anxious were often given lesser offers than the people who held their ground.
We could have 2 candidates..evenly matched for the job...if one seemed too eager, they were strung along to see if they would take it at a lower rate. If someone seemed to pompous...the job was given to the other person outright.

I don't agree with it....but back in those times..the company thought it was invincible with stocks at $60+ a share.....times have caught up with them, there have been layoffs...downsizing...shrinking facilites and consolidating warehouses...and today their stocks are less than $15 a share.

Sad part is..many many a good person left the company after being treated like dirt....and the one's that are still there are the parasites that played the games in the 1st place.
I left voluntarily in order to save 2 office jobs...but the CFO came in my office one day and asked me why I would jump on the sword, instead of someone else..

Easy, it was between losing my salary...or 2 girls in the office...one who had just had a baby 10 months earlier...and one whom had recently bought a new house.

He was dumb- when I decided to leave...his reply..

"I don't care who goes...as long as I keep my job and salary"

Yah, this is the guy I want running my company!!! lol

Good luck to your friend and all those looking for jobs....corporate etiquette went out the window long ago!!!

kingraider75

I actually work in HR, so perhaps my opinion is worth $.04!

Anyways, I would say that not hearing anything back after two weeks is not a good sign, but there could be some reasons as to why there is such a delay. Since the company is small, they may only have one or two people doing hiring, amongst other items. Although, the interview was very important to your brother, it may not be a high priority item for the people assigned to hiring or for the company in general. There may also be an issue of funding for the position or other salary issues for the company. Hiring can take a long time, the company may be waiting for other candidates to be interviewed, since the salary is rather competitive. If the owner/president wants to interview each person, the process will be prolonged.

Your advice to your brother to cease calling is solid. Since your brother followed up with emails and phonecalls, the company is aware of his interest in the position. If he does not hear by the end of the 3rd or at the most 4th week, then I would say that he did not get the job. The company should at least give him a form letter letting him know he did not get the job.

Brian48

From my experience, if they really wanted you, you'd know it within one business day. I'd say they've moved one. Pretty crappy in that they should at least give you a courtesy call to thank you for your time.

A761506

The entire process of finding a job is terrible, especially in the corporate world.

Some companies do such a horrible job during the hiring process that they lose much of the top talent, either because they are inept and it is obvious to the potential employee, or they take forever and other offers come along, and then a few weeks after the inferior new hire doesn't work out, they are back at square one and wondering why they can't get better people in there.

blindflyer

Exodia,

I actually am a technical recruiter for IT and High-Tech companies in the Silicon Valley and Southern California. I'm a consultant that is typically "embedded" inside of companies to act as the primary hiring resource.

Kingraider made some very strong points.

In the end, there are a number of factors that can influence both the length of time the hiring process takes and the "politeness" of the company in getting back to candidates like your brother. Oftentimes, the company is severly understaffed and simply does not have the bandwith to remain in as close as contact with every candidate as they should/could/would like to.

I simply do not know enough about the specific company your brother applied to, but two weeks without contact can mean a million different things other than not being interested. On more than one occasion, positions I've staffed for have taken months, usually because of hiring managers that flip-flop on what they really want or funding/financial/political issues that jeopardize the position. Scheduling can also stretch out a hire, dragging out the overall interview process --- perhaps your brother was one of the first interviewed.

Also, sometimes if we have 2 candidates we like, we'll make an offer to the #1 guy and keep the other guy warm in case our #1 rejects the offer for whatever reason.

The best advice I can give your brother is to:
a) Not get attached to the position. He's done all he can, maintained his professionalism, and showed his interest. Assume the worst, and continue his search.
b) Add his primary contact from that company to his network/contact list. If he still hasn't heard in another two weeks, send a casual email, once again thanking the company for his interview asking to remain in touch.

Overall ---- my gut feeling on this one is that either:
1) President is swamped with a million other "higher priorities" and is simply dragging his feet on a decision. And, HR/Staffing is either understaffed or just bad at follow-up communication with candidates.
2) Decision was made to go with someone else. HR/Staffing is understaffed or just bad at communicating to your brother that another candidate was selected.

The good news:
The tech market is VERY HOT right now ... depending on what your brother does, he shouldn't have too much trouble finding a better job anyway.

-Tom

exodia

Thanks for the input.

I guess there are benefits to both parties to avoiding communications for a couple of weeks.

My brothers gut feeling is that he did not get the job.

He needs to forget about it

Thanks

2dueces

To get a job these days is an unbelievable journey through back ground, drug tests and countless interviews. If I would have been put through the wringer 10 years ago like my company does now, I doubt I would've been hired. I cannot fathom how much they spend just to hire 1 person now.