Whats taking the company so long to make a hire?

[Chris Russell]

I got the following email from a frustrated job seeker recently;

"I am a new listener to your podcast and have listened to most of the more recent ones. I found a few tips that will be helpful.

I have a quandary though. I am in my third layoff in two years in the cellular industry. The last two jobs were taken just to be employed. During my layoffs, including the most recent, I have interviewed for 2-3 killer jobs where it came down to me. But nothing came of it. In one, they hired a legal firm. Currently, I have had three interviews including breakfast with the CEO. But have had no news for over two weeks. I left 1 voice mail with the Sr VP, 1 email for the Sr VP and CEO, and finally, 1 email for the HR person.

I know you won't have an exact answer for me but can you enlighten me as to why the big "rush" then nothing?"

So what do you think? I'd love to hear what other career coaches have to say.

[Sandra Naiman]

I absolutely agree with all the other responses. The only thing I can add here is to come from a perspective of relationship building, whether or not you get the job. If these people do not extend you an offer - which they still might - they are valuable contacts to have in your network. Chemistry is an influence in hiring and just because the chemistry might not be right in their company, they could provide leads to others.

[Hannah Morgan]

I would agree with all the above insight. My observation has been that there is a strange phenomenon, almost like a time warp, there is job seeker time and employer time. These clocks move at very different speeds. To a job seeker, a month can seem like a year. To an employer, with thousands of issues on their plate, a month can seem like a blip.

When I was hiring for a position, I took me 3 months to go from screening call to extending the offer. Honestly, I wanted and needed the job filled as quickly as possible. I was working 60 hours a week and needed to hire an assistant. That is the same reason it took 3 months. I was too busy doing my job to make the necessary time to get people through the process.

The moral of the story is, find out what their time frame for filling the position is, and ask how you can follow up if you haven't heard anything by that date. Be proactive and take some initiative to show interest without being a pest.

[Greg Lachs]

Here's something else. New positions. In my staffing/search days, I found that the turnaround time for new positions was almost always slower than for existing ones. Others have stated quite accurately how things can get messed up. With new positions, this is even more so: a lot more people tend to have input than usual. A very common option, especially now, is just to "fold" the position and divide the tasks among other staff. Plus, based on interviews, those making the decision may change opinions on what they are trying to fill. Descriptions can get changed and searches restarted aimed at a very different talent base.

[Abraham Jankans]

I agree with the last two replies very much. The advice I am going to give you encapsulates some points of the last two replies as well as gives you some next steps. Being a third party recruiter and career coach it comes down to two simple concepts. Value, Momentum/Timing. Value - If you value is high-enough to the client, above that of any other candidates than you will be their top option. Momentum - The hiring process can be described in terms of momentum. When the CEO says to hire that person and get it done, the rest of the people in the process will drop what they are doing and get it done. Timing - As the previous reply noted, it may have been on the front burner to make a hire, but now is on the back burner.

So this leaves you with two scenarios for what happened.
A) Value - you were not the most valuable candidate and they are considering others.
B) Momentum/ Timing - The CEO has not made it the top priority to move forward, therefore it is in a red tape hold up. This can be caused by a lack of business in your division, a change of schedules, pending layoffs, reorganization of dept., etc.

Recommendations:
Value - Follow Up/ Follow-Up (without being a pest) - Email and phone calls are good, but I also recommend an in person visit if possible. As a recruiter I often stopped by offices to get decisions on candidates. This can be applied by the job seeker. When you do stop by don't make your objective to inquire about the position, rather to provide additional value. For example, drop off an article or blog post that the CEO might find of interest, and tell her you were thinking of her when you read it. This approach is non-intrusive and creates value. Than you can include a note that you "look forward to hearing back from them".

Momentum - There is nothing you can do here, as it is outside of your control.

At the end of the day, I agree with all of the other replies. Continue to add more opportunities to your pipeline, and do this whether or not you are unemployed. The most valuable candidate have lots of opportunities and are in-demand, so you need to create that appearance for yourself. Best of luck out there! [e-mail]

[Melanie Szlucha]

I've been in this situation as a hiring manager. I needed to hire for a new position, the workload was there, I started screening and interviewing candidates, and it all looked promising.

Then BAM! My company would lose a key account, and the position would be put on hold. Ideally, I hoped to get back to the candidate soon with good news that we could proceed, but more often than not, the future was a big question mark as we waited for other accounts to come in. Wasn't them, it was us.

The other option--which you may not like as much, but need to understand--is that while you did interview with everyone, you may not have jelled with everyone as well as other people did. You clearly have the qualifications and skill, or they wouldn't have gotten you that far, but they may have had a different gut reaction to someone else, or felt that their personality was a better fit. On paper--you're equal, but in-person, it's a different situation.

Many times I liken the job search to dating. I've gone out with several nice, well mannered, interesting guys who were great on paper--and I'd recommend them to others, but did I want to consider spending my life with them? No. Just my instinct. And considering that you spend more time at work than with your spouse, and the entire relationship is based on accomplishing tasks with them, their instincts and the candidate's ability to fit in with the corporate culture is important.

Did I go back to those guys and say, well, you were nice, but I'm just not feelin' it? No--how do you say that? And I've had that with candidates I've interviewed as well in the same situation. They were qualified, could do the job, but I got along with another candidate better. There's nothing that they could have done differently or improve on for the next interview--it was a chemistry thing. It was still us--not so much them.

Considering that you interviewed with a number of people, it may just be one person who had reservations, so they went with someone else. How do they tell you that? Won't you come back and ask for an explanation? They should get back to you--I 100% agree, but human nature is to avoid confrontation.

In a job search you need to be in a constant state of motion. Until someone plunks down an offer letter, you're a free agent. NEVER neglect to follow up on a lead because you think that a company will be making you an offer soon. I've seen way, way, way too many opportunities for my clients lost because of that attitude.

What I'd recommend is a final contact with someone whom you felt the best connection with. Send them an email or voice mail and say that you don't want to be a pest, that you are still interested in the position, but you won't be contacting them again (again, because you don't want to be a pest). You're guessing the position has been put on hold, and that you'd be happy to reconnect with them in the future.

Every day is one day closer to landing your next job, and every job interview--no matter how much it stinks--is an opportunity to learn and change your strategy for the next. Good luck!

[Will Robinson]

I'd echo some of these comments, specifically the process can be a bureaucratic mess. That said, if they were really really interested in you then they shouldn't have gone silent for two weeks. Of course it is August and a lot of people are on vacation. I'd call them up and ask - it is the most direct way.

[Darlene McDaniel]

From Interview to Offer can seem like a life time. The first thing I would recommend to you not only for this situation but for your entire job search strategy, "Keep your pipeline full." Period. There are any number of reasons that the offer may be delayed including the fact that they may have made another offer. If you have made an effort to contact the organization and no one is responding, move forward. Keep interviewing. Release this opportunity and keep moving forward. If the opportunity is yours, it will be there while you are in the midst of interviewing for other opportunities. The most critical thing you can do for yourself is to give yourself options. The more opportunities you have in the pipeline the more control you ultimately have in making a decision about where you want to go to work. Don't stop interviewing, don't stop and wait for an organization, don't stop and get your hopes up. Keep putting yourself in front of organizations, hiring managers and the right opportunity will come your way.

Check out this blog post "From Interview to Offer"
Please let me know if you have any other questions!

[Laura Labovich]

That is so frustrating, and as a former recruiter in corporate america, I can honestly say that I shared your same frustration with the long and drawn out interview process. To answer your question, there are often numerous hoops that HR has to jump through prior to receiving a green light to hire a candidate that frequently slow down the process; from initiating background and reference checks/investigations, to researching a candidate's online identity, to gaining approvals on pay rates (especially if the candidate's proposed salary falls outside of the compensation range for the position and causes internal equity issues). And that doesn't take into account vacation days for any key decision-makers (eg. Finance, HR), internal team-building activities, or other big or small corporate activity that take a stakeholder away from his/her desk, thus drawing the process out even longer! Best advice to you, don't put all your eggs in one basket...keep the momentum in your job search, and soon enough you'll have your answer on this one!

[John Walker]

This is not an uncommon experience. I would recommend to continue to follow up with the people you interviewed with by sending them a hand written thank you note and in it express your desire to know when they will be making a decision. Also send a note to the HR person. If after this and you are still not successful in finding out the deposition of the position, I would re-evaluate if this is the kind of company you would want to work for if this is how they handle top candidates during the hiring process.

Set yourself a deadline and if you don't hear back from them, move on to other opportunities ASAP. Don't let it stall your job search efforts.