Longest you’ve waited to get a job offer?

[rclouse79]

Seven years. Holding out for a management position.
- Uncle Eddy

 

[zacattack]

2 months for my current job and I was the only one who interviewed. I think the one before that was 4 or 5 months, they told me I had the job but I had to wait for their next fiscal year to start for an official offer.

 

[Marmots]

I've gotten offers for state and federal jobs I had long since forgotten about after 7-8 months of no contact.

 

[PumaR]

So from the majority of answers I’m seeing, seems that I’m over thinking it. I’ll be pinging them again on Monday to get an answer on what’s happening, seems like pinging every 2 weeks is t being too pushy to find out if you’re in the running or not.


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I do not think that is being too pushy. I would personally put some more pressure on them if it were me. Could backfire, but after a point you gotta either rock n roll or move on. Staying in that unknown state is tough and hinders other opportunities you could pursue if you knew one way or the other. Your time is just as important as theirs

 

[Sevens]

“Busy with month end” is the excuse I give vendors I’m trying to dodge or delay providing something.

I would say keep interviewing until you have an offer in hand. Might end up with two offers; can leverage one against the other.

 

[Spoonbill]

HR slows everything down. I have never worked with an HR that moved quickly on hiring. That being said, if you piss someone off in their hr department by calling for a status update too often, they will find a reason to not extend an offer letter. This is coming from a long time in the recruiting industry.
I would first continue to interview, who knows you can leverage a competing job offer for a higher salary. I would also check in every couple of weeks. It will show you have interest in the position and its not enough to ruffle any feathers.

 

[JCY]

So I’ve had two rounds of interviews at a company I respect and would love to be a team of. Interviews went excellent to the point that they hinted at my relocation becoming a reality. I was told that HR would be calling me after the new year. Middle of January I pinged my would be supervisor(who interviewed me), he had told me that HR was busy with end of year tasks, and he would ping HR again. It’s now turning into February and still not a peep. I’m starting to get a bit anxious and worried that it all fell through. Am I over thinking this?


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If it was a gov job the process can take months especially this year. The process is getting worse not better. If it’s a private job I recommend giving them until mid February. Keep in touch with them... check back often, don’t stop being aggressive.

 

[FLAK]

I waited 16 years for a lateral transfer.
Sometimes gotta wait on people to die.

 

[Deadfall]

Call him every day until they say yes or no. Initiative....

 

[Squamch]

I applied to a federal government trades position in October. I heard it was coming up last summer, it was posted October, I interviewed early this month. I was told not to expect to hear anything until close to the end of this fiscal year.

 

[BigAl!]

It was 7 months after the final interview before I had an official job offer for my current role at the government. No previous government job history. Hang in there.

 

[go_deep]

I've only had 3 jobs in my lifetime, all of them in the private sector at 50-200 employee companies. I was hired on the spot twice, and had to wait 2 days once for them to agree to my terms. Honestly if they're that dang slow, might give you a clue to what it would be like to work there. Really want HR to take 3 months on your short term disability, an issue with your health insurance, or your direct deposit not going to the right place. Keep on keeping on, good luck!

 

[sndmn11]

If you think you are strongly qualified for the role (and not reaching) then you can reach out and say you’ve received interest from another party. That you would prefer this role but will have to seriously consider the other if you can’t get an accurate update on the status of your candidacy. It may cut through the BS and get you an answer but it’s possible it won’t be the answer you hope for.

I would first continue to interview, who knows you can leverage a competing job offer for a higher salary. I would also check in every couple of weeks. It will show you have interest in the position and its not enough to ruffle any feathers.

Step 1) see @Spoonbill
Step 2) see @HoneyDew

 

[Peaks&Creeks]

Thanks for all the replies. Brings some perspective to the slow pace of HR. Also eases my mind a bit.

One thing I forgot to mention is that after the second interview he told me that he’d like to see me start in April. I told him I’d need to know about getting the job as soon as they can as I’d have to sell a house and relocate my family. So they know I’m pressed for time


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[sndmn11]

Thanks for all the replies. Brings some perspective to the slow pace of HR. Also eases my mind a bit.

One thing I forgot to mention is that after the second interview he told me that he’d like to see me start in April. I told him I’d need to know about getting the job as soon as they can as I’d have to sell a house and relocate my family. So they know I’m pressed for time


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In that case, I would send out a professionally formatted letter attached in an email to your contacts there formally requesting a status update and statement of your time constraints in moving. Don't send it typed in an email, send it as an attached PDF. It will be good fodder for negotiation later if they take their time, in getting you an offer, "Hey I made every effort, now you want me to move on short notice", or get you a quicker answer.

 

[tdhanses]

If it’s a big company and they currently are interviewing thousands of positions, HR can and does get swamped. If they have 50 employees I don’t see how there could be a bottle neck with HR.

 

[journeyman713]

The bigger the company, the seemingly more dysfunctional there are in doing anything fast.
They have different drivers for making decisions, which also take a series of meetings.
Then apply the Covid era dysfunctional multiplier.

If they said April then their goal for this, is a second quarter move.
A second interview is a good signal.
In the meantime you could put out more resumes for insurance, but it sounds like you have something on the table already.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Usually slow means no

Unless it is a government job...

 

[540-Virginian]

So from the majority of answers I’m seeing, seems that I’m over thinking it. I’ll be pinging them again on Monday to get an answer on what’s happening, seems like pinging every 2 weeks is t being too pushy to find out if you’re in the running or not.


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I work in HR (14 years), a number of things could be happening. Don’t get discouraged when I say this but when this is happening it usually means 1 of 2 things:

1. the company may have a hiccup and a senior leader suddenly has a hiring freeze on certain positions.

or more likely:

2. They are interviewing another candidate and waiting to see how it plays out meaning you’re the backup.

number two is not a bad thing. There will always be someone more qualified out there but it doesn’t mean it’ll work out. They sound interested in you so you will just have to play the wait game. The preferred candidate may go with another company then you get the phone call.

if you don’t end up getting the job, ask them ‘what led you to that decision?’ Be friendly it’s totally cool to ask why you didn’t get the job. Sometimes there are politics too like an internal person may be in the running for the position.

 

[540-Virginian]

HR slows everything down. I have never worked with an HR that moved quickly on hiring. That being said, if you piss someone off in their hr department by calling for a status update too often, they will find a reason to not extend an offer letter. This is coming from a long time in the recruiting industry.
I would first continue to interview, who knows you can leverage a competing job offer for a higher salary. I would also check in every couple of weeks. It will show you have interest in the position and its not enough to ruffle any feathers.

I work in HR and can tell you recruiters do not want to slow things down. They have a quota just like sales. Majority of the times it’s the hiring manager. The managers just use HR as a scape goat when it’s them. And in this case of the OPs story, this sounds typical of there is another candidate they are more interested in and are going through the process with him or her, with the OP being the back up candidate.

I agree there are some shit HR departments, I’ve worked for plenty of them, but it’s the managers that are the reason for hang ups, not HR. If done right, HR is just doing what it’s told by the senior leaders. Sometimes the senior leader is the worst with managing People in the company.