Patiently waiting after phone interview
Dear Ronnie Ann: I am waiting patiently after a phone interview with an internal recruiter that went well. At the end of the interview, I was told that I would get a call from the hiring manager if I get a second interview. That was a week ago.
I’m starting to worry. Should I take some action or just wait? And if I it’s okay to call, would be alright to call the hiring manager directly? Or should I only follow up with the recruiter?
Please help!
~ Lowell
Handling time after phone interview
Hi Lowell!
First, congratulations on a good phone interview. Hope it turns into a good job!
I’ve given your question some thought. Part of me said “Why not go ahead and call him or her?” But then I remembered some places I’ve worked where that would have left a bad impression, despite the initiative it shows.
A week isn’t that long. Sometimes the phase after a phone interview takes a few weeks all on its own. And then they have to decide whom to call back — requiring even more time getting everyone to clear their schedules to do that. So the fact that you haven’t heard back yet is no indication of anything.
Give them a little extra time
I think I’d wait until next week, and, if you haven’t heard anything by then, call the internal recruiter. It’s better office politics. Now if you can’t reach / don’t hear back from the recruiter, then you could very politely and “naively” contact the hiring manager.
You could say you haven’t heard back yet from the phone interview and aren’t sure if you were supposed to contact them. But if so, want to let her/him know how interested you are in the company. And to please let you know if there’s anything more you need to do right now. Might help and probably couldn’t hurt.
Good luck. Please let us know what happens, ok?
~ Ronnie Ann
In case you’re curious, you can read Lowell’s original comment and find out what happened. Hint: He wrote back and it’s good news! 😉
Stuck in the Waiting Game After the 2nd Interview
About the author…
Ronnie Ann, founder of Work To the Wise and Work Coach Cafe, bases her real-world advice on her many years as an organizational consultant where she helped interview and hire people, added to a certificate from NYU in Career Planning & Development, as well as her many adventures as a serial job seeker.
[Post updated in 2020]
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I have a question. I had a phone interview a couple days ago with a nursing home named Ridgecrest and the lady I talked to said that she would give my application to the hiring manager for review and I was going to get a call if they are interested and I should hear something by the end of the week. But I’m wondering if I should follow up quicker than that because I think it’s going to be another set back and I’m already struggling to find work so what do I do follow up or wait a couple more days?
Hope you waited! Never follow up sooner than they expect. By doing that, you are usually putting yourself in a penalty box as a nuisance, pain-in-the-neck person that they wouldn’t want to hire.
Good luck with your job search!
Susan
Question!
I am stressing. I am currently in the interview process for position that is located out of state. I had my firs interview with a recruiter by phone a little more than 6 weeks ago. Obviously they liked me because they invited me for a second interview via phone with a senior executive amd two experiences staff from that department. The phone interview went well. I received an email saying they would like to fly me out to their headquarters and meet with me in person. I gladly accepted. The interview in person lasted two days. I thought everything went great. I received a call from one of the staff (on his personal phone) assuring I enjoyed my visit and to let him know if I had questions about where to live in the area. I also received a message from another person in the department via Facebook. Asking if the senior executive member offered me a job yet and WHEN she does not IF, I should ask for 10% extra towards my salary.
The communication I was having with the people I interviewed with was making me very optimistic. I waited a week, as they told me I would, to hear back from them. Instead of an offer, she said they were waiting on the position approval from HR and the CEO and she would for sure have a definite answer by the next week (7 days away). I am wondering…what does this mean? I am scared this is their approach of denying me??? Shouldn’t the position already be approved since they spent so much money on flying me out to visit them and boarding me? Please let me know your experiences or inputs on this situation. Thanks.
I’ve got a phone screen with the hiring manager on Friday, he actually just asked me some simple information such as my qualifications, my expected salary, my knowledge about the company, nothing more. Then he told me that he would like to have an interview with me next week, maybe next Friday via Skype properly. I think the phone screen wasn’t as good as what I expected, but because he said so, I keep hope. He even gave me some tips and what I should prepare for the next interview even when I didn’t ask for. So far I still haven’t heard about the next interview. I wonder if are there anyways a hiring manager said so to please me and then just rejected me. Because he said “next week”, should I call or email him for the confirmation on next Tuesday (3 working days after the phone screen) in case I still haven’t got the response?
Hi, need advise please! I applied for a couple of open positions for a company that I’m really interested in. The very next day, I received an email from a recruiter requesting a phone interview. The very next day (on a Friday) , I had a 15 min interview with a recruiter. He said to expect a call from the hiring manger for a second interview by Monday. I thanked him and emailed a thank you note the same day. Monday came by and I didn’t receive any email or phone call from the HM. I let a few days pass by and I asked the recruiter to clarify which position i would be interviewed for the HM (bc I applied for 2 different positions. He responded immediately. I waited a few more days to hear from the HM and still no call or email. It’s 2 weeks now after my first interview. I waited a couple more days then sent a follow up email. It’s been a few days and I have yet to get a response. Should I make a phone call to the recruiter or maybe contact the HM directly? Or should I just assume I didn’t get the position? Since my first application a couple of more positions have been posted in the same area and the job title has changed for the position I was interviewed. I am so confused on what I should do! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you