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Need some advice

pp2

Shared on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:10

Back on the 17th of last month I had a job interview.  It went exceptionally well, to be honest.  I was there 3 and a half hours and met with the facility manager, 2 supervisors, and human resources.  The last supervisor I met with told me as we concluded our interview that "between you and me", he really liked me and thought I was a good fit for the position.  And truthfully I am a good fit for the position.  Its right up my alley from a background standpoint and it deals heavily with SAP and TMS, 2 software programs I have a great deal of experience with.

So upon returning home I received an email from human resouces with a pdf copy of an application for the company.  I was asked to fill it out and send back a digital copy as well as mail back the original copy.  I did so immediately.  I received an email from their human resources the day before Thanksgiving letting me know that she received the mailed copy that day and they would be in touch with me the next week to schedule the next round of interviews, which they wanted to do "as soon as possible".  Great!  Thats fantastic, right?

Well..."next week" (which was last week) came and went.  I sent an email to the woman in HR last Thursday afternoon, simply stating that "I wanted to stay and touch and to let you know I was available at your convenience for the next round of interviews".  I received a simple reply about an hour later: "I'll be in touch with you next week".

Ok, so now we're at the end of "next week" and I still haven't heard anything.  I am beginning to worry.  Well no, I was beginning to worry last week.  Right now I'm working on an ulcer.  I was going nuts all last weekend waiting for this week, so you can imagine how I'm doing right about now.

A little more background: I have a rapport already with the facility manager and one of the supervisors.  I knew both of them when I worked for my last company, and I got along well with both of them.  Thats how I was brought in for the interview.  The interviews with them went well, it was the supervisor I didn't know who pulled me aside and told me he really liked me.  And I'm pretty certain I charmed the HR rep during my time with her.  When the facility manager first let me know about this position, he told me he'd be in touch with me "next week".  That turned into almost 3 weeks, but he did get in touch with me.  It also took a little time from when he told me he'd have HR contact me about setting up an interview to when she actually did call me.  The point of this is there's at least a little precedent for them being slow.

So now here is where I need some advice.  Right now I've about given up hope on this, although I realize I shouldn't.  It is December after all, and between holidays and year end I'm sure things are a bit crazy for them.  My situation is only important to me; they don't know me really, I don't work for them...I'm not a priority.  I get that.  But when I interviewed they had told me that they wanted the person hired for the position to start some time in December.  They also told me they had an internal candidate, but the manager confided to me that this person made too many mistakes and he didn't want her to have the position.  Plus my background is far more suited to the job than her's.

What I'm thinking is that I just ride the rest of this week out, even though I'm pretty sure I won't hear anything.  I really want to call but I don't think thats a good idea since I already sent a follow-up email last week, and I don't want to piss anyone off.  But I'm thinking if I don't hear anything by 1pm on Monday I would give the facility manager a call and find out whats going on, where they are in the hiring process.  Like I said, I was already told I'd be contacted for the next round of interviews, and on 2 occassions have been told (more or less) "when" I would be contacted.  Is it wrong for me to expect them to be at least somewhat accountable in their followup?

So what do I do?  Do I wait til Monday and contact them?  Should I contact them tomorrow?  Today?  Not at all?  I'm fairly going nuts over this right now. 

Comments

Saithme's picture
Submitted by Saithme on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 15:42
Yes, using Dreamweaver and Photoshop for the graphics.
TANK's picture
Submitted by TANK on Sun, 06/13/2010 - 22:07
charge by the hour not the project, websites creation tends to get into a lot of change orders and feature creep.
PropertyofWyatt's picture
Submitted by PropertyofWyatt on Mon, 12/19/2011 - 17:55
I would say to get in touch with someone at least once more to ask about it. If they put you off again, start looking somewhere else.
DLogan's picture
Submitted by DLogan on Mon, 06/14/2010 - 06:56
That's what my friend told me last night. Seems like good advice.
J-Cat's picture
Submitted by J-Cat on Mon, 06/14/2010 - 07:28
Ping me if you still need a price. My guy does this work and might be able to give you a ballpark
Saithme's picture
Submitted by Saithme on Mon, 06/14/2010 - 10:05
When I did this kind of stuff, I'd start out at $1,000 for up to five pages, then give a "friend" discount of 25%. That way you'll see if they are serious. Any follow-up web maintenance, I'd charge $35 an hour and up. These prices were way under the commercial guys locally, but I didn't do databases or e-commerce.
TANK's picture
Submitted by TANK on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:41
As someone who interviews for 2 1/2 years.... the continual put-off means they're continuing to interview other people trying to find someone better. That's just the game right now, they're not looking for someone to fil the job, they're looking for someone better to fill the job. If you set the bar, they'll continue to look for other people and try and find someone better than you. Now it could also be the holidays and people are gone, or there could be budgetary factors. So there could be other things at play, but if you told me this story outside of the holiday season, i would have told you for sure you didn't get it and keep looking. I've been in that position too many times over the past 2 1/2 years. All you can do is shoot them an email once a week to just keep the lines of contact open but at this point you should move on. If they were truly interested in you, they would have hired you within a week of interviewing.
TDrag27's picture
Submitted by TDrag27 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 13:17
December is always a difficult time for hiring in companies because it's when budgets are getting finalized and lots of people are using up vacation hours. Be persistent. The worst thing to happen is you get your "no" sooner so you can look elsewhere.
JPNor's picture
Submitted by JPNor on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 13:24
If you know the facility manager well enough, I'd say call him today or tomorrow. Let him know you're really interested in the job and if he's heard anything from HR. This is also open enrollment season for many companies, so it's possible the HR manager is overwhelmed with that. Either way there's nothing wrong with being persistent as long as you're not being annoying. There is the possibility that they have either filled the position with the internal candidate or decided to keep looking, but it's definitely worth that call to the facility manager to find out.
pp2's picture
Submitted by pp2 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 13:29
Thanks everyone for the responses. I really appreciate everyone's input here. I'm going to call the manager today. Like Tara says, the worst thing that can happen is I am told no now rather than 2 weeks from now. But I'm going nuts with the lack of communication. I need closure at the very least.
buckeye75's picture
Submitted by buckeye75 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 13:39
A couple of months ago, we did a round of interviews and decided on three people. The person who does the orientation left for a week because of a death in the family, then she had a week of vacation. Then she spent two weeks out of state at one of our other facilities. During this whole time, the three guys we hired had no idea that they had the jobs. It was just bad timing.
pp2's picture
Submitted by pp2 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 13:45
Thats something to consider too, you never know whats going on there. Ok, I just called the manager. He obviously has me in his cell directory since he answered with "Hi, Tom". Aaaaand...good news. Or at least, not bad news. Things are just going a little slow but he told me the HR manager is lining up interviews for the 14th and he expects I'll be getting a call soon. He also told me that with my background I am one of the top candidates right now. He mentioned that the next round is with his boss and other big guns, so keep that in mind and to make sure I bring my A interview. We talked a bit and I expressed how much I liked everyone I met there (this is true) and how comfortable I felt in the environment (also true), and that I was very excited about the potential opportunity. I also mentioned that I had come up with an idea or 2 to streamline information communication regarding customer orders based on a few things he showed me while I was there, and he told me to mention all of the above to his boss because his boss appreciates enthusiastic, "big picture" type people. So...whew. For now anyway.
AngryJason's picture
Submitted by AngryJason on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 14:22
slowness is to be expected this time of year. I deal with it in my company and we're only 50 people. Case in point - there's this cat I want to hire, but with holiday planning, lining up work orders for next year, figuring out bonuses and raises, I haven't been as Johnny on the Spot as I would have been in September. Anyway, I would say if you feel that too much time has passed since your last interaction, go ahead and call. I know it wouldn't bother me, and might actually bump you up in the order of importance.
Link020's picture
Submitted by Link020 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 18:59
Glad to hear that you are still in the running. I actually accepted a new position starting in the new year this morning and at 2 times in the process I figured they had found someone else, but I think like people say at this time of the year things just slow down. Good luck for the next round.
pp2's picture
Submitted by pp2 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 20:23
Thanks. We'll see what happens now. I didn't get a call today to set up my interview, but according to the manager the interviews are being scheduled for the 14th so there's still plenty of time before I need to start obsessing again. Then should I get the call (assuming I will) I really need to work on my interview approach. No pressure, its only the difference between maintaining my quality of living or living out of my car. :P
CapnHun's picture
Submitted by CapnHun on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 02:38
Of course you could apply for 3 or 4 more jobs. Murphey's Law says they will all decide they want to hire you and schedule interviews in such a way you will have to blow at least one of them off. Additionally, you will end up getting another job offer and have to call them and pull your hat out okf the ring....
CiaranORian's picture
Submitted by CiaranORian on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 06:35
Dont email. Phone or even call in person if you can. Makes a huge difference. Let them know you are eager and ready to work.
pp2's picture
Submitted by pp2 on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 07:30
I wound up calling the facility manager. It was helpful to infer hints from his tone and conversational demeanor. I think I'm still ok in this situation, it just really is dragging right now. From the example I was given, if they interview me on the 14th and decide to hire me on the 15th, I can't start until early January anyway. I'm just waiting now for the call to schedule my next interview and prepping myself mentally.
DLogan's picture
Submitted by DLogan on Mon, 06/14/2010 - 23:26
@Saithme did you design your own templates too?

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