How long does it take to hear back from an employer after an interview?

ameliebean

I know it completely varies from employer to employer, but I was wondering what kind of personal experiences people have had with this. I had a face to face interview on Monday that followed on from a phone screening interview about a week and a half before that. The employer is recruiting for a brand new store and needs about seven or eight staff including a manager and deputy (I applied for a sales assistants role), and the store is opening in a few weeks time.
I think the interview went really well; she seemed really enthusiastic and made all of the right noises (asking me which hours I would prefer, telling me the uniform, salary, training schedule etc), but I made the crucial mistake of neither getting her phone number or asking how long the wait would be until she made a decision.
Am I tearing my hair out needlessly?

nexuss

I should imagine at least 200 people will apply for the jobs if not more than 500 based on the current climate.

TR4

I'm afraid that you may not hear anything at all.

One of my frustrations about my jobhunting is that when you apply for a job, you are unlikely to even get an aknowledgement.

If you are lucky enough to have an interview, some prospective interviewers don't have the common courtesy or professionalism to let you know how you've done.

As I'm in (or was) retailing, I fight back in my own small way by then not buying any of their products - problem is, I'm running out of places to shop!:rolleyes:

talksr

As TR4 says, more often than not, you hear absolutely nothing back from the employer. It is INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLY disrespectful and unprofessional, however these days there are many many more people looking and applying for jobs so employers are more and more stretched to interview them all and decide who to take.

If you are wondering, call them. It shows you are enthusiastic and are interested in the job.

onlyforboards_2

TR4 wrote: »

If you are lucky enough to have an interview, some prospective interviewers don't have the common courtesy or professionalism to let you know how you've done.

I am amazed at what kind of companies no longer treat interviewees with respect enough to inform them that they are not successful.

My main bug bear is local councils; paid for by the public but when the public makes the effort to put on (possibly buy) clean and tidy clothes, brush up on the job, travel and be polite and keen in lots of regions they hear nothing.
/rant!


Hope it works out for you op.

talksr

Not just councils, but any organisation, if recruiting should make a damn good effort to treat people with some respect. My employer is currently looking for someone. A guy called yesterday and told me he was having trouble emailing his CV over to the director. So I took his number and name to pass to the director. He came in the office, I explained, he shrugged his shoulders and chucked it in the bin. I just couldn’t believe it. I am leaving there in two weeks.

I can understand onlyforboard's frustration with public sector recruitment, but in my mind any place recruiting really needs to consider their methods. There should be a proper regulation for employment that stipulates that an employer should let the applicant know within a certain time period. As the OP says, they believe they have had a good interview with an enthusiastic interviewee, only to hear nothing.
This sort of stuff really makes me sick.

Anyway, rant over! Good luck OP

onlyforboards wrote: »

I am amazed at what kind of companies no longer treat interviewees with respect enough to inform them that they are not successful.

My main bug bear is local councils; paid for by the public but when the public makes the effort to put on (possibly buy) clean and tidy clothes, brush up on the job, travel and be polite and keen in lots of regions they hear nothing.
/rant!


Hope it works out for you op.

Savy_3

talksr wrote: »

There should be a proper regulation for employment that stipulates that an employer should let the applicant know within a certain time period.

There is. It's call the Data Protection Act 1998.

If you want to force them to give you feedback, contact them in writing (emails count) and say you would like to see a copy of their interview notes. They have 40 days in which to comply. Technically they can charge an administrative fee for this (though probably won't bother).

Its not actually necessary to reference the Data Protection Act, but you may find it helps. I have actually used this once to request the results of a psychometric test conducted during employment screening (they ignored my request for a copy of the results until I referenced the act).

Of course this probably won't help your future employment prospects with the company, but the option is there if you want to use it.

Savvy_Sue

ameliebean wrote: »

but I made the crucial mistake of neither getting her phone number or asking how long the wait would be until she made a decision.
Am I tearing my hair out needlessly?

Are there no contact details from any of the invitations to interview? Has it all been arranged by phone?

But it may be that she is waiting until she has finished interviewing before telling anyone anything, and that may be taking a while.

talksr wrote: »

A guy called yesterday and told me he was having trouble emailing his CV over to the director. So I took his number and name to pass to the director. He came in the office, I explained, he shrugged his shoulders and chucked it in the bin. I just couldn’t believe it.

Sorry, but I have some sympathy with the director, who probably already has a large number of CVs to look at. In this day and age, if a candidate can't sort out his own problems with emailing a CV, and computer skills are any part of the job, why would the director need to talk to someone about getting their CV in? If it's impossible to email it, a good candidate will find another way: post, hand delivery, fax ...

talksr

The email the director had setup was bouncing back all e-mails. This was the only form of contact he had provided. So the poor bloke had no other way, he had tried e-mailing many times, now tried calling. There are a good few applications coming in, I have spoken with the director and understand there are lots, but an attitude like that does not help. The job role is for an IT technician, however his skills would not be useful if every e-mail he is sending to the advertised e-mail address is just bouncing back.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Are there no contact details from any of the invitations to interview? Has it all been arranged by phone?

But it may be that she is waiting until she has finished interviewing before telling anyone anything, and that may be taking a while.

Sorry, but I have some sympathy with the director, who probably already has a large number of CVs to look at. In this day and age, if a candidate can't sort out his own problems with emailing a CV, and computer skills are any part of the job, why would the director need to talk to someone about getting their CV in? If it's impossible to email it, a good candidate will find another way: post, hand delivery, fax ...

Voyager2002

"We'll let you know within a weeK": just about the most frequently broken promise made today.

The successful candidate is likely to hear within a few days, quite possibly within a few hours. However, s/he may not accept, or they may be a problem with references, or... Other candidates will not be told until the employer is sure that their first choice applicant will indeed start: if that person turns out not to be available, the job can be offered to others, but not if they have already been rejected.

DCFC79

onlyforboards wrote: »

I am amazed at what kind of companies no longer treat interviewees with respect enough to inform them that they are not successful.

My main bug bear is local councils; paid for by the public but when the public makes the effort to put on (possibly buy) clean and tidy clothes, brush up on the job, travel and be polite and keen in lots of regions they hear nothing.
/rant!


Hope it works out for you op.

theres alot of applicants and the time the interviewers have is no doubt limited