Would you contact a potential employer?

sacha28

My partner has applied for a job with a large national company. There have so far been 3 stages of application and a week ago he was emailed stating he had been successful in reaching the assessment benchmark and would hear 'shortly' an update regarding his application. At all other stages he has been contacted within 3 days so he is feeling a little nervous about this next stage as he hasn't heard anything.

The last communication from them provided a contact number for recruitment and he is considering giving them a call to see if there is any update. Would this be considered inappropriate? He doesn't want to put them off by appearing too eager but, at the same time, is keen to know if he has reached the next stage.

Would you phone, or leave it??

mickeymouse303

If they've given you contact details I think it's fine to get in contact. I doubt that someone would be turned down for a job for seeming too eager!

ReadingTim

I'd leave it another week or so if I were you: the person dealing with it could be on holiday or sick, as could the person or people who actually make the decision. Furthermore, the previous stages might be simple pass/fail type scenarios, whereas now they're actually having to choose between candidates, which takes also longer. Leave it until next Tuesday lunchtime, then get on the phone in the afternoon.

TBagpuss

3 days is very quick to hear back.

I would leave it to the end of this week. A week is not very long for this sort of thing.

Obviously I don't know the nature of the application / assessment process but I would expect, as it goes higher, to be more about personal judgment of the employer and less about the basics of checking he meets the criteria, so there is more likelihood that the decision may involve discussions between members of the selection panel, comparing him with other applications (who may have been interviewed later).

I think after 10 days or so he can call and just as if they have an update about when he may hear back, without it coming across badly.

System

After a few days, there is no harm sending a polite chaser e-mail to the manager (or HR) asking for an update - try to sound keen but not desperate.

You'll find in an employment situation (with multiple roles) they'll contact the candidates they want most quickly to see if they accept and then second choice etc etc until they fill their quota. Only candidates that they completely rejected, will they tell immediately that they are unsuccessful.

ThemeOne

If it puts his mind at rest I can't see the harm in your partner calling to enquire what the timetable for this stage is expected to be.

Any of the reasons mentioned above could explain the delay - another explanation is simple inefficiency as recruiters sometimes don't or can't move fast enough to get the best candidates.

Fireflyaway

Yes. I've done it a couple of times recently as 2 weeks had passed since the interviews despite both places telling me they would let me know within a few days. I'd give it a week then call.