Ask HN: What to do when ghosted after interviews?
3 comments
Two things.
1. Since when is using the phone a bad thing? I think a lot of people need to remember this is a normal means of communicating, pick it up and call them, be humble and say you wanted to understand if your application was still being considered or not. Don't try to get too much detail, start with yes/no, if yes, ask when you might expect the next step to begin. If not, thank them and be done. Sometimes an app sits on the HR persons desk because they get busy, or maybe they got sick or had an employee issue come up that is taking a lot of their time etc.
2. 10 business days for a big company isn't totally out of the norm for things to progress, 3 full weeks (15 business days) though seems odd. I disagree with this completely (delays), but I've seen mid to large companies take 30-45 days just to get through interviews and 60+ days to complete the hire. That is insane to me, but then I see startups taking 30+ days and I am dumbfounded by that too. When we are hiring we try to make it a 5-7 day process from first interview to decision. We don't always make that timeframe, but by setting it aggressively, we almost never go over 2 weeks unless the candidate just struggles with their schedule due to work constraints etc.
1. Since when is using the phone a bad thing? I think a lot of people need to remember this is a normal means of communicating, pick it up and call them, be humble and say you wanted to understand if your application was still being considered or not. Don't try to get too much detail, start with yes/no, if yes, ask when you might expect the next step to begin. If not, thank them and be done. Sometimes an app sits on the HR persons desk because they get busy, or maybe they got sick or had an employee issue come up that is taking a lot of their time etc.
2. 10 business days for a big company isn't totally out of the norm for things to progress, 3 full weeks (15 business days) though seems odd. I disagree with this completely (delays), but I've seen mid to large companies take 30-45 days just to get through interviews and 60+ days to complete the hire. That is insane to me, but then I see startups taking 30+ days and I am dumbfounded by that too. When we are hiring we try to make it a 5-7 day process from first interview to decision. We don't always make that timeframe, but by setting it aggressively, we almost never go over 2 weeks unless the candidate just struggles with their schedule due to work constraints etc.
I agree, 10 days is not long but getting there, pick up the phone and get the direct feedback. Correspondence is less information than a phone call. Call and just "check in" on how their process is going and ask "for any feedback or questions" they have for you post interview.
I thank them for their time and if I have competing offers just give them an idea of when you are trying to make a decision (because if you are waiting on their 1 offer, it doesn't provide much social proof).
Then the recruiter ghosted me, I waited 10 days and sent them an email.
It has been a week since, and still nothing.
I have invested a lot of time and energy preparing for these interviews, my only remaining contact would be a direct phone call. But at this point, I'm asking myself if it is even worth it.