9 interviews and no offers

chrisw
Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:25:08 +0000

It most certainly is true (remember, I said “as a rule” … not all companies behave that way, but most do)!

It looks like the OP has little confidence, which is a major - and completely reasonable - problem among recent graduates searching for jobs. Here’s the deal, though.


Recruiters may have many people applying, but the idea that they are taking their time due to the labor market is flawed. Companies don’t hire for charity; they hire because they need resources to do work, which will increase their bottom line. Every person they hire will add value to their company, or else they will not hire anybody. This need for resources is completely independent of the labor market, and it does nothing for companies to make people wait unnecessarily.
That said, I’ve been hearing more and more that companies are not getting back to their interviewees in a timely fashion. This could be a result of volume of interviews, or it could be a result of companies not feeling the need to respond to someone. As a personal rule, if I apply to a company that rejects me without informing me of the rejection, I will cross that company off my list forever. Many companies do not want to burn bridges, as even if you are not a fit for them, you may be a fit later in life or you may be able to influence people who are potential fits now. It is in everyone’s interest for you to get a response.
Career Services should still be available to you for a year or so after you graduate. Even if you aren’t physically near the center, you can still call or email them whenever you want.
If you are going to contact a company directly, that is great! However, do NOT presume that you have not gotten the job. You may want to call them or you may want to email them; either is fine, really. Whatever you decide to do, be sure to show that you are still interested and would like to establish a timeline for when you will hear a decision on your application status. You need to display some confidence in your verbiage, so be sure to run your plan by somebody first.


I’m not sure what kind of process you have been using for interviews, but here are a few tried and true tips about interviewing:

ALWAYS ask questions. This shows that you are interested and that you will take the company seriously.

ALWAYS find out the recruitment timeline before you leave the interview. Be sure to ask what the next step would be and when you should expect to know whether you have made it to the next level of recruiting.

ALWAYS send a follow up. In the past candidates were advised to send physical letters, but email is just as accepted now. When you send your follow up, be sure to send one to every person you had meaningful interactions with during your interview. This might mean following up with five people after a second round interview. It seems like a small thing, but when I was going through recruiting, I was actually told that my follow up letters were the deciding factor when the recruiters made me an offer.

NEVER bring up compensation. If the interviewer brings it up, do whatever you can to avoid stating a number; you should try to get the company to mention a specific number or range first, since that is the basis for negotiation, and you always want to have the advantage in negotiations!

ALWAYS think from the perspective of recruiters. They will not hire someone who does not add value to the company. They will not hire someone as a favor to that company. If you are hired, it is because you will make that company money. Pure and simple. Keep this in mind when you are going through the process… if you have an accurate sense of how much value you could add to a company, you will be able to direct your interview responses such that it is clear how the company would be better off if they hired you.