Eight interviews, and no offer....

Anonymous
DH has interviewed with eight people at one company. Everything went great. He was certain he was going to get an offer. But....nothing. Weeks went by, he called, and emailed, and received cordial, even enthusiastic responses, but still....nothing. The last time was a few weeks ago. The woman he expected to hire him said, Yes, yes, we're still talking about it...etc. DH wants a yes or a no, but she wouldn't give him either one. What's going on? Why would a company do this? He really liked the job and the people, but he's worried there's something wrong with a company that dithers like this. Is he wrong to worry? Is this typical of how employers are treating potential employees now in this terrible job market?
Anonymous
There could be any number of reasons. Temporary hiring freezes, disagreement over where the position fits in the org chart, a pending reorganization, another candidate, waiting for a contract to be signed, you name it.
Anonymous
He's getting jerked around. My guess is he's their second choice. They haven't cut him yet because they are still negotiating with their first choice. It really rude, but it happens. Best thing to do is suck it up and move on.
Anonymous
Yeah, move on, I say.
Anonymous
I don't think this is atypical.
Anonymous
This has happened repeatedly to DH during the past 5 years. The rudeness of companies hiring these days is quite unbelievable. Here's the drill, numerous interviews, lots of interest, no answer and NEVER any formal email and/or phone call to say "sorry, found a better match." It makes me wonder what the heck the HR department does - how much time does it take to do an email back to the final, unselected candidates - regardless of why the person didn't get the job (hiring freeze, inside promotion etc.)
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:He's getting jerked around. My guess is he's their second choice. They haven't cut him yet because they are still negotiating with their first choice. It really rude, but it happens. Best thing to do is suck it up and move on.


I agree.

I was second choice once. At first they told me I didn't get the job. Then, one week after the rejection, I was asked to come on board b/c their first choice (found this out later) suddenly took another position out of state.

I took the job, and although they liked me, I couldn't stand the office politics. So I moved on. (Now that was when there WERE jobs, as I seriously doubt I'd have that much luck in this economy.)

IMHO, If they jerk you around as a candidate, I don't think the atmosphere is too professional.
Anonymous
I'm 22:54 and I totally agree with 6:46's additions to my comments. If they don't want your DH badly enough to treat him with kid gloves as a candidate, it will only get worse when he's hired. Never work for anyone who doesn't want you more than you want them.

And the recession may have made this behavior worse, but it happened to me in 2004. Turns out that employer is being investigated by the authorities for breaking the law (he almost certainly did it, if the newspapers are right), so in hindsight I look at it as a blessing in disguise. Tell your DH he's dodging a bullet because he almost certainly is!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:DH has interviewed with eight people at one company. Everything went great. He was certain he was going to get an offer. But....nothing. Weeks went by, he called, and emailed, and received cordial, even enthusiastic responses, but still....nothing. The last time was a few weeks ago. The woman he expected to hire him said, Yes, yes, we're still talking about it...etc. DH wants a yes or a no, but she wouldn't give him either one. What's going on? Why would a company do this? He really liked the job and the people, but he's worried there's something wrong with a company that dithers like this. Is he wrong to worry? Is this typical of how employers are treating potential employees now in this terrible job market?


I had something similar happen to me and I'll even give you the name of the company, NBC. Was called back for three different nterviews as well as a panel interview. Never heard a work and after several weeks called and was told, "Oh, so sorry, we were just about to write you and let you know we hired someone else." Later I found out this person had been hired, conditionally, before my panel interview. I agree that companies are pricks today and are so cavalier in how they treat people. I boycotted NBC for about a year. Didnt hurt them but I felt better.

Don't give up.
Anonymous
Penn State has a few new openings....tell him to put in his resume there!!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:This has happened repeatedly to DH during the past 5 years. The rudeness of companies hiring these days is quite unbelievable. Here's the drill, numerous interviews, lots of interest, no answer and NEVER any formal email and/or phone call to say "sorry, found a better match." It makes me wonder what the heck the HR department does - how much time does it take to do an email back to the final, unselected candidates - regardless of why the person didn't get the job (hiring freeze, inside promotion etc.)


I hate this so much. I've also been jerked around in the past when interviewing. If someone takes the time to come in for an interview, don't they at least deserve a generic 'Thanks, but...' type of letter informing them they weren't hired? Instead, recruiters prefer to lead candidates on and eventually hide from them hoping they'll take a hint. Can someone in HR please tell me why companies do this?
Anonymous
Agree with most of PPs' advice except "move on.". Who cares if your DH is second choice? If he gets the job he gets the job. It's not personal and it's not about being "rude.". It's business, and unless your DH has something better lined up I would hang in there, keep in touch, and wait it out. If he didn't really want the job anyway or has found something better in the meantime, by all means move on, but if he's still interested in the position I wouldn't write it off just yet.
Anonymous
This happened to my DH. I was pretty mad on his behalf -- I think it is the height of unprofessionalism not to let someone know after an entire day of interviews and lunch.

A few weeks later he got a job he loves, so don't lose hope.
Anonymous
It could be any number of things. I think the most likely scenario is that he's not the top choice and they may have made an offer to someone else. They want to wait and see what happens with the offer before they cut your DH loose. It coudl be other things (budget, internal disagreement about candidates, people too busy or inept to sit down and make a decision, etc.)
Anonymous
I agree with the other PP's - he's not their first choice. Now the bright side is - sometimes the first choice takes another job. That was me. I was "chosen" by a telecom company and ended up turning down the job because I had recently found out that i was pregnant. I didn't feel like the job would be as family-friendly as another offer I received. So I turned it down, took the other job, and the "second choice" candidate got the offer and accepted.

Good luck to your husband! It's tough out there, but there are jobs.
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