How long should a person wait for an interview call after applying to a post? I am not applying to other companies because I am happy where I am. Recently, however, I saw an even better opportunity and applied to that job. It's in a different technology so I take time out of my weekends to prepare for the interview. It's been one week since I applied to that job. I was wondering: how long should I wait for the interview and keep on preparing?
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Take a look at how long should you wait to move on when you haven’t heard back from an employer? The answer there is straightforward: don't wait. Move on immediately. If you're preparing for an interview that you haven't been invited to yet, then you're probably overestimating your importance/abilities. But you won't be wasting your time since you're probably learning something new.– Joel DeWittCommented Nov 4, 2015 at 20:28
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3 Answers
How long it takes for companies to set up interviews varies dramatically from company to company. Some employers do interviews on a rolling basis, as strong applications come in. Others have a set application period of, say, three to four weeks possibly and don’t contact anyone until that period is over. And others are just really slow — they should be contacting people within a few weeks but because of disorganization, inefficiency, and so forth don’t contact candidates for months. If you want to follow up in some way, send a polite email reiterating your strong interest in the job and saying that you’d love to talk when they’re ready to begin scheduling interviews.
answered Jun 20, 2013 at 14:44
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1I dont want to send anymore emails as I think I have sent a lot of emails already.I applied on their global website.Then I sent my CV to their local job hiring email.Then I sent my CV to their HR.– zzzzzCommented Jun 20, 2013 at 14:46
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5More than once, I've had companies take more than 6 months to contact me. In one case, it resulted in a job. Commented Jun 20, 2013 at 22:48
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@zzzzz, here's another one you may find helpful: my mother says I should call employers daily for an interview Commented Nov 4, 2015 at 20:30
In my experience, companies that are serious about hiring will get back to you fairly quickly. I've had employers contact me almost immediately after sending my resume (minutes/hours), though usually it's at least a couple of days. Anything more than 2 weeks and I'd usually assume I wasn't going to get a call.
That said, I've had companies (usually the big ones) contact me a couple of months after I'd already interviewed for and started a new job somewhere else wanting to set up an interview. While that's irritating, if I had still been unemployed, I probably would have accepted the interview.
I wouldn't stop applying and sending out resumes until you've accepted a job offer... worst case you end up with a week or two of back-to-back job interviews. Maybe even multiple offers.
In the software and tech business, no more than a week. I've been hired at the close of the interview five or six times. I've been in a few situations where I faxed a resume at 10:00 in the morning, interviewed at 2:00 in the afternoon, and gotten my offer at 4:00 PM. Companies that take 'weeks' to respond to developer and network tech resumes are 'out of the running' a lot of the time - qualified candidates will already been in their new job by the time a slow employer decides to schedule an interview.
The 'unusual' circumstances might include something with heavy background checking, one's first attempt in a management role, or a 'long shot' migration to a new technology. However, you should hear something: a hint that they're interested and plan to talk to you within a particular timeframe.
