How Long Does It Take to Hear Back From a Job Interview

It’s really hard to predict how long it will take for a company to get back to you after an interview. The amount of time it takes each company varies since there are a lot of factors to consider.

While patience is part of the job-hunting process, it can be difficult for people to sit back and wait.

That’s why we asked career experts to share their insights on how long it takes to hear back from a job interview.

Melanie Pump

Melanie Pump

Business leader | CFO, Plank Ventures | Author, “DETOX: Managing Insecurity in the Workplace

Six weeks with multiple interviews and delays of up to two weeks between those meetings

There are many factors that impact how long it takes to hear back after a job interview, including:

  • The size and structure of the company
  • The urgency of the role
  • The time of year

Unfortunately, these influences can leave job-seekers in states of uncertainty as they consider multiple potential jobs. You may have to decide whether to accept one job offer when you haven’t heard back about another yet.

Related: How to Accept a Job Offer

In my experience, you can expect more delays in the hiring process when applying for roles with big established organizations. Large companies with a lot of resources may not have the same urgency to fill a position as a smaller company. They may also have formal hiring procedures, which can take more time.

When I went through the hiring process with a company of 20,000+ employees, the exercise took 6 weeks with multiple interviews and delays of up to 2 weeks between those meetings.

I ultimately accepted the role, but it took patience as I waited for the hiring manager to work through the organization’s procedures. The manager wasn’t incentivized to move quickly since other employees in the company were covering the job’s responsibilities until the position was filled.

However, although the access to more resources can slow the hiring process in large organizations, fewer resources could cause delays with feedback from smaller companies. When hiring for a small organization, I have personally struggled to move through the stages of recruitment quickly.

I was juggling many tasks, and higher priority needs kept delaying my progress in providing feedback to candidates and making the much-needed hire. Unfortunately, there are no “hard and fast” rules that can be relied on for post-interview responsiveness with any size of an organization.

The time of year can also affect the speed of interview feedback.

If it’s a holiday period or a company’s busy season, feedback may take longer. You should expect a slower hiring process in the summer when decision-makers go on vacation. To provide an indication of whether the current season may cause delays in a hiring decision, you can ask about the seasonality of the business during the interview. Asking this will also show that you are eager to learn about the organization.

Despite the impact of these different factors, you can expect to hear back from most potential employers within a week or two of an interview.

However, it is fair and reasonable to ask your interviewer when to expect feedback after the meeting. Inquiring about when you will hear back after the interview shows that you are interested in the role and provides you with a timeline to follow up.

It is also acceptable to let hiring managers know that you are actively seeking a new position so are interviewing for multiple roles. If the manager feels you are the right candidate for the role, this transparency can increase their sense of urgency to complete the interview process.

In addition, if you follow this recommendation and do receive a job offer from one company while you are waiting for feedback from another, then you can respectfully inform the hiring manager that you have been given an offer from another company, and if possible, you would like feedback from them before accepting the other position.

You have set the stage for this discussion through your transparency at the outset. If you are the right person for their job, the hiring manager may expedite the hiring process. If you are not the right candidate, they will inform you of this, and you can make the decision on the other position without the worry that you may later get a job offer from the other company.

Looking for a new job will always create some stress, but I hope this insight and tips will relieve some of the uncertainty. Good luck in your job search!

Damian Birkel

Damian Birkel

Founder & Executive Director, Professionals In Transition Support Group Inc.

I have seen the entire process of interviews take as little as 1 month to 6 months

If you apply for a job and do not make it through the applicant tracking system because you do not have the correct keywords for the position, you can hear back in several hours or less.

This is because the email you receive is not from a real human being. It’s really from the applicant tracking software. If you apply for a position and make it through the applicant tracking system, you may get an email back from a real person setting up a screening interview.

The screening interview determines whether you have the correct skills to move ahead in the interview process. In my experience, receiving an email or a call back to set up the screening interview can take weeks to months, depending on the company.

Be sure to ask as the interview winds down, “What are the next appropriate steps?” Be sure to keep asking probing questions until you get an approximate time frame for you to expect a callback.

From there, progressing to a second interview can take anywhere from two weeks to six months. This is the most aggravating part of any job search.

After the second interview, the time between the next and final interview will be much quicker. However, all of these interview steps must be completed before you have a job offer in hand.

I have seen the entire process of interviews take as little as a month to six months.

The moral? If you have one position that you are currently interviewing for, that’s great. Now, go out and find another three. That way, if the position you are working on now does not work out, you won’t get caught “flat footed” and have to start the process all over again.

Jodi Brandstetter, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Jodi Brandstetter

Chief Talent Strategies, Lean Effective Talent Strategies

The time it takes to hear back about a job interview can be between hours to weeks

With 20 years of HR and Recruiting experience, I can say that the time it takes to hear back about a job interview can be between hours to weeks. Each company, each role, and each hiring manager is different. This can make the wait unbearable for a candidate.

However, there are a few tips that can help you with the wait:

Ask good questions

When you are speaking with the hiring manager or recruiter, ask them about the interview process and time frame. This should be asked during each interview.

Related: 50+ Good Questions to Ask Recruiters

Also, asking about how to follow up is a good question as well. By asking the time frame and how to follow up, you will understand the time expectations as well as how and when it is best to follow up.

Be proactive

Staying on top of the interview process will give you a leg up. Reaching out to the Recruiter and Hiring Manager to ask about the next steps or to show interest keeps you on top of their minds!

Send “thank you email”

There are times where a hiring manager has two candidates who she/he is considering for a role. One way to set yourself apart is by sending a thank you email. You may assume everyone does this, but they do not!

There have been multiple times where a candidate is chosen based off of a Thank You email.

Why a Thank You email vs. Thank You card? Because mail is unpredictable and may get there too late! An email is a quick and professional way to show your gratitude.

Dana Case

Dana Case

Director of Operations, MyCorporation

It depends on the business, its hiring needs, and the position the applicant is applying for

The answer to this question will ultimately depend on the business, its hiring needs, and the position the applicant is applying for. I think the best advice for employers is to be transparent with applicants as early as the first interview. Use this time to explain to applicants the hiring process and next steps.

Generally, most job interviews will begin with an introductory call or meeting. From there, HR may expand on what to expect as part of the follow-up. This may be very detailed, such as:

  • A four-part interview process where the applicant meets with an HR director
  • Has a panel interview with members of the department
  • Completes a short test
  • Goes through reference and background checks

Other companies may have a more simplified process of taking on another in-depth interview, perhaps a short exercise to complete, and conducting reference and background checks.

If possible, request a timeline from HR about how long the interview process may take from start to finish. Make sure you are comfortable with all aspects of the process and understand that it may take a bit of time to fully complete each interview and learn how management decides to proceed moving forward.

Mary Sullivan

Mary Sullivan

Former Executive Leader in the Financial Services | Co-Founder, Sweet but Fearless

The average interview process is 21 days

“Too long for anyone anxiously awaiting an interview response.” As the interviewee, the days feel like weeks, and weeks feel like months, as you reflect on every single answer you gave or didn’t, throughout the interview process. Your confidence erodes every day that you do not hear from the interviewer.

Now from the interviewer’s perspective, it takes as long as necessary to hire the right person and gather all the approvals. If there is salary or benefit negotiation, then that adds to how long it takes. Key decision-makers can be on vacation or leave and hold up the process as well.

The key to the interview process is to communicate well and often with the candidate. You can communicate via email, through the website, phone, and even canned responses, but that is better than “crickets.”

The average interview process is 21 days and encompasses 2-3 interviews.

The more candidates in a pool, the longer it takes to interview everyone and calibrate who is moving forward and who is being declined. A good recruiter/interviewer will have a time range to provide to each candidate and try their best to stick to that commitment.

As the process comes to the final 2 or 3 candidates, most companies will call the chosen candidate first and negotiate salary, benefits, location, and other details before declining the other candidates. This is why silence, crickets, causes every candidate to dread as each day passes.

Michele Olivier

Michele Olivier

Principal Consultant, O&H Consulting

Hiring managers take 1-3 business days to give recruiters feedback on performance

Waiting to hear back from an interview is one of the hardest parts of the job search process. Usually, candidates feel that their interview went pretty well and are hopeful for the next round. Couple that with the fact that most employers and/or recruiters are terrible at expectation management, and it can be a very stressful time.

To stay healthy through the process, it is important that candidates maintain perspective. I recommend that they assume that the answer is “no” and be excited if they’re wrong. This helps to keep them from becoming overly emotionally invested in each opportunity.

With specific regards to timelines, this can be complicated. While hiring managers and other interviewers have their personal feedback shortly after the interview takes place, the time to collate this data, review, etc., can take hours to days.

As a good rule of thumb, my experience is that good news travels fast; bad news doesn’t travel.

On average, hiring managers take 1-3 business days to give recruiters feedback on performance and up to an additional 5 -10 days to clarify the next steps. When they are excited about a candidate, it can be much quicker than that, but not always.

Many recruiters wait to give any feedback until they actually know what steps will come next for that candidate. Often even candidates who aren’t successful are still liked and well thought of by their interviewers. This can lead to awkward conversations or false hope.

Recruiters worry about reaching out to a candidate to say, “They really liked but are still seeing other people, we’ll know more in a week,” and having candidates interpret that positive feedback as an invitation to the next round or indication of an offer.

Disappointed applicants can be aggressive, threatening, and very hostile. I have personally received death threats from people who believed that they should have been selected. That coupled with the pressures of workload and liability considerations keeps feedback somewhere between brief and non-existent, and most hiring managers or recruiters only respond once there is a certainty.

Michael Trust, MPA, SPHR, PHRca, SHRM-SCP

Michael Trust

Human Resources Leader & Certified Mediator, Michael Trust Consulting

Ideally, you should hear back within a few days to a week or two

Unfortunately, job interviewing for many is anxiety-ridden, stressful, and degrading. It shouldn’t be that way, and how you’re treated as an applicant and as a candidate speaks volumes about the culture of the organization with whom you’re interviewing.

Many organizations lose sight of the fact that job applicants are also potential customers and that they also talk in their social and professional circles, and so a bad experience can ruin an organization’s standing and seriously cripple its recruiting efforts (not to mention, its sales).

If you have had an interview, there is absolutely no reason – none – that the organization cannot get back to you to let you know where you stand. That’s the best practice and the best case. It’s not the norm, unfortunately. That one act (or non-act, as it were) speaks volumes about the organization.

Consider that you may have dodged a bullet if you never hear back.

Now, the question of how long it takes to hear back is complex and different for every organization. Ideally, you should hear back within a few days to a week or two, depending on how many candidates are being interviewed and the schedules of those doing the interviewing.

On the longer end of the spectrum are government jobs, which have outdated, lengthy interview processes; on the other end of the spectrum are smaller businesses and startups, which often have to hire quickly.

Government jobs can take months (and even sometimes up to a year) to hear back; smaller businesses and startups often make decisions in a matter of days. This timeline is also dependent on the number of interviews, and thus the number of people in the process and the ability to gather all of the interview data and arrive at a decision—the more people you interview with, the likelihood that the process will be longer.

Having said all of that: Many employers take candidates’ time for granted and are not courteous in how candidates are treated.

If you find yourself interviewing at an organization that has it together, is transparent, communicates well, is timely, consider yourself lucky. If the organization and the job are right for you, look for the signs that you’re being treated well.

That often means that as an employee, you’ll also be treated well.

Although the joke in HR is that candidates are treated well until they start and then the entire situation changes, and they wonder what happened, this is why you must also do your own due diligence on the organization before you accept a role. HR does not condone this behavior – that’s why it’s a running joke.

Magda Klimkiewicz

Magda Klimkiewicz

HR Business Partner, Zety

It takes most employers up to 5 business days to get back to the candidate after a job interview

In my experience, it takes most employers up to five business days to get back to the candidate after a job interview. So, if you had an interview with an employer on Monday, you’ll most likely have to wait until the following Monday to hear back from them.

Why does it take so long to make a decision?

There are a few reasons. For one, there might be departmental confusion, or the hiring manager had to take a few days off. Alternatively, the company might be running multiple interviews with candidates for other positions, which puts a lot of strain on the HR’s team ability to process candidates.

So, if you don’t hear from the company within five business days, feel free to send them a quick note asking for an update. In the meantime, though, continue your job search, as:

  • There might be better opportunities out there
  • No matter how well you think the interview went, there might be external factions in the decision-making process that could prevent you from getting hired.

Chris Myers

Chris Myers

CEO & President, Professional Alternatives

For some companies you can hear back 1-3 days after the interview while others may take weeks

Applying for a new job can be exciting and challenging, and waiting to hear back from the interviewer can be suspenseful. However, be patient and understanding when waiting to hear back from a job interview.

For some companies, you can hear back 1-3 days after the interview. At the same time, others may take weeks before they get back.

This all really depends on where they are in the process, their workload or department structure, and how things went during your interview. Companies that are later on in the process may be quicker to get back to you, while those who just started may take longer while they interview more candidates.

No matter what the case is, make sure to be patient and ask the hiring manager what you should expect for the next steps and a timeline. This way, you will be able to shape your expectations while coming off as excited and prepared.

Brett Welker

Brett Welker

CEO, Crush the GRE Test

The average response time is around 24 business days which is just under 5 weeks

It really depends on a number of factors, including the industry, the number of candidates applying, and how exactly your experience fits the job description, but it is not uncommon for employers to take two to three weeks to get back to you.

Research has been done across industries and has found that the average response time is around 24 business days, which is just under 5 weeks.

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A 5-week wait can be agonizing, but job seekers should keep in mind that a company’s priorities can suddenly change during the hiring process that puts filling the position on the back burner. Another reason could be a key decision-maker in the hiring process could have left on vacation the day after your interview.

Suppose you are really interested in a specific position above all of the others you have interviewed for and are made an offer by one company but would much rather prefer working for another. In that case, it is ok to let the latter know that you need a decision immediately.

Lauri Kinkar

Lauri Kinkar

CEO, Messente

The basic rule of thumb is to wait for at least a week before sending a follow-up email

You’ve applied for a job, and thankfully, you’ve finished the interview. Now comes the painful part- waiting to hear back from the company. While you would want to follow up immediately to prevent yourself from feeling anxious, you may come across as someone desperate. You don’t want that.

How long should you really wait after an interview before reaching out to the employer?

There are no hard rules on how long an employer should get back to you. They take time to reach out to the applicants because sometimes, the interview process is still ongoing, and they want to interview more people before getting back to those who passed the interview.

Vacations and organizational needs can also affect the time of getting back to you.

Before thinking about following up, it’s best to send a thank-you email to the interviewer a day after an interview. Not only will you show your gratitude for the time they spent interviewing you but to also show your enthusiasm. It gives you the perfect opportunity to mention some details you may have forgotten to say during the interview.

So, when is the best time to follow up?

If the interviewer said, they will contact you in two weeks, respect their timeline and give them the full two weeks. But if they did not give a specific timeline, the basic rule of thumb is to wait for at least a week before sending a follow-up email.

Related: How to Follow up on a Job Application

If in case, an appropriate amount of time has passed and you’ve followed up, but you still did not hear back from them, it’s time to move on with your search and explore other opportunities.

Anjela Mangrum

Anjela Mangrum

President, Mangrum Career Solutions

The average response time can be anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks

The average response time after a job interview can be anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks, depending on various factors. For example, in the electronics and manufacturing industries, you can expect a relatively quicker turnaround – within two weeks, in most cases.

On the other hand, it usually takes longer in sectors such as hospitality, engineering, and recreation – around a month or more. And if it’s a government job, you shouldn’t expect to hear back before 30 to 40 days.

Reasons for the interview response delay

While passing time may cause you to think you were rejected after an interview, I wouldn’t recommend losing hope before a month at least. Often, there may be multiple shortlisted candidates to go through before making a final selection.

Sometimes, an important company person may not be immediately available to provide approval before sending out a job offer. On some occasions, the company may decide to postpone or simply abandon hiring for the position for whatever reason.

When to follow up after an interview

I would suggest waiting for two weeks before contacting the hiring manager after an interview. Recruitment isn’t a small task, and there are many factors to consider and approvals to gain before we can reach out and hire a successful candidate.

Michael Moran

Michael Moran

Owner, Green Lion Search Group

Most candidates can expect to hear back within 2-4 weeks of their interview

Answering this question is trickier right now than in normal times—some companies are still experiencing a longer than ideal time to hire, and it’s difficult to say when (or if) that will change.

On average, most candidates can expect to hear back within 2-4 weeks of their interview. How long it took the company to set up the interview can give you a sense of where they’re likely to fall in that range. If you heard from them 2 days after you sent your application, that’s a sign the company is eager to hire and on top of the process.

They’ll likely hire more quickly than a company that took 3 weeks just to set up your interview. Obviously, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it’s often the case.

When should candidates follow up?

This is really what most candidates, I think, are asking. You don’t want to seem over-eager by reaching out too soon, but you also don’t want to lose an opportunity because you waited too long to follow up.

If you haven’t heard back after 1-2 weeks, that’s a good time to reach out for an update.

An even better option is to ask for a timeframe during the interview so you know how long you should expect to wait for their response.

Sai Blackbyrn

sai blackbyrn

CEO, Coach Foundation

It takes on average 38 days for companies to go from posting a job offer to selecting the candidate

According to a recent report that I was reading, it takes on average 38 days for companies to go from posting a job offer online to selecting the candidate. This means that you can go an entire month after an interview without hearing back from the company, and this wouldn’t mean that you’re out of the running.

What to do if you haven’t heard back from the HR department after your interview

Well, the most obvious thing to do is not to bombard them with follow-up emails. Candidates who do that are less than likely to farewell because this shows impatience and desperation on their part. I’ve hired more than 50 employees for my company, and I know how stressful and time-consuming the process can be.

What you should be doing instead is sending out an email to the interviewer 1 or 2 days after the interview and let them know about your enthusiasm and commitment to produce outstanding results with the company.

After this, wait around 10 days to send up a follow-up email. Your follow-up email should be calm and collected – you don’t want to show any unnecessary urgency as the hiring team might already have their hands full with similar candidates. Try to stand out from the crowd and not blend in.

Why you haven’t heard back from the company yet

Most of the time, when you do not hear back from the company, it’s because the company is still in the hiring stage. That means that they’re still filtering through the applications and conducting interviews.

Sometimes, and this has happened to us, hiring gets put on hold because of various reasons. It could be budget cuts, a big project suddenly coming up that requires the team’s immediate attention, or a key individual could be gone on holiday, and the team is waiting on their arrival before making the final decision.

Finally, it also comes down to the industry you’re trying to work in. Some industries processes hiring faster than others — therefore, don’t be stressed out if your friends are getting jobs faster than you are if they’re in a different industry than you are.

Ewelina Melon

Ewelina Melon

Head of People and Culture, Tidio

There is an unspoken rule that recruiters shouldn’t wait longer than two weeks with feedback

It’s hard to give an exact time when candidates can expect to receive a call back from recruiters after interviews because it varies between industries, positions, or the length of the whole recruitment process.

However, I would say that there is an unspoken rule that recruiters shouldn’t wait longer than two weeks with feedback and, if it’s possible, I strongly recommend contacting candidates as soon as the status of applications is confirmed.

It’s not only about showing empathy and understanding (as we all know, the waiting game can be highly stressful for candidates), but also we need to remember that the most qualified experts can be a titbit for many employers.

Being responsive, informative (f. e about the potential delay) is not only the case of being respectful and professional but also increases our chances to overtake the competitors and win new employees.

Eden Cheng

Eden Cheng

Founder, WeInvoice

You can often expect to hear back from a recruiter within 1-2 weeks or between 10-14 days

On average, you can often expect to hear back from a recruiter within 1-2 weeks or, in some cases, between 10-14 days, after you submit your application or after you have had your interview.

In contrast, certain jobs, like those that involve government positions, can sometimes take as long as 6-8 weeks. However, at the end of the day, one needs to realize the depending on the company and the position in question, how long it takes can also depend on the volume of applicants that the recruiter has to review.

So, when you are waiting to get a follow-up call about a job you applied for, you may be wondering how you should reach out without seeming desperate. In this respect, you can try to continue your job search. In most cases, you will potentially find other options that should also help alleviate your nerves and provide you with a feeling of control while you wait.

Once a week or so has passed, you can then try to send them an email to demonstrate that you are still very interested in the position. If you still don’t hear back, then try not to take it personally. Recruiters are often very busy, and the likelihood that your email slipped their purview is possible. You can wait another week before trying to contact them again.

And while there is no guarantee that you will get a reply, there are also things you can do to try and make sure that you get faster responses on your future applications.

For instance, always apply for jobs that you are most qualified for. This ensures that you have the best chance of receiving a reply. If the job application asks what your salary expectations are, you can always tell them that you are open to negotiation. This will help reduce the chances of them eliminating you due to your high expectations.

Neha Naik

Neha Naik

HR/Recruiting Professional

No more than a week should pass before you get the call

Waiting to hear back from a prospective job following an interview can be akin to many things. One that comes to mind is watching paint dry. Another that I liken it to is a kid who begins to anticipate Christmas sometime around January 2.

In both instances, it feels like they are never going to happen. However, if you employ a couple of strategic steps during your interview process, you can help to lower your anxiety and make the process seem a bit less like waiting for that proverbial watched pot to boil.

The answer is, there is no concrete answer. However, generally speaking, if the company is high up on the HR food chain, then no more than a week should pass before you get the call welcoming you to their staff.

Jump into the process

Another way to help yourself better understand what to expect when you’re waiting and anticipating is to ask some questions on the topic during your interview. They always end with, “Do you have any questions for me?”

Well, Karen, as a matter of fact, I do! It’s completely acceptable to ask what the next steps are in the interview process.

Also, is Karen the only one involved in those steps and the decision-making process? If not, who makes up that decision-making posse? These are also questions that you can start asking pre-Karen.

Simply ask the person you initially speak to during the recruiting process. This will no doubt help you become more at ease while you wait for their answer.

Start strong, finish stronger

Also, it never hurts to shoot a quick follow-up email after your interview. Karen loves emails. It makes her feel special. And it lets her and her decision-making clan know that you are serious when it comes to wanting this job.

Ryan Davy

Ryan Davy

Resource Manager and IT Recruitment Specialist, Adria Solutions

As an IT recruitment consultant, I am used to hearing back from hiring managers in a matter of hours and even days

One of the most common questions you come across in recruitment is: How long do post-interview decisions take to make?

The answer should be: Not long

As an IT recruitment consultant, I am used to hearing back from hiring managers in a matter of hours and even days because Technology recruitment is a candidate-driven market. No matter what sector you are hiring or recruiting for, most candidates won’t apply for just one role. Candidates don’t waste time applying to jobs or companies they’re not interested in.

In the case of Technology and Digital recruitment, especially, the demand for qualified professionals is so high that delaying the hiring decision means missing out on top talent, so I always make sure to get a quick turnaround on feedback, as it’s so competitive.

Candidates know that IT and Digital are candidate-driven sectors and, while they wait to hear back with a job offer, another great job offer or a counter-offer might arrive. If an employer delays post-interview contact, there should be a reason for this. Maybe one of the decision-makers in the panel is absent, or the position is put on hold.

It’s not the ideal scenario, and it should be the exception, in which case the candidate should be aware of the delay as soon as possible.

Christa Juenger

Christa Juenger

VP of Strategy and Coaching Services, Intoo

It’s okay to ask during the interview when you can expect to hear back on the next steps

There are many factors that may impact the timeline during the interview process. Sometimes you might hear back after an interview the very next day, and at other times you might not hear back at all.

There’s a wide range of potential waiting periods, whether or not you’re still in the running for the position, based on a number of factors.

A company might have very few or a large number of candidates. Positions requiring second interviews with a number of people at the company are dependent on coordinating the schedules of those interviewers, which can cause delays.

Those making the decisions might be busy with other priorities, possibly delaying the decision to hire a candidate.

It’s okay to ask during the interview when you can expect to hear back on the next steps. This will help you to decide when it’s appropriate to follow up to reiterate your interest and ask the hiring manager where they are in their decision-making process and if you’re still in the running

Alexander Lowry

Alexander Lowry

Executive Director of Career & Connection Institute, Gordon College

There are different types of response time by industry and by company

That’s an impossible question to give a short answer to because every situation is different. Not only different types of response time by industry but even by company.

For example, Charles Schwab is good at getting back to people quickly, whereas J.P. Morgan is notoriously bad. But even an individual company varies at different times of the year. For instance, during the summer, assume that many people go on vacation, and thus the decision-making process slows down.

Eric Kim

Eric Kim

Co-owner and Program Director, LA Tutors

If you don’t hear back within 1 week, send a follow-up email

Most employers will typically send some form of update within 3-5 business days of your interview. Depending on the number of applicants, you may be asked to come back for a second and third-round interview.

That being said, if you don’t hear back within a reasonable time frame, you should absolutely send a follow-up email. This lets your prospective employer know that you are still interested and aren’t afraid to speak up when it’s important.

Benjamin Farber

Benjamin Farber

President, Bristol Associates, Inc.

Three to five days

If the hiring authority did not specify when they intend to reach out to you about the interview results, expect to be notified by them within three to five days.

While this is the typical timeframe, hearing back from the hiring manager or recruiter can take longer depending on the company and position. Several internal and external reasons can cause the delay, ranging from workload to the priority of the search.

If this happens, a good rule of thumb is to follow up with the hiring authority a week after the interview.

Lauren LeMunyan PCC

Lauren LeMunyan

Founder, Spitfire Coach

It depends on:

  • The number of candidates their reviewing (and where you are in that lineup)
  • How urgent the need to fill the position is (this may be a “nice to have” position that they’re considering for the future)
  • If they have to check on your references
  • How much the organization has their sh#t together – I worked for an organization that sometimes took up to 6 weeks to respond to applicants. Sure enough, the top candidates had found something else.
  • How much you wowed them – seriously, if you left them with anything but a jaw-dropping performance, their delay in responding to you may be them mulling over the pros and cons of hiring you. On the flip side of that, I have a client who is currently interviewing at an organization, and both times they have responded within 12 hours of the interview to schedule the next step.

The organizations that respond energetically, promptly, and enthusiastically see you as a prize to win over. Not all industries are the same—the more technical the position, the more homework and evaluation they’ll need to process on you.

A company that doesn’t respond to a status update within two weeks may be showing a breakdown in their own internal processes and deeper dysfunctions.

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