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Ask HN: How do I ask a company why they are taking so long to get back to me?

6 points by ntkachov ↗ HN
I interviewed with a company about 3 weeks ago and at the time they told me they would respond in roughly 1-2 weeks. These were on campus interviews and there were two interviewers, A and B. Half the people had A, the other half had B. I was in B's group. After about two weeks I started talking to people if they had gotten a response back. Everyone in A's group go a response. No one from B's group go a response.<p>tl;dr Its been 3 weeks how do I ask them when I can expect to hear from them.

10 comments

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ew
Man up and phone them. From the sounds of it, however, it appears that you didn't get the job.
achompas
Not necessarily the case, especially if the interviewers are engineers or engineering managers at a startup. IME, they're usually overloaded with work.
atomicdog
I would say 3 weeks could reasonably be described as "roughly 1-2 weeks", but another week would be pushing it. Either way OP should assume the worse and constantly be looking for other jobs in the meantime.
bdfh42
You don't. You ring them and say you had an interview with B (plus date, location etc.). Say you understand that it takes time to reach the right decision but that you wonder if there is anything you can contribute or expand upon that would help them make up their mind in your case.

Cant hurt and might tip the balance.

mikeleeorg
It's possible the company is going through A's group first, then will get to B's group later. Some companies, and teams, unfortunately get so busy that they aren't able to respond in a timely manner.

The other scenario is probably one you're worried about - that B dropped the ball somehow and none of his interviews are being considered.

You can try emailing B with a generic probe, then emailing another person within this company's recruiting team a few days later (assuming you have the contact info of another person).

A generic probe:

"It was a pleasure speaking with you on $INTERVIEW_DATE. I'm excited about the possibility of being a part of $COMPANY_NAME and eagerly await your response. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks."

achompas
It's perfectly normal to want some closure, so don't think you're stepping on anyone's toes. Your plans are important too! Something like this would work:

"Hey there,

I interviewed with B three weeks ago and was told to expect a response within 1-2 weeks. I'm still interested in working for XX, and I'm wondering if you were also interested in moving forward to any subsequent interviewing steps.

(close with a nice pleasantry, thank them for their time)"

Be polite, brief, and straightforward, and you're more likely to get an answer.

hacker007
I had to follow up with a company a few days ago. This is what I wrote. They got back to me in a few hours.

Dear <name>,

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you regarding the <position name> position on <date you interviewed>.

From our conversation, I had hoped to hear back regarding the next step of the interview process. I am excited about this position and would appreciate knowing if I have been selected for the next step.

I understand you are busy. Thank you for your time,

<your name>

krausejj
Write to B. Ask him if he's made any decisions and re-iterate your interest. Treat it as another cover letter - another (very brief) chance to tell him/her why you're a great fit. Good luck!
devs1010
write a letter / email once to them and then move on, if you hear back, great, but there's no sense in waiting around for a company to get back to you when you can keep applying to other opportunities
petervandijck
Yes, follow up.

People get busy, they forget. Nothing wrong with reminding them.