Delay Interview by 3 months

Question

There is a similar question here How can I delay an interview? but my case is different. The OP there, wanted to delay an interview for 2 weeks. My case is quite different:

I am a programmer (relatively new graduate) and since I graduated a year ago I work for a Bank as an analyst. Therefore, for the past one year, I didn't code much. I also work very long hours ~11-12 per day, leaving no much free time for me.

A friend of mine who works at a top 5 tech company, just referred me to his company and I want to leave the bank for that company. The interview process is extremely demanding and exhausting. During a very hard assessment an applicant has to show great coding and problem solving skills.

While I do have the skills, I want to refresh my knowledge. As I will have at max 1-2 hours per day, considering how many hours I work for the bank, I estimated that I will be fully prepared in three months from now.

A recruiter from the company sent me an email saying that she wants us to have a talk. What should I tell her? Three months is a lot. However, if I try to do the full day assessment/interview process while not prepared that much, I will fail terribly.

How should I tell her that I need that much time? Shouldn't this have negative impact on the interview process?

Should I also inform her about that by responding on her email, or when we will have a talk?

Answer 1

Your first course of action is to talk to the recruiter - the last thing you want is to spend 3 months preparing and then find that they don't really want you (for whatever reason).

The other factor is, if you say you need 3 months of prep for their technical interviews, they are not going to think of you as someone who currently has the technical skills required and are asking them for the delay in order to obtain them. 3 months delay for an interview for personal reasons is one thing, 3 months so you can be a better coder would be a red flag to me.

If you told them you have deadlines, long hours and you don't want to leave your current employer at such a busy time makes you sound more dedicated. but then expect them to push to get you to interview sooner anyway - you're the kind of guy they want!

It might even be worth going to the interview straight away, as a junior with little experience, it gives you more experience. It also allows you to get to know them a little so that even if you fail the technical interview, you can ask to be kept on file until you've gained more experience and skills. I know for a fact that there are so many different technical tools used that nobody can be expected to know everything a company uses - startups are different though, and they expect you to be perfect right from the start. Going to interview would let you find out exactly what they want.

Answer 2

It depends on how fast they're trying to fill the position. If they need someone ASAP, they will just hire someone else in 3 months. Remember that at the end of the day it's about your competitiveness compared to other applicants.

I would say that a top-5 tech company would be cool with an interview delay, since they usually hire on recurring basis. Though I would personally ask for 2 months, maybe not 3. In my experience, 2 months should be enough to prepare for a tech interview, and you will not be delaying process by too much. You could honestly tell them about your working hours/projects/deadlines at work, and cite that as a reason for asking a 2-month delay for interview.

And definitely talk to the recruiter - in top 5 tech companies recruiters are usually on your side, trying to get you hired.

Answer 3

I hade an interview with big mining ftom Limpompo but because I am based in PE they proposed the Skype. When the interview was to happen the interviewer was unable to pitch then reschedule for another day. On that day for reschude date twe could not connect becuase it was their problem with network then reschule again. I emailed acknowledgment unfortunately were no response, I waited for two weeks without hearing from them again, then decided to have another email sent stil never received a response. For, the last short of calling the interview finally a propose date has been received. How do you I trust that they are not following the process to keep me silent ? Pls advise I trully need this job but hope is very low.