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I recently had an interview that I felt went great! It lasted about an hour, I was asked some technical questions and was able to answer them all correctly. We spoke a lot about my previous projects and experience in the field. We ended on a great note and the hiring manager promised I'll hear from him.

In the beginning of this week, I have yet to hear anything from him. I e-mailed him thanking him for his time and expressing that I am excited to hear back about his decision.

Is it appropriate to call? I do have some other opportunities in place, but I am just curious really, because I really liked the company and it seemed they really liked me.

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  • The company is really small, but successful, so its not like its slow moving due to bureaucracy. He promised to follow up by the beginning of this week, and it has been about 2 days since the e-mail and exactly a week since the interview.
    – AnchovyLegend
    Sep 26, 2013 at 12:08
  • Thanks @Joe, I like the company a lot and I wanted to see where I stand with them. I have an offer on the table with another company that I like less than this company, that is why there is a bit of a sense of urgency. 1-2 weeks from now may be too late. If you hire people and you promise to follow up, you should! Too many employers forget to backup their promised follow up which is always expected by the candidate.
    – AnchovyLegend
    Sep 26, 2013 at 13:02
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    Only a naive person expects a company to followup. Most experienced candidates do not because it virtually never happens.
    – HLGEM
    Oct 23, 2014 at 19:35
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    You know the saying "No news is good news" well, that doesn't apply here. :)
    – Chris E
    Oct 23, 2014 at 21:32

3 Answers 3

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Most companies only follow up with successful candidates no matter what they told you in the interview. Do not expect a response ever. In over 30 years in the workplace, I have only ever gotten a call from a job that I didn't get one time. Companies don't generally have any vested interest in spending time calling people they chose not to hire. Even if you are in second place, they may not want to tell you that in case the first place guy doesn't accept the offer or changes his mind before showing up. If you call unsuccesful candidates, some of them will want to argue with you about it. There is no advantage for a company to call you to tell you that you didn't get a job.

However, if you are interested in the job or if you want to let them know you have another possibility on the line but would prefer them, you can followup once or twice. Do not however become a pest who calls daily.

I will point out to you that great interviews do not mean you will get the offer; you don't know how well the other people they interviewed did.

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  • The advantage is so that a company doesn't get a poor reputation. When I have not been hired (usually because I'm too senior for their needs), I am happy to refer someone. If I'm treated poorly, then I will not recommend that company to my network.
    – BryanH
    Aug 5, 2014 at 20:49
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If you are putting other opportunities on hold and are sincerely the most interested in the one that you are waiting to hear back from, then you should absolutely call them. For one, it lets them know that you are very interested in working for their company as well as in demand for other opportunities. I would be sure to express the point that your intention is not to pressure them into a decision but to get a better idea as to where they are in their hiring process so that you can make an informed decision about other offers.

What do you have to lose? Are they going to reject you because you are over-eager about their company? I don't think so.

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    If you are putting other opportunities on hold... - this is a teachable moment. As in, leave offers on the table, get burned enough times, and hopefully one will learn that first horse to the post is the winner, not the one with the most colorful ribbons.
    – BryanH
    Aug 5, 2014 at 20:50
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Some employers take anywhere from two to six weeks to make a decision. It might be background checks, it might be someone on vacation, it might be that someone else they're trying to reach can't talk to them yet. Right now there's stuff going on with ObamaCare and other deadlines around Oct 1, so it could be that the employer is concerned about a government shutdown. The next few weeks are likely to be ghastly on the political front, so if your company is dependent on that in some way they may be holding back.

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