The Waiting Game - Overview

After the interview, you must next play the "waiting game."  This means you must wait to hear whether or not you got the job.  While you are probably eager to know if you got the job, you should not badger the employer by asking them too many times. In this case, badgering the employer means that you call the employer so many times to ask whether you got the job that you annoy them.  This is a sure way not to get the job. 

DECIDE whether or not to contact your potential employer about the status of the job (whether or not they have hired anyone yet).

Deciding not to Contact

• Some people choose not to ask whether or not they received the job.  They are okay waiting to hear whether or not they got the job, and if they don’t hear back, they assume they have not gotten the job.  This approach is perfectly fine.  And in many cases, employers prefer this approach because you are not bothering them.  If you decide not to contact your potential employer, continue looking and interviewing for other jobs.  If you do not hear from the place you applied or interviewed after 1 month, assume you did not receive the position.

	Decision Flow Chart

Deciding to Contact

Other people decide that they want to ask whether or not they got the job.  There are two main reasons why:

1. Waiting can be difficult. Some people would prefer to know for sure whether or not they got the job.
   
   
2. Contacting the potential employer can be one last opportunity to express your interest in the job. 

If you decide to contact your potential employer, here are some guidelines:

Listen to WHAT they told you in the interview. 

If you were told at your interview when you would hear back from them, then you should wait three business days after the date they told you to contact them. If the interviewer said it will be a few weeks until they make their decision and doesn’t give you a specific date, you have to play the waiting game for a while.  In that case, do not call until 2 weeks after your interview.  Calling before then could be bothersome to them.

Decide WHEN you are going to contact your potential employer.

It is okay to call or email your interviewer 3 business days after the interview.  Business days are Monday through Friday.  If you interviewed on Friday, then Saturday and Sunday do not count as part of the 3 days. Therefore, if you interviewed on a Friday, you should wait until Wednesday at the earliest to call. 

If you interviewed on:	The earliest you should call is:
Monday	Thursday
Tuesday	Friday
Wednesday	Monday of the following week
Thursday	Tuesday of the following week
Friday	Wednesday of the following week

Decide HOW you are going to contact your potential employer: By phone or by email.

It is ok to contact them this way:   

By calling them at their place of business (usually the same location where you had the interview)
By leaving them a voicemail or message at their place of business
By emailing them at their business email address

It is NOT ok to contact them this way:

By going to their place of business to ask them in person
By calling them on their home phone
By texting them
By Facebooking them (or contacting them through any other social networking site)

Waiting to find out if you have a job offer or not can be really hard!  Check out our Coping Section for help.