One of the main concerns that arises with looking for work is what to do when one thinks they’re getting a job. You’ve passed several rounds of interviews, and are just waiting for a response…it’s in the bag, right?
If you’ve read this blog at all, you should know that the response to questions like that is almost always “no.”
Look, I’m not saying you should be a pessimist, just that one should never rest on their laurels and assume that a job will be handed over. In some cases, you can be brought right in, the interview process might be short a few steps, and so on, but more often than not, there’s going to be someone else waiting for the call, just like you. After all, companies with multi-step hiring processes have such processes for a reason.
I had a month-long interviewing process that included simulated business calls, meeting various office employees, some basic job training, and several loooong meetings with managers. Ultimately, they decided not to hire me at the very last step because of my proximity to the office (or it may have been due to my not having had a car at the time). Then again, this is what they told me, and they knew where I lived from my initial application’s return address. Personally, I believe that I didn’t get the job because the managing director of the office didn’t like one of the questions that I asked him during the interview.
But during that entire month, I continued sending out applications. I even did so on the day before I could have been hired. And one of those applications got me a great contract job with some terrific people that I am still in contact with today. had I focused solely on that one job all month, I would have been even further behind the ball, and might have never picked up the position I ended up getting.
A friend of mine told me she won’t apply for other jobs until she hears back from one she interviewed with, because she really wants the position. I hope that she doesn’t waste a month on it.
