Opinion Needed: Waiting for response after 3 Interviews

falcon101

Hi all,


I recently applied for a Help-desk Manager position and after a phone interview, was called back twice for on-site interviews with about 15 People in 3 sessions with group of 5.

From my perspective the interview went really well. This opportunity provides a NON-Engineer and Management type position which works for me at this point of my career and is inline with my ambitions of working towards a director, CIO, CTO type job. The questions were mostly non technical and more about hiring/firing and dealing with subordinates.

As confident I felt and feel now, I have to state that i might have "slipped" on few questions and told the TRUTH on how I would handle a situation instead of answering with a cookie cutter response. I even made a mistake in misunderstanding a question and telling one of the interviewers that "it has been asked before" **doh** but even then the response from the interviews was positive (i think)

In any case, the IT director after my last interview emailed stating that he hopes to connect back with me early next week (this week) although he has to pick from a pool of 4 candidates. Well its Friday, end of week, and no response yet.

Yes , I am concerned. Although I do a have job and its great but I need a change from the tension and stress of running an IT department with no help and in an unstable environment with pay cuts, benefit cuts and no chance of upward movement = dead end!

Need opinion from the seasoned vets about when should I contact the Director on the "status" of the position? What is appropriate at this point?

Appreciate it.

mikej412

falcon101 wrote: »

the IT director after my last interview emailed stating that he hopes to connect back with me early next week (this week) although he has to pick from a pool of 4 candidates. Well its Friday, end of week, and no response yet.

If I wanted the job I might have emailed Wednesday afternoon for an update, or called Thursday morning.

falcon101

mikej412 wrote: »

If I wanted the job I might have emailed Wednesday afternoon for an update, or called Thursday morning.

Understood. I wanted to stay away from being a "pest" and giving the company an opportunity to touch base with me instead of me hounding them.

Update: I just sent him a "request for status" email. Fingers crossed.

ITdude

Good luck! I know that feeling all too well.

networker050184

It is quite stressful when waiting to hear your fate. Best of luck!

mikej412

falcon101 wrote: »

I wanted to stay away from being a "pest" and giving the company an opportunity to touch base with me instead of me hounding them.

Calling Monday morning (or even Tuesday) is being a pest.

Calling after a "missed deadline" shows you're proactive (action and result oriented) rather than reactive (sitting around waiting for things to happen or needing to be told to do something).

Or it at least cuts down on wasted time if they gave the job to someone and didn't bother call.

cyberguypr

mikej412 wrote: »

If I wanted the job I might have emailed Wednesday afternoon for an update, or called Thursday morning.

This. Follow up right now. "Early next week" means Monday or Tuesday. You have to show you really want it. Unless they said "don't call me, I'll call you", its fair game.

Forsaken_GA

I agree. If you were calling like every hour on the hour, then I'd get annoyed. If I told you next week, and no one's gotten back to you by mid-week, I would not mind a candidate calling to check in - I understand that seeking employment tends to be a stressful experience, and that it's cruel to keep people on the hook.

My company tends to move kind of slow on with the hiring process due to some internal bureacratic nonsense. It took two extra weeks for me to get an offer from when I should have, and it was quite stressful, because I had two different people, one of them being the man who would become my direct supervisor, telling me that an offer was coming, but there's that entire bird in the hand thing.

So I tell my interview candidates flat out that we take some time, and we will call them one way or another when a decision has been made, but if they're ever feeling squirrely about it, to go ahead and call for an update, we get it.

blargoe

Their third or fourth guy to come back for the 3rd interview might have had to postpone... stuff like that happens all the time. Many reasons why the timing might have slipped. Either way, it is completely appropriate to contact them back now and let them know you're still interested if the job is still open.

Dakinggamer87

Good luck!!

Keep us posted

falcon101

Well my fellow IT brothers,

First, Thank you for the input, advise and well wishes...

Second, I was offered the job!!



I am so excited, but here is the twist....

When i applied for the position the salary was about $15,000 less then what I am making right now. But the job posting stated: "$XX,000/yr". During my first interview I inquired about the salary and they stated that it was open for negotiation but to a limit.

In the offer letter, the salary is $7,000 less than what I make right now. Mind you this position offers ALL types of benefits which my current position does not. Even though My wife works also but we really cannot take a salary hit especially living in Southern California and with 2 kids.

I have a phone meeting with the director this afternoon re the compensation.


Any suggestions?

Thanks as always.

Hypntick

Well you do have to weigh the benefits in with your salary. Sometimes that makes things worth it. However, you really only can take what you can live with. See what type of increases are available and how fast that might happen based on performance. If you can take the hit for a probationary period and then there is increase, it might be worth waiting out.

For example my current job, start out making what I made in my lost job, after 6 months there is a significant jump of 15k. They just want to be sure you can cut the mustard so to speak.

jblake1986

You also have to take into account that they offered you the job and this is just an offer. No reason you couldn't try for more.

blargoe

You really have to weigh everything... if the benefits gained in this job are things that you're currently paying for against your current salary... if you have more earning upside potential with the new gig... if there is anything you could (reasonably) downsize for the time being until you're in a better place, salary wise, then the new gig might look pretty good. And honestly, if you're miserable at your current place of employment, there's something to be said for being poorer and happy (new job), vs slightly less poor and miserable (old job).

If none of the above are true, and if there's nothing that really strongly pulls you toward this offer that would overcome the $583.33 net pay difference per month (because let's be honest, if you're on a tight budget with 2 kids, that can be a difference maker), then maybe this isn't the right time for a change.

mikej412

falcon101 wrote: »

I was offered the job!!

Congratulations!!

falcon101 wrote: »

Even though My wife works also but we really cannot take a salary hit especially living in Southern California and with 2 kids.

Um.... if it's a great opportunity it may be worth reducing your monthly savings to cover the (hopefully temporary) pay decrease. But if you're living paychecks to paychecks now and can't figure out how to make this work, then you don't really have a choice but counter offer (and work on your finances later).

Here's some good advice from a previous thread: http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/44469-salary-negotiation-new-job-offer.html#post325379

Turgon

falcon101 wrote: »

Well my fellow IT brothers,

First, Thank you for the input, advise and well wishes...

Second, I was offered the job!!



I am so excited, but here is the twist....

When i applied for the position the salary was about $15,000 less then what I am making right now. But the job posting stated: "$XX,000/yr". During my first interview I inquired about the salary and they stated that it was open for negotiation but to a limit.

In the offer letter, the salary is $7,000 less than what I make right now. Mind you this position offers ALL types of benefits which my current position does not. Even though My wife works also but we really cannot take a salary hit especially living in Southern California and with 2 kids.

I have a phone meeting with the director this afternoon re the compensation.


Any suggestions?

Thanks as always.

One thing to think about regarding the benefits is just how long do you think you will be working for these guys? If 5 years or more the benefits may be more of a consideration.

falcon101

I thought i should update this post...


So I ended up accepting the offer. It was $5000 less than what I make now but included all the benefits that my current company does not provide. Since it is a University System, they will also pay my tuition for my Masters. Room for growth and promotions. And it will be less than half of my commute in the great LA traffic (1st and worst in the nation)

Its a great User Support Manager position with 4 techs reporting to me. I will overlook ALL the desktop (Hardware/Software) systems and support the users accessing these particular machines. It also includes collaboration with Sys/Net admins and rest of the IT team to keep the IT running smoothly in the colleges, vendor relationships and other "managerial stuff"...

thank you fellas for great input and advice.


I start in 2 weeks!

thenjduke

Nice way to go man. I started my new job about two weeks ago. I moved to Phoenix and let me tell you had to take a pay cut but it was not bad at all. It was only 5k less what I make now too. It is nice though because I was in a management position and I hated management with the company I was with. I took a Senior Network Engineer position and I am loving the guys I work with. They are a great bunch and solid team.

falcon101

thenjduke wrote: »

Nice way to go man. I started my new job about two weeks ago. I moved to Phoenix and let me tell you had to take a pay cut but it was not bad at all. It was only 5k less what I make now too. It is nice though because I was in a management position and I hated management with the company I was with. I took a Senior Network Engineer position and I am loving the guys I work with. They are a great bunch and solid team.

Thanks thenjduke...i have read your post and congrats to you as well.

I was in the same position where my current company was cutting everything i.e pay, benefits and fun etc. so i needed to make a change.

Although its $5K less but I can already sense and see (after the interviews and campus visits) that I will enjoy the new challenge. And since I will be doing my Masters/MBA, saving $45K in tuition alone is worth making a change at this point in my career.

tpatt100

falcon101 wrote: »

Thanks thenjduke...i have read your post and congrats to you as well.

I was in the same position where my current company was cutting everything i.e pay, benefits and fun etc. so i needed to make a change.

Although its $5K less but I can already sense and see (after the interviews and campus visits) that I will enjoy the new challenge. And since I will be doing my Masters/MBA, saving $45K in tuition alone is worth making a change at this point in my career.

Yeak 5K less but benefits you did not have plus education assistance will make up the difference sooner and later.