Waiting For the Call

By Steve McKinney
President, McKinney Consulting, Inc.

Keep your friends close and your recruiters closer.

All the interviews are done. The only thing left to do is wait for the outcome. Niggling doubts creep in. You could have done better? Maybe you said the wrong thing? There were some weak points that could have been addressed better. You aren’t sure you emphasized your strong points well enough.

Waiting for feedback after a job interview can be dreadful, especially if the feedback is slow in coming. Time just seems to drag on while you wonder if there isn’t something you should be doing to increase your chances of being chosen. Instead of having “Peace of Mind” you have pain. The pain is accentuated by a lack of communication and the cure is more of it.

Is there anything you can do? An error in strategy at this point could be disastrous. The best thing to do is cultivate an open and candid relationship with the recruiter. Let him or her be your guide through this tough period.

Anxiety comes from lack of control. Often times a candidate interviewing for a position feels helpless, vulnerable, and lacking of any control over the situation at this stage in the search process. It is true that the hiring manager is in the driver’s seat. However, it is also true that you were interviewed because you are seriously being considered for the position. Now that the interview stage has finished, contact with the hiring managers and company has come to a virtual halt. This period can be a short one, or in some cases it can last months. The term of the wait is often undefined, meaning the candidate may have been given no sense of when to expect a decision, and no communication at all may indicate the company made a decision in favor of another candidate. However, a good search consultant will keep you in the loop.

Questions inevitably creep into the mind of the candidate. Questions like,

Should I interview with someone else?

Should I call the hiring manager directly to ask where I stand?

Should I try to address where I think I was weak?

Should I just keep quiet in order to not seem too desperate?

Should I email material to the hiring manager that might help my case?

and other similar questions usually pop up into a candidate’s mind. This is normal and to be expected.

All cases are a little different so it is hard to make one-shoe-fits-all solution to the various situations that will arise. The one constant in every case is that the recruiter knows the preferences of the hiring managers and the company’s situation better than any candidate could hope to.  It was through long discussions with the hiring managers and an understanding of the company’s unique situation that the recruiter was able to make the informed decision to recommend the pool of candidates he did. In essence, the recruiter has already been hired by the company - he has gone through the same process the candidate did!

The second thing to keep in mind is that the recruiter, although working for the hiring company, has the same goal as the candidates. If you are the right person for the position, he wants to see you hired. He wants to see that you don’t make any mistakes, put your best foot forward, and look as good as you possibly can. To that end, rest assured that the recruiter will never recommend anything that he knows is not in your best interest. He’s on your side.

To take advantage of the relationship your recruiter has with the hiring managers cultivate your own relationship with him. Follow your recruiter’s guidance during the waiting period. Let him be your guide and your go-between. If there is a question as to where you stand, ask him. If you feel like you could have done something better during your time in the spotlight, tell him about it. He may be able to find a way to help out. If there are other people who want to interview you or offer you a job, let him know that, too.

Understanding that the executive consultant’s role is to manage expectations is important. Honest feedback and discussion to everyone in the process also clears up any misunderstandings and actually speeds up the process. Sometimes words spoken directly by a candidate to the hiring manager can be taken in more ways than they may be meant by the speaker. Hiring managers don’t know enough about candidates to fully understand if there is gamesmanship going on or not. It is more likely that words spoken to the hiring manager by the recruiter will be taken at face value. Therefore, letting your recruiter handle the sensitive details is one more way to carefully manage expectations and impressions.

Steven B. McKinney is the founder and president of McKinney Consulting Inc., who has over 12 years of experience as an Executive Search Consultant & is a Certified Master Coach. He serves on several boards including the American Chamber of Commerce-Korea and was bestowed Honorary Citizen of Seoul in 2007. Prior to the establishment of McKinney Consulting he had over 10 years of senior leadership experience in athletic footwear company giants, Adidas, Reebok and Converse etc.

About McKinney Consulting: McKinney Consulting is an executive search firm (sometimes simplified as executive recruiters or headhunters) which has placed hundreds of bi-lingual middle-senior level executives for multinational companies in Korea & Asia and was established in 2001. McKinney Consulting is a member of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC). In addition, McKinney Consulting provides behavioral-based coaching services with scientifically developed tools in coaching executives and businesses to excellence and success. McKinney Consulting coaches are members of the International Coaching Council. Also, McKinney offers Talent Management services such as the outsourcing of candidates and payroll services etc.