Getting anxious of waiting after final interview--to follow up or not?

Hi there,

before offer decisions are communicated after the final round, they have to be aligned between HR and the interviewers in the process. This can sometimes take time for various reasons. A few common ones are listed below for a general overview:

• internal scheduling conflicts between HR and the interviewers, especially when partners need to be involved
• the firm is still conducting more final round interviews with other candidates and they might want to wait for that to play out to look at the full candidate picture before extending final offers
• offers have been extended to “first choice” candidates and the firm is trying to keep “backup” candidates on hold until they know who accepted and who declined their first batch of offers
• holidays or year-end shutdown delay the decision-making and communication process
• there is uncertainty internally around budget and the exact headcount they can actually hire so they are trying to buy time

I know that this is unsettling and every candidate wants to have clarity on the status sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, you'll always have to wait for the official word. It is legitimate, though, to politely follow up for an update after not hearing back for two weeks.

However, it is best to just assume a rejection and continue with the recruiting efforts with other firms until you have a written offer in your hands. That way you at least won't lose time.

Best of luck

Hey there,

I believe in your situation all indicators are green and positive + they already told you in advance that it might take a while.

Hence, I would stay put for now and give them another week or two to sort things out internally, then reach out.

It does never hurt, however, to look for alternatives meanwhile.

Fingers crossed that it will work out!

Cheers,

Florian

Hello,

Sounds like your performance was strong but not hearing anything for 2 weeks would also make me start asking questions.

Before you reach out to the partner again, have you tried contacting HR directly (I imagine you had a contact person(s) that lead you through the process)? Perhaps they can shed some light on the origin of the delay (e.g. we have more excellent candidates and are still deciding vs. we only make final decisions in batches once a month and the next one comes in 3 days).

Good luck and let us know once you hear from the company!

Best,

Slawomir

Hi!

I would wait another week and then send a polite follow-up.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Anto

2 weeks is already a while, so I think it's okay to follow up soon if you haven't done already. Looking at what you said, I think your chances are good!

And of course you can apply to other firms as well to have alternative options. 

Good luck! Let me know how it goes

Upside benefit of reaching out now: You hear no additional information (they say, still working on it)

Downside risk of reaching out now (and more times): You annoy them and they start to doubt the offer they want to give

I'm being a bit dramatic here, but there's no reason to reach out right now! 2 weeks is not out of the ordinary, especially when she said “can't promise anything just yet because the approvals take a while. She also said the team is very excited at the prospect of me joining them.”

Practice patience here! Please wait another week before reaching out.

One other thing: Never assume you're set. It never hurts to apply to other companies until something is truly locked in.

Wow, that's quite a wait. 

But great to hear that eventually everything went well. 

For anybody who is soon starting into consulting, sharing two guides that you might find helpful to hit the ground running:

• Expert Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant
• Expert Guide: How to Manage for Lifestyle in Consulting

Best,
Cristian

For BIG4 , 2-4 weeks is a reasonable time frame to get back to you. So , please be patient and sit tight for now. Dont make any more moves in terms of nudging them, or else you might give off “I-am-desperate” vibes.

If nothing comes back for another week or so, then give them a nudge. 

And yes, by all means apply elsewhere & keep exploring. This is not a done deal until both parties sign the dotted line and contract is place.

All the best and fingers crossed for you.

Hello,

It sounds like the partner was happy with your performance, she wouldn't have said that otherwise. The time lag with recruiting really varies, and 10 business days really isn't too much time. I would recommend waiting for 1-2 more weeks and if you don't hear anything, then follow up.