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WAITING FOR JOB OFFER

You’ve interviewed with a company and things went well. The next step is to receive the job offer. In most cases, it’s a simple process — they offer you the job and you must already know how to evaluate a job offer before you accept. But sometimes there are circumstances surrounding the job offer that complicate the process. 
 
When job searching, one might feel the jitters; it’s “waiting for job offer anxiety”… Here are strategies for how to handle the situation when waiting for a job offer.

Waiting for Job Offer Anxiety

QUESTION
A job seeker recently asked: 
I’ve been led to believe that I’m getting a job offer — the Hiring Manager talked about salary and benefits, and even showed me which office would be mine … but I haven’t heard anything from him in two weeks. Now what?
ANSWER
There are many reasons why a job offer might be late-arriving. Most of them are out of your control. For example, the Hiring Manager might have had an unexpected project or emergency come up that delayed the job offer. Or the Human Resources Department may have had difficulty connecting with the individuals you listed as references. And sometimes, the hiring process is simply put on hold.
 
This is why it’s important to ask in the job interview about the timeline.

If the Hiring Manager says you can expect to hear back in one week, be sure to follow up after a week and ask if there is anything he or she needs from you to move the process along.  

If the answer is NO (they don’t need anything from you to move the process along), ask if it’s okay to follow up again if you haven’t heard anything in another week. 

This way, you will know when to follow up after interview.  By getting permission to follow-up, you don’t have to worry about imposing. 
  
But what if you didn’t ask about a timeline, or get permission to follow up?

Unfortunately, sometimes you may think you’ve received positive feedback that signals that a job offer is forthcoming, and the offer never comes. In this case, the follow up call might yield the information that the position has been offered to someone else.

In the “Job Offer” Series

About the Author

Mandy Fard is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, CMRW) and Recruiter with decades of experience in assisting job seekers, working directly with employers in multiple industries, and writing proven-effective resumes.
 
Feel free to connect with Mandy Fard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandyfard/

 
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