I was invited for an interview with a consulting company in April 09. Interviewer said he would get back to me in June. No response and hence I emailed asking for response. Close to a month and no response yet.What do you think I should be doing?

Applying for other jobs?

After three months, no news = bad news. Maybe one follow-up phonecall to confirm, but it sounds like they are not interested in moving forward.Best case scenario: they like you, but have decided against hiring right now. Worst case scenario, they preferred another candidate. In either case, I would start looking elsewhere.

Sorry to hear about this. It really is appalling behaviour, after you gave up a half day or more to see these guys. I went for interview with EY F&PM a few years ago and had the very same thing happen. I gave up after a follow up phone call and email went unanswered. It’s good at one level to see F&PM floundering now. If that’s the way they treat job applicants, then its no surprise that the people they hire are such poor quality, and they’re not winning any private sector work in the market.

This is very common; the HR person ( or the recruiter) either doesnt want you or their hiring plans have changed. Yep, thats the game alrite; need to move on- they certainly have.

Unacceptable behaviour. Companies doing this will undoubtedly suffer in the long run & wonder why they are heading to the bottom of candidates' wish lists. Internet forum flaming is just one consequence of such conduct...

Tom, nonsense. If any of the MBB did this (I've never applied, so have no evidence) would it diminish their allure?No way.Eay my shorts!

It would certainly reduce their allure with their candidates, albeit not with the drones who make up 99% of their applications.

I agree with Tom - it's a numbers games and the big consultancies are arrogant beyond belief (I worked for 1 of the 'big 4' and left for this very reason....). If you think that this attitude somehow adds to the 'Kudos' of firms and makes them somehow 'unnatainable' then think again.. Judge companies by every contact (or in this case non-contact) you have with them.

@Fidel: I imagine it probably would in time. But then, and having been on the receiving end of an MBB 'no' in the past, they don't behave that way. At least not with me anyway. Maybe linked to why they're in the position they are? A solid principle is to always leave the door open in a way that is mutually beneficial. I might reject you now but want to hire you in a few years time when you've developed a little more. Why burn bridges? Only damage can ensue. You think the good candidates will always come knocking? I feel it is you, sir, who will be eating the shorts... :)

Wow! You waiting that long. Show some initiative and call them!!!!

All too common in this market.They know a lot of people are chasing so few jobs that they really do think they can treat people like dirt and it will all be forgotten. However, I do know of people who are not working and therefore overlook such behaviour. Over the longer term we can only hope that 'what goes around comes around'

This is irritating but often-happening. Sometimes I do have this strange feeling that certain companies are not actually looking for people, instead they r using recruitment as a free way of advertising...

Funny thing Jing - even the recruiters are saying the same thing!I think that companies are also playing the old game of trying to make people think they are busy. Run a few job adverts, even using agencies and make it look as if you need more people.Interesting to see just how many have adverts out there, but never manage to find any suitable people to interview!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are a lot of roles out there however emplyers are being much tighter in their requirements at the minute. Rather than taking punts on people who could be right they are only bringing on people who are exactly spot on and who can be utilised straight away.As for feedback post interveiw, as a recrutier it's so frustrating as I quite literally cannot give anything to the interviewee. I appreciate your pain.

Maybe they're just not that into you?

When I last worked at a big firm I did a lot of interviewing of candidates and HR advised us not to provide any feedback to candidates, not to make any notes on the CV (apparently candidates have the right to ask for return of any copies??) nor to have any contact with the candidates after the interview, other than formal organised follow up.Setting aside any HR concern about being cut out of decision making, most of this was explained as being necessary to avoid exposure to being sued. In short if you say to someone “we don’t want you, sorry, goodbye” it is very difficult for them to argue. If you soften the blow by saying, for example, “we need someone more experienced” they sue you for age discrimination. Paranoia of course, but from the HR perspective the attitude always was “why take the risk?”

I just heard that updates were provided to a few candidates who were interviewed with me. But they have been rejected.Hence, I've emailed them once again asking for an update.What do you think about this. Some were given an update but rejected. While, I have not been told anything yet.

I think you need to let this go. The absolute best case scenario with a 1 in a 1000 chance is that they have a freeze on and aren't recruiting.

It's pretty sad that people can't say what they think these days, and have to hide behind excuses or phoney reasons.For instance, if I applied for a job and was rejected because they thought I was too old, I'd be cheesed off about it, but I would far rather they told me the true reason I was rejected rather than giving me some yarn about not having the right skillset or whatever generic reason they can think up. People should be able to tell the truth, dammit!

Unfortunately this seems to be common practice. I can understand it is impractical to respond to hundreds of applicants personally. However there is no excuse not to give feedback to those who have invested time and money going for interview. The fear of being sued does not stand up. As far as I am aware there are zero cases of anyone winning in court for being rejected from a job on ageism grounds. And I would imagine it is very rare for anyone to take or win court action based on rejection from an interview for any reason.......please give examples if u think there are any.

jj, Sorry, but you have a wonderfully innocent view of the world we live in. There are thousands of interview discrimination cases per year, including a new pattern of age related ones....http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7180732.stmLoads more where that came from if you consider discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion and disability.I AM NOT CONDONING any of this! Merely pointing out that it happens, and that's why HR depts routinely take a defensive stance these days.What this does not explain is not going back to candidtaes AT ALL, to even say "yes" or "no"That is pathetic and we should continue to name and shame, and if any of you candidiates feel strongly enough, write to the head of HR at these firms and explain that you have vented your feeligns on this forum where other candidates will read your negative opinions of their firm. If you detach the complaint about poor communications from their decision not to employ you, they make take notice

It’s very simple 1) are you chasing a in house recruiter? in house recruiters are generally failed external recruiters. That’s how bad they are. If not, the person who met you has probably passed it to one 2) the firm are probably “quite” interested but have no specific role or need and don’t want to tell you “no” just in case something turns up or you might be offended 3) they find decision making troublesome especially as whoever you are chasing will send an email to someone who will send it to someone else and the whole thing stats breaking down. In practice the answer is the same ie forget it

Slightly similar query ....I interviewed with a relatively small firm back in June. The interview was conducted by a partner. I was given immediate feedback and was confirmed for the next round.I was contacted the following day by the recruiter handling the application who also confirmed the progression to the next round.I haven't heard a thing since. I've contacted the recruiter who says they haven't heard from them despite chasing them. I contact the recruiter every 3/4 weeks, who give the same information.During the interview the partner told me it would be a few weeks before I heard back from them as they had a number of other interviews to hold. They have also been in the news recently with a couple of high profile hires. I'm assured of the necessity of the role as the company have been performing very well and have a very good pipeline.Not sure what to think.

I got a response!

And what was the response? Did they spend all this time not responding because they didn't know how to say no? Or rather they needed to sort where you were going to fit in?

Having left you dangling for four months, I hope you told them where to shove their job

If its a YES, bet you a million quid he takes the job, which just goes to show you can treat people like garbage and get away with it because the power is all with the employer in the current market.

How often is too much to be contacting a recruiter regarding a role?I'm currently contacting them about every 3 weeks. However, I'm planning to step it up to every fortnight.Will this be too much? Will the recruiter become annoyed? Any input would be appreciated (especially from those in the recruitment space, Mars?)

It depends on the relationship you have with your recruiter and is something that they should have discussed with you when agreeing to work on your behalf. factors thatwould influence is include whether they are being proactive on your behalf, if you are keen to move or just watching the market, if you have a skill set that is in demmand and so on. If they have jobs they think they can place you in i'm sure they will call you! you just need to establish at the start what they can reasonlably expect to do for you - usually in return for some commitment from yourself ( sole representation etc) Unfortunatly it could just be that they met you to keep their stats up and you just dont float their boat! or they are so busy bd'ing on your behalf they have not had time to come back.Most recruiters worth their salt will talk you through this kind of thing at the start, or at least be open to a discussion now. Good LuckRuth(a reputable recruiter!)

Dont know who has replied saying I've got a response.Reality... after yet another reminder, I still do not have any response.

Ruth B,Many thanks for the advice. I attended an interview and was put through to the 2nd round, yet have not heard anything since. What would be the significance of them re-posting the job on their website and external job boards? I'm thinking it's not a good sign.I remain perplexed as to why the recruiter has not indicated an outcome either way.

Finally ... got another interview

Hmmm. Depends on the role - they may be looking for more than one of you, they may be stockpiling in preparation for a recruitment freeze being lifted, they may still be waiting on a finalk decision as to you or even the role from someone senior sat on a beach somewhere - it really does depend o n the company i'm afraid!

hmm... why r u afraid of that?