Dear Work Coach,
I am waiting patiently after a good telephone interview with an internal recruiter. At the end of the interview, I was told that I would get a call from the hiring manager if I get a second interview. That was a week ago.
My question is if it would be okay to call the hiring manager directly? Or should I only follow up with the recruiter?
Lowell
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Hi Lowell!
First, congratulations on a good phone interview. Hope it turns into a good job! 
I’ve given your question some thought. Part of me said “Why not go ahead and call him or her?” But then I remembered some places where that would have left a bad impression, despite the initiative it shows.
A week isn’t that long. Sometimes the phone interview phase takes a few weeks all on its own. And then they have to decide whom to call back, which can involve more time getting everyone to clear their schedules to do that. So the fact that you haven’t heard back yet is no indication of anything.
I think I’d wait until next week, and, if you haven’t heard anything by then, call the internal recruiter. It’s better office politics. Now if you can’t reach/ don’t hear back from the recruiter, then you could very politely and “naively” contact the hiring manager. You could say you haven’t heard back yet from the phone interview and aren’t sure if you were supposed to contact her/him but if so, want to let her/him know how interested you are in the company and to please let you know if there’s anything more you need to do right now. Might help and couldn’t hurt.
Good luck. Please let us know what happens, ok?
Ronnie Ann
In case you’re curious, you can read Lowell’s original comment and find out what happened. He wrote back November 5, 2008. Hint: It’s good news.
Definitely start with the recruiter. Not only is this person the employment gatekeeper—he or she has the job of finding employees for the company, a job which he or she probably feels the need to justify, at least on occasion. Recruiters do not take kindly to being circumvented. Trust me, I speak from experience.
Thanks for adding your personal experience, Terry. I think the best advice comes from those of us who have made all the mistakes!
Ronnie Ann
In my experience, usually if they have not got back to you within one week following a phone interview (if this is a large company) then you have been unsuccessful and they’ll e-mail a generic response thanking you for your time.
Sorry to be so negative but it is an experience i have been through many times. I hope I am wrong and good luck!
Hi Daniel!
You’re right that in many cases, this is not the best news. Sory you had to learn this the hard way!
But as someone who has waited much MUCH longer after a phone interview and gotten good news and as someone who has been on the inside many times and knows all the things that can pop up to delay getting back to people, my motto is we really don’t know for sure what this means.
But I also believe if you don’t have an offer, no matter how things look, keep that job hunt going with full effort. Not only is this good for your momentum, but you never know what might come up.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I wish you much luck in your own career!
Ronnie Ann
Hi, I am suffering the same pains.
I got a phone interview last wednesday,and they told me they will inform me in one or two days, but three working days pasted, I still get nothing.
After the phone interview, I send thank letter to the interviewer, and still nothing happens until now.
What should I do next?
call them tomorrow?
Hi ratzip!
The fact that three+ days have past is not a problem despite what they said since things happen. But since they mentioned such a short time span, it would be fine to call this week if you haven’t heard yet. I wish you luck!
~ Ronnie Ann
TO MY WONDERFUL READERS:
I’m starting a blogging break today. But couldn’t leave without letting you know how much I appreciate your visits. See you in November!
And if you’re wondering why the break:
Blogging Overload: Do You Give Yourself a Break?
~ Ronnie Ann
Hey Ronnie,
I have had a phone interview last Friday and when I asked the HR manager when I could get to know of the result, she said by wednesday, you should have something. Its Thrusday and she didnt get back to me… I am getting a little ansy. Should I email her asking her about the updates?
-Zilka.
By the way I did email her a “thank you ” letter after my interview.
I did email the HR about any updates. No reply so far. Waiting game sucks…..
I’m no longer answering questions on a regular basis, but I just had to sneak on and say “Yes it does, Zilka!!” These things just have their own time schedule.
Best of luck.
~ Ronnie Ann
Hey Ronnie,
I agree. I just wanted to add, its been a great relief that I found this site. This has been keeping my nerves in check. Thank you.
-Zilka.
Thank you for telling me that Zilka. I’ve decided to pull back from the blog as I explain here: How Do You Know When It’s Time to Move On? but it makes me feel good to know even if I am not here very much any more, the posts still help. All my best! ~ Ronnie Ann
Oh Ronnie, we are going to miss you here for sure. My case: No updates. Why can’t the HR keep me posted??? Some information to know if I am being considered..
Hi Ronnie,
I submitted a resume online to a large company over Thanksgiving weekend. I received a call from a recruiter four days later saying they were very interested in an interview. Since the position is in New York and I live in California, I asked if an inital phone interview would be possible. One was scheduled for Tuesday, Dec 7th. I believe it went well (I spoke with two managers in the dept, 1 of whom is the hiring manager) and was asked if I would be able to come in for an in-person interview if all goes well and that they would be contacting me. Since they mentioned they want someone to start by Jan 3 (!), how long should I wait to hear back? By Friday? And should I contact the hiring manager I spoke with or the original recruiter (who only set up the phone interview)?
Thank you!
Hi Nicole,
Hope you’ve heard something by now. Just remember…while companies set dates they would like to achieve, they will take as long as necessary to make the best decision for their needs.
Arrangements can vary, so no hard and fast rule about whom you contact based on what you’ve told me, but I would at least have sent the thank you note to the hiring manager and touched base with the recruiter; you can then ask the recruiter if it’s ok to call the hiring manager.
Best of luck! ~ Ronnie Ann
Hi Ronnie,
Thanks for your reply. I unfortunately did not send thank-you notes on the basis that the initial phone interview was only 15 minutes with each of the two department heads and I felt I barely broke the ice with each of them. I did call the hiring manager back a week later to follow-up, but left a voicemail since they did not answer. Yesterday (Friday), I received a call from the HR recruiter stating that the hiring manager wanted to schedule a second phone interview for next week since they felt they did not get enough time to talk with me. I’m extremely excited as I had basically written the job off – but as you said, they don’t seem to be playing hard and fast with the date they initially discussed!
Any advice for the 2nd round? Should I overnight a thank-you note immediately after so it arrives in a timely fashion?
Thank you!
Hi Nicole!
Sounds like you’re on their agenda, having made enough of an impression first time to merit further interview time. This is great news. You don’t need to do anything at this point. After the next interview, a thank you might be nice. But as I’ve said many times – although I recommend thank yous, they are usually not the reason you get or don’t get the job. It’s about you – and I think that’s a real plus in this case.
Good luck!
~ Ronnie Ann
Hi Ronnie,
I recently had a phone interview with a recruiter from citi bank for a teller position.The interview went well and i was told to wait for a response from them in a week.At the end of the phone interview i asked for the recruiters contacts details so i could send a thank you email but she told me they dont give those details and also do you think i should call her back on the number she called me with to say thank you and also get an update about the interview.
Thank you for your timely response
Busola
Hi Busola,
With Citi, I think I’d wait for them to call you. They are a very large organization, probably with a very formal set of procedures for hiring someone. It doesn’t sound like they are interested in hearing from you since they “don’t give those details” like contact information you could use. A pretty clear message in that response.
Many, many banks and credit unions, even casinos and other businesses, have teller positions. I just did a quick search on Indeed.com, and it found over 8,000 teller jobs open across the USA.
I’d definitely keep looking. If Citi calls you back, great. If they don’t, you haven’t lost much time.
Good luck!
Susan