Following up after 2nd interview

I was wondering what is a good time frame for a follow up call with a client after candidate second interviews. For example, a candidate had a second interview with the company 2 days ago with the CEO. My contact and the first interview was with HR and another Manager. I have already sent a brief email to HR.

Most positions I've filled have been done with one interview or one panel interview. I have just over 1 year of recruiting experience - hence the question.

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Alan Whitford on December 18, 2009 at 9:05am

Hi Viv

Some great advice from some great recruiters like Jerry and Craig (among others) on setting expectations in advance and ensuring that all parties - candidate and client and you- agree the ground rules going in.

However, I do echo the comments of Karen M,

1 Candidate follow up should be immediately after the interview (or as close to immediate as possible, given that the candidate may have to get back to work or other activity)

2 Client follow up should be as close to the candidate feedback as possible. While this may not be a 'selling' time (open to debate), it is a critical time to ensure there are no misconceptions on either side from the meeting (which is what an interview is).

The longer the wait, the more anxious the candidate and you will be. And, depending on the client view, there may also be a question on the interest of the candidate if you haven't followed up. And, imho, email is 2nd best in this situation, you need to use the telephone.

Good luck and hope your candidate secures the position.

Alan Whitford

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Permalink Reply by Fran Hogan on December 18, 2009 at 10:08am

There's not much to add to all of this expert advice. Great comments Jerry and all right on the mark! I agree 100% with not selling the candidate until you've had the company feedback. I have a client who knows that he wins if I speak first. He always tries to trick me into talking first. Now I just tell him I haven't spoken to the candidate yet.

I also agree with the candidate feedback needing to be immediate although that wasn't the question. I went to a training seminar once a loooong time ago. The trainer (I can't remember his name - forgive me if you are reading this) said that you should tell the candidate to call you immediately after the interview. Since most people are motivated to do things when there is something in it for them.....Tell him/her that if you don't hear from them within an hour after the interview you will assume it is because he/she is not interested in the job and you will call the client to let them know. That happened to be a big frustration of mine at the time and I decided to try his advice. It took a lot of nerve but I did it and I believe it worked.

Once I gained more experience and more control over the process I didn't need to use that anymore. The way I gained control over the process was to clarify and confirm everything at the very beginning with my clients and the candidates.

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Permalink Reply by Viv Phipps on December 18, 2009 at 10:24am

Candidate feedback is not a concern and wasn't my question, as its always done asap - within the hour - end of day, etc. I wanted to know what is a reasonable expectation when the 2nd interview is done by another person - so HR has to get feedback from the CEO and then relay it to you. Sounds like consensus is 24 hours is acceptable - same as with a 1st interview, no matter who did the interview.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on December 18, 2009 at 11:06am

Karen - I don't think anyone here would disagree with "Immediately" as the best time for feedback. Viv's question seemed to come more from a "what now?" perspective. So that brought up the REAL issue - which is to make sure you set up expectations prior to the interview happening.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Whitford on December 18, 2009 at 2:41pm

Viv Phipps said:

Candidate feedback is not a concern and wasn't my question, as its always done asap - within the hour - end of day, etc. I wanted to know what is a reasonable expectation when the 2nd interview is done by another person - so HR has to get feedback from the CEO and then relay it to you. Sounds like consensus is 24 hours is acceptable - same as with a 1st interview, no matter who did the interview.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Whitford on December 18, 2009 at 2:43pm

HI Viv

Yes, we talked about 'ideal' practices from the get go. To me, these apply whether the first or third or fourth interview. At the least, you should be directly in contact with your HR person as soon as you have spoken with the candidate - providing feedback into their decision loop is very important. Worse case is HR says ' don't know anything yet, thanks for the feedback' and you get another opportunity to set the agenda for the rest of the steps to follow (as per Jerry's comments)

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Permalink Reply by Viv Phipps on December 20, 2009 at 1:56pm

Well I did not get my call returned and now know after another call that HR is on vacation - Is the proper thing to do - as I've been told to never go around your initial contact, is to wait until HR is back in the office in 2 weeks or contact one of the other interviewers, who may still be available, to get a status report on the position?
Thanks

Alan Whitford said:

HI Viv

Yes, we talked about 'ideal' practices from the get go. To me, these apply whether the first or third or fourth interview. At the least, you should be directly in contact with your HR person as soon as you have spoken with the candidate - providing feedback into their decision loop is very important. Worse case is HR says ' don't know anything yet, thanks for the feedback' and you get another opportunity to set the agenda for the rest of the steps to follow (as per Jerry's comments)