Feedback after Final Round

Hi there, 

Yes, it's totally normal, especially around the holidays. 

In most cases, following your final interview, the interviewers need to get together on call to discuss your case. During busy periods it's especially difficult to get everybody on the call at the same time and it doesn't reflect on how they feel about the candidate. 

At this point I would just wait. If it gets to the third week of Jan and you haven't heard back, that's when I would follow-up. 

Best,

Cristian

Hi there,

Let me try and help you there:

1. Is this considered normal to get late decision (pass/reject) due to holiday? Do you mind sharing what is the typical process after final round between senior partner and HR? (I thought giving feedback would only  take a day then could be submitted to HR. Hence, I don't understand the delay). Clearly depends on the firm and it’s impossible to give a general answer. Sometimes it’s the lack of process that really slows things down, especially when SPs become bottlenecks (which they tend to). I suspect this to be the case here.

2. Should I try to follow up again today or tomorrow given that W1 Jan is considered as “early January” I personally would, yes, but keep it simple and not so inquisitive. For example, send them a happy new year email and tell them how excited you are to hear back from them. Others might suggest to wait until next week, which is also reasonable. It’s just that there’s never anything wrong with showing excitement, in my opinion.

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!
 

(edited)

Hi there,

1) Is this considered normal to get late decision (pass/reject) due to holiday? Do you mind sharing what is the typical process after final round between senior partner and HR?

It seems 3 weeks passed since your final round now. For most top firms, this would be a long time, even considering holidays. For a boutique, it could happen as they may have fewer resources to manage applicants. The exact communication process depends on the firm, usually, the factor that implies delays is that the final round interviewers have to align, which doesn’t seem the case in this situation, given you had one interviewer only.

2) Should I try to follow up again today or tomorrow given that W1 Jan is considered as “early January”?

I would wait one more week, then I would follow up.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

This doesn't surprise me at all! There's Christmas, New Years, etc. and the final rush to finish projects (mad rush).

Please don't read into this…we're 3 days back from vacation.

I wouldn't followup today/tomorrow. You have to remember that following up will never positively impact their decision. So, following up is just for you.

Be patient and wait for mid-Jan (in my opinion)

Hi there,

before offer decisions are communicated, 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. 

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,

1. I would say that is fairly common due to the holiday season and the fact that boutique firms have less standardized/rigid recruiting mechanisms/processes in place.
2. I would definitely reach out this week!

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome!

Florian

If you have other offers in waiting, which mean you need a decision from this company, do reach out.

If not, give it a week or so. They said you should expect a decision early January so hopefully you will hear back soon.