Ask HN: Manager forwarded my resume to recruiter, can I be positive? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Manager forwarded my resume to recruiter, can I be positive?

Out of desperation, I directly mailed a very senior manager IT at a big tech company. The manager mailed me back and asked me a few questions and then he mailed me finally that he has forwarded my resume to their recruiter. It has been a few days since but haven't heard from anyone. Should I still be hopeful because I am everyday hoping to hear from them desperately and can't focus on anything. It is also because it is the best job with the best company I can work with. Also is anyone familiar with recruiting and how it works, I mean normally how long does it take usually for a recruiter to get back to you ?

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You've done your part. It's in their hands now. Whether or not you'll be contacted remains to be seen, but for now assume that it's in a black hole. If you get a response, cool, awesome. Cross that bridge when you come to it. What to do now is to go find 10 more jobs like it and apply. Then find 10 more, rinse, repeat.

It depends on the company, and this could be anything from a bad sign to an okay sign. I think the real point here is that you shouldn't get all of your hopes around one company, but be applying to lots of companies so that you're not held back by small number statistics.

Thanks smeyer, I am trying. Its just that I took this unconventional route and almost seemed like it worked for a while.

Three Ideas to Move Forward -

1) Follow up with the Hiring Executive, once a week. Show interest and persistence. *Be very careful NOT to convey desperation. That's a major turn-off. Signals something may be wrong with you.

2) The recruiter may have an active slate of qualified candidates already. Hopefully he received your CV. But time kills deals. If he hasn't responded, you're NOT his priority. General rule, the Bigger the company, the slower, more bureaucratic, and dumber they are.

3) Defeat desperation by coming up with more prospects. Focus your energy there. Identify and reach out to profiles just like Senior Mgr IT. Linkedin is a great place to do this research.

It could take 3-5 weeks, so don't make the mistake of contacting the manager because you "just wanted to check in".

Sorry. Waiting sucks!

I have been tempted to but I will make sure that I won't mail back the manager. Thanks for pointing out.

I don't agree with this advice. I agree not to send an email just saying "hey just wanted to check in", but you should absolutely follow up with the manager.

JSeymourATL gave some good advice IMO.

If this is even a moderately larger organization you can easily get lost in the shuffle and the hiring manager may not even know this because he thought it was all taken care of. In fact, he could wonder why he hasn't heard from "that guy he talked to" and then blow you off later because you never followed up. It is a delicate balance between stalking and diligent persistence but trust me persistence pays off.

Also, I do agree with gamechngr and others that the larger the organization the longer it can take to get a response. 1-2 weeks is not abnormal at all. Also, think about it this way, the recruiter could be out sick for a few days or whatever, and then has a stack of work to do when s/he returns.

One option is to follow up with the manager in a week and just ask for the contact of the recruiter so you may follow up with them as you understand that as a manager they have a lot of priorities to balance, or something along those lines. This assumes you don't already have the recruiters information, and if you do, start following up with them weekly.

Ironically, I actually totally agree with davismwfl, maybe I should have been more thorough in my response.

Following up in a a week (if small) or two is exactly what I would do, but my original post was just to say "don't rush it". Most of my offers have taken 3 weeks to get the appointment and another three - four weeks to get to the sign or walk stage. I have mostly looked into bigger companies though.

Different companies work differently; YMMV. However, if it was in fact a very senior hiring manager with an open req for the job, it would be unusual in my experience for the recruiter to take more than a couple of days to a week to get back to you. This is basically the recruiters 'client' giving them the direction "I'm interested in this candidate". Not hearing back means to me he probably sent your stuff over with an "I got this resume out of band, and it didn't light my fire, so put it in the stack with the rest of them and put them through the normal vetting process".

Of course, some HR departments (usually at huge companies) simply work at a glacial pace. I've had recruiters call me weeks after the hiring manager and I had agreed on salary and dates telling me that I still had to go through their process (I didn't in the end take that job, btw).

Good luck, and stop fixating on the idea that there's one "best" job or one "best" company. That's not how the world works.

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