A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future. (Harris)
Are you the guy who meets a girl and after an hour says, “Let’s cut to the chase. I’m hot. You’re hot. Baby, if you won’t MARRY me tonight, you must not like me. Let’s just call the whole thing off.”
When the fit between a candidate and the job seems perfect, and there is a delay, I often hear:
“I’ve been waiting two weeks to hear back from them since my interview. What is wrong? They are so rude. Don’t they realize I am losing any desire I had to work there. Why can’t they make a decision about me? I wish they’d just call it off. Look Bryan, tell them no. Withdraw my name from consideration. I don’t want to work with wishy washy know nothings. Take me out of the job pool.”
Did you notice the focus on “I”? The whole tirade is about “my needs”. Not a word in there about what the company needs. Nothing about due diligence. No concerns about the company being sure they can keep him on payroll.
Companies postpone decisions for a lot of valid reasons that they never tell candidates. Some winning candidates can’t take it. They can do the job. They’d love the job. They just can’t believe that the company doesn’t love them enough to make an immediate offer.
A while back I took a guy out of the running for a $200,000/year job. He was perfect for it. He just couldn’t stand waiting. The CEO was surprised because he was at the point of making the final decision. Of course, another guy got the job.
What does it hurt to wait? If the company puts you on the backburner to keep you warm, why not just stay warm? If another great job comes up, take it. But why get mad? Is your ego so big that you can’t let a situation gel for a month? Are you such a hottie that you can’t be ignored? Get real. The company you are applying to is not being run just to offer you a job.
Prepare for success. Be presentably persistent. Then take all the time you need to win. That’s how careers are built.
Have you ever withdrawn from a job or promotion pool because it took too long to get a decision? Realistically look back. What did you gain?