Is this normal after an interview?

[3ubba]

New grad here. I recently interviewed for an emergency med position, which is what I want to work in. The opportunity seems great, community hospital, always working with a physician or two for assistance when I would need it, take care of mostly fast track and assist in main rooms when needed, and seeing about 2-3 patients per hour. Interviewed with recruiter over phone, and interviewed with head of department in person. I felt both interviews went really well, and I displayed I am able to work in a fast paced environment from pre-grad school experience as an EMT and scribe in an ER (I know not the best in terms of hands on, but got me in the mindset of working with acute complaints).

So after the in-person interview I was told I'd hear back in 1-2 weeks. After that passed, no call/email. So I sent a small follow up to the head of the department, and was told there were another few interviews lined up and I would hear in about another week, no problem.

3rd and 4th week pass, no response. Call to follow up with recruiter, they're in a meeting, they'll call me back after. Whole day passes, no call back. Couple more days pass, call again, rings and goes to voicemail. Send a follow up email to head of department, 2-3 days pass, no response.

I get that responses from bigger companies or hospitals can take a while, but is it common to not get any response at all when following up? I really think this position would be an amazing opportunity for me, which is why I don't want to give up on it. I also understand I'm not going to get every job I want, but I would like them to at least let me know so I can move on. Am I wrong thinking it's rude of them to not acknowledge or give a short update? What would you guys do in this position?

[AbeTheBabe]

Keep applying for other position and interviewing elsewhere. If you get another job and they eventually call you, make sure to tell them why you will be declining their offer.

[Guest ERCat]

 I think follow up letters/thank you notes for interviews are extremely important and make a big difference. In your future interviews, make sure you send one within 24 hours thanking them for taking the time to interview you and reiterating your interest in the position. 

If you are applying to a corporate owned group, this doesn’t surprise me.  Often times with these groups there a constant budget changes resulting in fluctuating needs for new people. 

 Write a follow-up email to one of the head docs and then leave it alone for a while. In the next few months, keep on checking back for any openings.  I think I harassed my ER group for about six or seven months before I was finally given a job. 

Also - 2-3 Patients an hour in ER as a new grad is a hell of a lot. When I first started in ER, I saw like 10 patients a day. Almost 2 years later I see about two an hour and it feels very busy. I do all ESI levels.

 

 

[Arthropathy]

Is it rude? Yes.

Should you look for another opportunity? Yes. 

[Reality Check 2]

Becoming all too common in every career market. No common courtesy, professionalism or respect. It is the new norm and it is not ok.

There are other posts here that talk about this ghosting phenomenon. 

It also appears that folks less and less qualified are in positions of supposed power or decision making. Many seem to push the resume to the bottom of the pile if you squeak too much. 

It is happening in all employment venues -- corporate, large practices, solo, nonprofit etc.

I don't have a solution - no one wants to hear feedback from someone they don't hire.

[3ubba]

Thank you guys for all of your answers.

I've been applying and had other interviews for other opportunities since this ER interview. It's just frustrating because almost all of my classmates are working at this point because they were able to network via rotations, and I relocated far away after school, so I wasn't able to network. I did get job offers on rotations, but those were in the city I was not going to end up. 

I sent thank you notes to all my interviewers after I spoke with them, so I think I've been respectful and courteous from my end. I don't know, maybe I've been pestering them a little bit...but they tell me one thing and don't follow up.

I find the whole situation perplexing, as I have never encountered this during an application/interview process. Usually I was able to get some sort of feedback in a reasonable time, although my prior jobs were for smaller groups, and this is for a bigger corporation...

[sas5814]

I have found it to be fairly typical unless they have a pressing need and not enough applicants. The large organization I am with now typically interviews people 3 different times on 3 different days with 3 different interviewers. You may get an answer in a couple of weeks after that...may. Then credentials takes another 90-120 days (for some reason I don't understand.)

When I interviewed they were way short staffed in the heart of cold and flu season. I interviewed with 3 people in 1 morning, was hired the next day and credentials took 3 weeks. It is all about supply and demand.

[south]

Unfortunately I think it's pretty typical.  I've been ghosted so much, someone needs to call Dr. Peter Venkman.  Move on.  Keep firing stuff at them, but move on. 

[dermnerd]

Oh yeah. This even happened to me after I was on a rotation where a physician was trying to hire me and create position for me in his office. The problem was that he worked for a bigger network. I was in a situation where they created an office for me, purchased a new desk, etc (all while I was a student )and was basically told I was guaranteed a job that was not technically created.

I interviewed with corporate and never heard directly from HR AGAIN.

Long story short- Unfortunately normal. Until you have something in writing (literally a contract offer) you expect nothing and KEEP APPLYING/ move on.

I took a better job and after all of that the position was denied by corporate! Don't wait around, don't take it personal.