re-interview

Water Cooler Careers
#1

I interviewed with a firm 6 month ago and didn’t get an offer. So took a job with another firm and have been working here ever since. Last week, the company that I interviewed earlier contacted me again and asked me if I am interested to re-interview for the same position. I told them I am very interested and scheduled a meeting to meet again. I was wondering if anybody encountered similar situations. If so, could you please advise what to expect? I know that things must be different from places to places. But its bit odd that they would call me back again 6 month after for same position. Back then, I went through 3 rounds of interviews and went there 4th time to take some aptitude test. They said my test score came back good and they asked me for list of references for them to check. One month went by and they never called my references. Everytime I contacted, they gave me same response saying that “they were too busy and they are planning on checking my references.” Meanwhile, I received an offer from another job which I didnt really like and told them to make a decision as soon as possible. They came back saying, they were too busy and told me to take a job with another company since they cannot make a decision that soon. Appreciate your insights to this.

#2

  1. It’s possible the person to whom they gave the job quit.

  2. If this job is so important, why would it take them 6 months to fill it?

#3

former trader,

thanks for your reply. I know a person who works at the firm but in the different division. He mentioned that the position never got filled.

When i interviewing with them, it sounded like, this is not an urgent fill position but would help them if they hire someone. Just to clarify things little further, this is junior level trading position. Because this position never worked out, i took a job as a risk manager with another firm.

#4

Watch out for positions that are not important to fill. My buddy left his company after 8 years to join a company that had “not an urgent to fill position but would help them if they hire someone”. 6 months after the hire, they decided to cancel the position permanently.

#5

ok. good point. I guess I really ought to speak to them and figure out why they took so long and decided to reconsider me during the interview. thanks

#6

Take the interview (assuming you wanted the job last time). While interviewing, ask questions to get a feel about what happened. Make your decision about whether to take the offer (if presented one) based on what you find out (as well as all the normal considerations, like pay, promotion, etc.).

Lots of things happen in organizations… people quit, budgets get changed around for emergencies or other reasons, time-frames change, new assets come on board, or whatnot. Get a feel for what that was.

And you may want to up your compensation demands too. Perhaps not quite as extreme as this, though: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cumaean_sibyl.html

#7

This happened to me. I interviewed with a firm (I think it was 3 rounds), got down to the last 2 candidates and they opted to select the other candidate. I was VERY disappointed as I REALLY wanted the job (I was still employed at the time so it was not too bad). Anyway, fast forward about six months, the candidate they hired turned out to be terrible/bad and they let him go. They asked me to come in and re-interview. I got the job and have been here almost two years. I enjoy the job very much. Things like this happen from time to time - that is why you never burn bridges - you just never know sometimes. In terms of the re-interview, it was more technical in nature as the guy they hired could not do the job, plus they already had a general sense of my personality in the original rounds of interviews. I made sure to brush up on my technical finance stuff before the interview.

#8

thanks thommo,

Like your case, this was/is my first choice. I also did 3 rounds with them and went through full blown processes except they didnt check my reference for some reason. Its going back to what I did before but at more junior level. So I am perfectly capable of what the job entails. I believe they know that by now.

I will try to read into what happened and spec out any risk of getting laid off.

Thanks eveyone for your inputs.

#9

I’m not sure how close you were if no references were checked.

Companies used to check references before you even entered for round 1. Lately, I’ve been noticing that they mostly check references only after an offer is sent.