Results of Client interviews in consulting could be very quick or could be delayed due to variety of reasons. This posts will give you some idea on how to follow up and when to leave hope on the job. This post is continuation of the series Everything you need to know about How to get a Job & face interviews in US
Well, you did great in the interview and you are eagerly waiting for the response. Depending on the organization the response from client varies. Let’s say you interviewed with a small company, the response would be quick. But, let’s say you interviewed with a large company, there are many levels of approval before they finalize the decision. On the other hand, there may be chances that the client has already scheduled some interviews with others for the same position and they cannot take a decision until all are complete.
Who is your primary contact ?
The first and foremost thing is to identify who is your contact…sometimes, it is prime vendor and sometimes there is another vendor layer or sometimes client would give you the option to contact them for response. So, once you know, your goal is to follow up with them. Interaction with Client should be different from interaction with Vendor.
How to Communicate with Contact ?
If the contact is Vendor, you can straightaway call them and ask when can I hear back from them. Because the contact is vendor, you can ask them directly. Ideally, ask your sales person to pressurize the vendor to get the information. You can say, you have other leads and should finalize very soon. Timing is very key in consulting, clients never want to lose a right candidate, so is the vendor. If you were really good, they do not want to miss you. They will do all it takes to get you on board. On the other hand, if you are contacting with Client directly, you should not call. Just send a friendly email asking about the status on the position. Typically, they will respond saying when they can say decision. The key is, your communication with client should be professional. You should never sound desperate or jobless to the client. If they are delaying a lot, you can tell them plainly, after a week, that I have to make a choice as I am having couple leads coming up and you need the decision.
When to leave hope on Client response and move on ?
Sometimes you get response immediately and they ask you to join in couple days or sometimes starting Monday. But, typically, the client should come up with a response in a week and at the maximum 10 days. If you get nothing by then, just leave it and you have to move on. Do not keep false hopes on the client. They will be saying, budget issues or something like that. The reality is, either the position got scraped or they hired someone else.
Key thing is to make sure you do not sound desperate for job to anyone either client or vendor. If they find out you are desperate, they will capitalize on your weakness and give you less billing rate.
