Two more recruiting-related questions

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1.  For me: Almost a month ago, a company I'd be really interested in working for listed three positions that fit my experience very well.  I applied to all three.   About a week later, my coworker M (who knows I'm looking for a job) said that his friend J had reached out to him asking if M knew anyone who was interested in one of the three positions.  J is my acquaintance... he and I were co-counsel on a case in 2007, and we see each other and exchange pleasantries at industry events.  M sent J my resume, J sent it on, and in reply to my linkedin thank you note, he said "Let me know if you haven't heard back in a reasonable amount of time and I can follow up with my contact there."

It is August, so recruiting seems to be at a standstill since so many people are on vacation.  Would you bother following up with J?  Is there anything to be gained by having my name floated again, or should I assume that if they were interested they'd let me know (and/or that they maybe haven't gotten around to looking at resumes yet)?  The listings are still up there and I'm seeing them listed by outside recruiters and such which makes me think they aren't filled yet?  I just don't want to harass J or the company if it likely won't help.  (M says that J is the type to not mind these types of things at all, fwiw).


2.  For my husband:  He went through 2 rounds of a company for a position he was interested in.  He was told that next step would be to meet with one more person -- the boss of the people he already met with (who happens to be on vacation right now).  He got an email from his (external) recruiter yesterday saying that "the position is currently on hold as they're awaiting formal approval."  Just out of curiosity, how often does that mean that the position will go poof?

Thanks for any insights!

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Aug 22, 2014 9:36:49 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

I agree I would contact J.

My husband had three interviews each with two different companies over the past few months and both companies said they were putting the roles on hold. His first choice said it would be at least 6-8 months before they could hire and the other didn't give a timeframe, He heard from the former about a month after they told him that, making him an offer. Still no word from the latter. I don't think there's any way of knowing, but as I told my husband, most companies will not waste the time, money and effort that goes into recruiting unless they seriously plan to fill it at some point soon. If it's a start-up, then YMMV, but an established company who has presumably been hiring for awhile will likely get it done eventually.

This is a big company.  I was surprised it was put on hold because of the cost and annoyance of using external recruiters!  At any rate, he'd like the job but also likes his current job and is in the interview process at two other places so it isn't a big deal if it doesn't pan out.  Just curious about how these things usually go when there have been rounds of interviews and recruiters have been involved.

Oh, and I emailed J -- thanks guys!

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At my previous company, if we put a position on hold it either meant a) we were going to end up cancelling the position because something changed and it was no longer needed b) the hiring manager or someone else important left the company and/or changed roles and we were waiting to fill this position until the vacant hiring manager position was filled or c) something else changed and we don't know what we need anymore so we may or may not fill the role.

We had a lot of restructures (hey, that's part of why I don't have a position there anymore!) and things changed frequently. I'd say your H made it pretty far into a process for them to cancel the job, but it is really impossible to know. I think reaching out to the recruiter is a good idea. He or she may not know either (there may be no "typical" thing this means, since it may mean a number of things) but they may know for this specific position what's going on.