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Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

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Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#31
As others have said, call HR or the hiring manager and ask. Mostly likely there is no job but it won't hurt to ask.

Big company's HR departments seem to drop the ball a lot. Here is the thing though: You Won't Be Working For HR.

Would you recommend against the college you went to because of the admissions departments poor performance?

Would you turn down a 2nd date because the restaurant you met at had poor service?

[start rant] People (in general) need to decouple the interview process from the act of working at the company. The interview process is broken. It doesn't mean the company is. Sure they ask stupid or even insulting questions. Get over it and "study for the test" if that is what it takes.

If your find a company you want to work at, you may have to jump through their little hoops. Remember: the interview is a 2 way street - you need to interview the company to see if you want to work there. If you don't pass their insulting "linked list" test you're sunk before you start.

Recognize that not every company is going to be optimized to immediately see how "special" you are. You may have to "hack" around, or work though, their broken system to get where you want to go. [end rant]

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#32
post #28
post #22

First of all i must applaud you on your level-headedness and self-restraint. It is so common to see people exaggerate and rant on public forums / blogs when confronted with such frustrating situations. Maybe the HR got laid-off? Maybe the 3 people who interviewed you are from multiple teams within the organisation and they are now fighting over which team gets to hire you? Its good that you did NOT name names. So in…

To be honest, there is only two major PCIe GPU makers now.

That's assuming your world revolves around PC and x86.

There are a couple more in embedded and ARM spaces, and as far as I know, they are also all hiring all the time.

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#33
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is understandable, but after making me go through 3 technical interviews they could at least have contacted me to let me know they are not interested in hiring me, especially after I contacted her later on.

My recollection is that no company has ever contacted me to tell me they decided not to hire me. Not one time. I've had a similar experience with a company I tried to go back to after leaving a few years prior. I had a couple of interviews, it was great, other people at the company were reaching out to welcome me back, etc. but after my interview nothing happened. It is frustrating, but if it's really been 3 months s…

Really? Not even an email?

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#34
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is understandable, but after making me go through 3 technical interviews they could at least have contacted me to let me know they are not interested in hiring me, especially after I contacted her later on.

My recollection is that no company has ever contacted me to tell me they decided not to hire me. Not one time. I've had a similar experience with a company I tried to go back to after leaving a few years prior. I had a couple of interviews, it was great, other people at the company were reaching out to welcome me back, etc. but after my interview nothing happened. It is frustrating, but if it's really been 3 months s…

This makes sense. If they were #2, then there's always the possibility another position could open up, and who wants to be the HR guy who told the applicant "no" when you need somebody new next week?

Or another position may not pop up.

I'm not saying this is the ethical thing to do, only that it makes sense. As with VCs, the answer is never "no", it's more like "not right now"

Dude. Three months is way too long.

Next time, if you feel like you had a super killer interview, after a week or so reach out to the technical folks you interviewed with. Might have to google around to find them. Thank them for such an awesome chance to interview and ask them when you might be hearing something. That'll get the ball rolling. (But the answer is still probably no -- if you're the one sending the email, odds are they went with somebody else or the position evaporated)

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#35
post #33
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My recollection is that no company has ever contacted me to tell me they decided not to hire me. Not one time. I've had a similar experience with a company I tried to go back to after leaving a few years prior. I had a couple of interviews, it was great, other people at the company were reaching out to welcome me back, etc. but after my interview nothing happened. It is frustrating, but if it's really been 3 months s…

Really? Not even an email?

Really. I've always assumed it was the norm, at least in the US. But it's just my experience; I'm hardly an 'in demand' kind of candidate, and things are surely different in different markets.

In this case, it sounds like the OP is probably trying to get a job at nVidia. That's a very large, public, multinational corporation with thousands of employees. I would expect nothing less than ruthless efficiency from their HR group, including not wasting time sending thanks-but-no-thanks letters to people they don't want a relationship with. There's nothing in it for them.

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#36
I'm in a similar situation, but instead of not replying to me, it's consistently "Sorry, promise I will schedule your next interview by the end of day today" - it's been over 2 weeks and 3 emails with the recruiter. Do I worry? How do I politely move this forward?

(hope I'm not hijacking)

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#37

As others have said, call HR or the hiring manager and ask. Mostly likely there is no job but it won't hurt to ask. Big company's HR departments seem to drop the ball a lot . Here is the thing though: You Won't Be Working For HR . Would you recommend against the college you went to because of the admissions departments poor performance? Would you turn down a 2nd date because the restaurant you met at had poor service…

"Would you turn down a 2nd date because the restaurant you met at had poor service? ... People (in general) need to decouple the interview process from the act of working at the company."

I'm not sure I agree with your analogy that HR and the rest of the company (as opposed to the small group of people you'd be working closely with) is analogous to the restaurant. You're actually going to have a relationship with the entire company while you're working there - in other words, I think it's more like you're dating the company.

That rude HR person who couldn't be bothered to answer a simple question? They're the one you'll be going to when you have problems with your health insurance or direct deposit.

And that arrogant manager from another group who interviewed you? They might end up being promoted to being your boss's boss in a couple of months.

HR and the rest of the company report to the same CEO as developers do. If the CEO doesn't care about making HR treat job candidates respectfully, it could be an indication that they don't spend a lot of time caring about how employees are treated either.

So if you reject the company because you were treated badly during an interview, it would be more like turning down a second date because your date, while very attractive, was an hour late, made insulting remarks about your choice of clothes and spent all of dinner playing with their phone instead of talking with you.

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#38
post #35
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Not even an email?

Really. I've always assumed it was the norm, at least in the US. But it's just my experience; I'm hardly an 'in demand' kind of candidate, and things are surely different in different markets. In this case, it sounds like the OP is probably trying to get a job at nVidia. That's a very large, public, multinational corporation with thousands of employees. I would expect nothing less than ruthless efficiency from their…

"There's nothing in it for them."

I think there is, actually. If the company acquires a reputation for treating job candidates disrespectfully, it might deter the most qualified people (who have a choice of where to work) from applying there in the first place.

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#39
post #22

First of all i must applaud you on your level-headedness and self-restraint. It is so common to see people exaggerate and rant on public forums / blogs when confronted with such frustrating situations. Maybe the HR got laid-off? Maybe the 3 people who interviewed you are from multiple teams within the organisation and they are now fighting over which team gets to hire you? Its good that you did NOT name names. So in…

And of course, I do dislike this and think that the problems really should be fixed properly.

Re: Ask HN: Technical interviews went amazing but HR is not answering my emails now?

#40
One of the things that amazed me, the last time I interviewed is the number of companies and recruiters who just stop communicating. Is it too much to ask to send a "no?" Shoot, tell me to go jump in the lake, tell me something, don't give me the silent treatment. I can understand if it is a small start-up, but I can believe that recruiters (head hunters) do this as well. I wouldn't be bothered so much if the communication was just email. But once it gets to phone calls or even face to face meetings, then give the person the common courtesy of some closure.
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