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Opinions & Good Vibes, Please (very long)
Okay, so here's the story:
Currently have a full-time job that I hate (I have been at my company 8 years).
I started really actively looking for a new job 2 months ago, when it started to get unbearable, knowing that it could take a while to find a job. In the past 10 weeks, I've probably applied to over 120 jobs (real, full-time, career positions, not just temp jobs).
There is one job that I absolutely fell in love with as soon as I read the advertisement. It is in a completely new industry for me; an industry I have a huge interest in & have been trying to get into for a while, and I have pretty much the ideal experience for this company--seems like a perfect match!
Well, I tailored my cover letter & sent my resume to the company 8 weeks ago. The very next day the head of the company (it's a small company) called me for a phone interview and I got SOOOO excited. He said he was going to have another person call me--the person who I would be working most closely with, and who would train me, etc--but I never got a call back.
About 2 weeks later (so, about 6 weeks ago) I got an E-mail from someone else at the company about going in for an interview with (1) the head of the company, (2) the person he said was going to call me but didn't, and (3) one other high-level manager. Again, I GOT SO EXCITED!
I went to the interview about a week later, and ended up only meeting with person #3--the other two had other meetings come up, and couldn't meet with me that day, although I did get to introduce myself to them. My interview with person #3 went awesome. At the end they asked if I would be willing to come back to meet longer with person #1 & #2, and of course I said yes. I went home & wrote & mailed a hand-written thank you to person #3.
I didn't hear from them for about a week, so I E-mailed the guy who had E-mailed me about scheduling the first interview, and asked if he could help me schedule the 2nd interview. He helped me set something up for later that week.
My second interview ALSO went well. It started with the head guy (#1) basically saying that person #3 had raved about me after my first interview, and that they were excited to meet with me. I asked questions, they asked questions, overall I felt great! Again, afterwards I went home & sent person #1 & #2 hand-written thank you notes.
I didn't hear anything for about 2 weeks, and then I saw on LinkedIn that some other person posted that he had just started at the company with the title of the position that I was applying for--BOOOOOOO!!!! I was heartbroken. So I wrote off the position, and started applying to more places.
Well, 1 week ago I got an E-mail from the head of the company who said: sorry, we've been really busy with the holiday, but FYI, we're going to be contacting your references this week.
I was shocked & thought: WHAT?! I still have a shot at the position?! YAY!!!!
So I wrote him back, saying thank you for the heads up & wrote an E-mail to each of my 4 references to give them a heads up as well that they might be contacted (& a little reminder about what position I was applying for, etc).
Well, one of my references told me he was going to be going on vacation, so I let the head of the company know, and the next day my reference wrote me back & said he had just gotten off the phone with the guy, and that he gave me a good reference.
But now, it's been a week, and I haven't heard anything from any of my other 3 references OR the company.
A part of me knows I should be patient, but I also really want to know if I still have a shot at the position. Would it be bad for me to E-mail the head of the company again and say something like I just wanted to touch base again because I was excited about the opportunity, and wanted to make sure they didn't need anything else from me? Should I just wait?
To make things worse, my current job has gotten completely unbearable. AND, well, my current supervisor is away on business, but will be in the office this Friday & Monday, and then will be out of the office travelling abroad on business for most of the next 3 months! If I have a shot at getting a new job, I'd like to be able to give my notice to my supervisor in person before she leaves again on business (esp since I've worked at this company so many years), so I would really like to know if I am getting an offer in the next couple days.
Any advice about contacting the potential new employer this week versus waiting?
ps. if you read this far: THANK YOU!!! I need good vibes & good luck!!! 
Re: Opinions & Good Vibes, Please (very long)
Sorry you are in a crappy situation at your current job.
Did they give you any type of a time line for when you would hear back???
Thanks!
Nope.
Basically every time I hear something from them they say something vague like, "we'll continue to be in touch."
Since it has been a week, I would probably contact them again just to follow up and to make sure they do not need anything else from you.
It sounds like they just need a prod from you every once in awhile considering how it has gone so far.
Good luck, it sounds really promising!!
IT's strange how things are done --- there doesn't seem to be any order to an interview anymore.
I once got a call 7 months after the fact; turns out that they put the job on hold and after all that time, the job was taken off ice. Who knows? Maybe they decided they didn't need to hire anybody after all, there was a budget problem and they decided to go without hiring the person -- anything could have happened. Who knows how these companies do business?
This ws no fly by night company; they do tons of construction and their yearly sales are staggeringly huge.
The only thing I can advise is play it by ear; as you can see, this might take awhile. You've got nothing to lose int he meanwhile. GL.
Thank you!!!
I noticed looking back over the timeline that the head of the company always seems to contact me on Wednesdays, so I think I will draft a follow-up/check-in E-mail, and if I don't hear from him by this evening, I'll send it.
Thanks for the good luck!!
Actually one of the things I hate about my current company is that they do things like what you mentioned: stringing along applicants for months (or contacting them months after they interviewed for a position). We are currently looking to fill several positions, including 2 in my own group. There are people who came in to interview months ago that they still haven't notified that we aren't interested in them (and I know we aren't). It seems so unprofessional to me! Yeah, people are disappointed at rejection, but not knowing is much much worse!
Good point!
I forgot to mention this part in my long story above, but ~1.5 weeks after the 2nd interview, and a few days before I saw someone else on LinkedIn with the title, I got a phone call from the head of the company asking me what my current salary was & what my expectations were. I told him my current salary, and then basically said I didn't really have any expectations since I was aware that our industries were different, and that the pay scale may be different. I also reiterated that I was really excited about the opportunity, and essentially said I'd consider any offer. He seemed relieved when I told him my salary--I dunno how much he thought I made, but I thought that was a good sign! LOL
Jeez, the wait is killing me!
No amount of education could convince Betty to be nice to possums
This sounds sort of like what I went through to get my job (minus the posting on LinkedIn -- that is weird). I'll bet anything you get an offer. There's probably some hold up you are not aware of. I know my supervisor checked my references after my 2nd interview and was poised to hire me but higher ups made her complete a 3rd interview with me (including some different senior managers). In any case, it took forever to get hired (months).
My advise is to stay in email touch with the hiring manager (or whoever you've been working with) and inquire politely about the status of position. In my final email to my (now) boss, I asked if I was still in the running and she responded with "Absolutely!". I got the verbal offer 2 days later.
Good luck and let us know what happens!
Thanks for the good wishes, girls!
I E-mailed the head of the company (who I've mostly been in contact with) yesterday. I wrote a short message, basically just saying I wanted to follow up on his E-mail last week & inquire if he needed anything else from me before making his decision. He wrote me back & said:
-good to hear from me (YAY!)
-that he spoke to another one of my references yesterday (YAY!!)
-and asked if I was familiar with a particular software that they recently got in their office (which I totally am--I have been using it since I started in my current job) (YAY!!!)
I just wrote him back another short E-mail to answer his question/explain my familiarity with the software he inquired about.
I'll update when I hear back more!!!!