How long should you wait for a job callback?

Published by Nitin Kumar on August 17th, 2011

The ethics of finding a job are arguably even more complex compared to career ethos and practices and this is because of a very simple reason, the opportunity of making an impact in company once hired is way higher than that of looking for a job.

In other words what this means is that, while finding a job you have to impress on other ways other than the ability of your work and that is where the trick comes in. finding a job is a job itself as they say but all the same, there are still some important facts about the process that you will need to be acquitted with before moving out to find work and some of this things will include the question of how long you should wait for a call back.

In most job applications you are likely to find this rather obvious but annoying tag” don’t call us we will call” and in fact, waiting for these call at times can rise some moments of apprehension and anxiety. However even having said that, there is a specific time frame that you are supposed to get this call but it is still very important to note that the time frame will vary depending on some factors.

Typically, the maximum period that you can take to get a call back in a position you applied for from an open job advertisement will be normally a month as well as a minimum period of a week. The reason for this is because the job posting is known to the company and they have done that posting because they need to fill a position urgently and having said that, it will follow from this realization that indeed it should be in their best interest to fill it quickly. In some cases the maximum period can take even some days or weeks depending on the nature of the position to be filled.

The difference now comes in when you are applying for a job in a company that you suspect might have a position that suits your expertise.  When you send an application to such a company, your call back in most cases will likely take long if it will come anyway and this is because of the fact that, at this particular time there is no urgency to fill any positions or there are no positions to be filled at all. And what such companies do when they get your application they will tend to keep it until that time comes when they will need to hire someone with your expertise, this to be honest may take long.

However, it is very fair to believe that many are those who apply for advertised open jobs and in this case, you can rest assured that a genuine hiring firm will take very little time but also, you are supposed to sometimes put yourself in the shoes of the company considering what it does, the staff it can commit to the hiring process and the nature of evaluation required and that way you will have a picture of how long it can take.