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I live in Europe and have had some interviews with a very big MNC based in Belgium. They said they will give me an offer letter in a few days, however I am still waiting for it. The date that they said was about 3 weeks ago.

The last I've heard from them was they said they are managing the administration of the offer from their side and it is pending at the moment. This was about 2 weeks ago.

I also have another job offer from a small company based in France which I had planned on taking if I didn't get the job with the MNC, and they have been waiting for my answer.

What should I do to try and get a definitive response from the MNC company?

I am a fresher and into this situation first time.

NJU
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    If you understand french, you should understand the following proverb: "Un tiens vaut mieux que 2 tu l'auras." – Djaian Apr 03 '13 at 10:51
  • Hehe.. i understand it, but I really wanna work with MNC as It serves as a better prospectus for my career. – NJU Apr 03 '13 at 10:55
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    Work experience is an even better prospective for your career, if it takes them over a month to sort their admin out dont expect it to be any different once you work for them. Personally i would go with the small one in France, as youre more likely to be noted for your successes in a smaller company (in my experience) –  Apr 03 '13 at 12:30
  • Definitely pick the job in France! 3 weeks is far too long wait. – Juha Untinen Apr 04 '13 at 10:14
  • Ask the small company for additional time to consider your options. Decide how long your willing to wait until you MIGHT get the job offer from the MNC. After that date promise yourself you will accept the other offer no matter what. – Donald Apr 08 '13 at 13:27
  • And i dont yet understand the reason for closing this question? – NJU Apr 12 '13 at 18:14
  • @NJU It was mistakenly seen as a "Should I take JobA or JobB" question, which is considered a bad question for the site because the answer is extremely localized and can only be provided by you, not someone else. Some edits were made to clarify the a specific question being asked, and your question currently has 4 of the 5 reopen votes it needs to be reopened. I wouldn't be surprised if it got a 5th one soon. It was also brought up on our meta site, and you can find more information there about it. :) – Rachel Apr 12 '13 at 18:20
  • Does this answer your question? How do I properly follow-up with a hiring manager, to check on the status of a position? – gnat Dec 23 '19 at 09:08

3 Answers3

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When a company (especially a multi-national) takes more than three weeks to get in touch with you, there is a very good chance they've lost interest. It's annoying, but they very rarely get in touch to tell you they've lost interest. All I can say is that you become desensitised to this over the length of your career, but it's horrible the first time.

That said, there is a possibility that you've got lost in the bureaucracy there, so maybe it's worth giving them a call. I can't think of anything you have to lose.

You have a secure offer, you can't keep them holding on forever, so put a bit of pressure on the multi-national. Give them a call, be honest about the situation, tell them that you really want to choose them but, if they don't make an offer soon, you have to take another job before you lose the opportunity.

If they don't get back to you within a day or two then there are only really three possibilities.

  1. They really have lost interest.
  2. They are arrogant enough to think they can pull you away from any job when it suits them.
  3. Their bureaucracy is dangerously destructive to their business and without regard for people.

Regardless, by that point, you should probably take the other job and reject any further offer from the multi-national.

pdr
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  • Ok, Thanks for the reply, So do I push MNC for job offer, i waited so long because I read on many blogs that MNC's often take time more than 3 weeks to send a offer letter. – NJU Apr 03 '13 at 11:15
  • Ignoring any further contact may be a bit much. If they do come back with an offer, a simple response of "I appreciate your interest, but since our conversations I have received and accepted an offer for a position with another firm" should be sent - do not just ignore it. – alroc Apr 03 '13 at 11:29
  • Ok, but I have not yet indicated them that I have other offer on table. – NJU Apr 03 '13 at 11:32
  • And I got email FROM the MANAGER that I will soon get a offer letter, but nothing from the HR yet. – NJU Apr 03 '13 at 11:44
  • @alroc: Hmm, yes, I didn't mean that quite the way I phrased it. Well caught. – pdr Apr 03 '13 at 12:04
  • @user1447115: Great! Then you have the email address of the manager. Reply directly to that message and explain the situation. He can probably cut through the red-tape, if he needs to, to avoid losing a person he wants to hire. Worst case, you take the other job and he has an excuse to complain that their hiring process takes too long. Everyone's better off, in the long run. – pdr Apr 03 '13 at 12:07
  • @pdr ... sure i have sent him an email. Waiting for the reply, – NJU Apr 03 '13 at 12:21
  • Great answer. IMHO, even bothering with MNC at this point is a waste of your time. You'll get better experience at the small company anyway, without being tied up in seas of bureaucracy. Do not underestimate how much of your soul a large company can destroy. – huntmaster Apr 03 '13 at 14:16
  • @pdr - I think taking weeks to a month to get an offer through a big company is typical and doesn't indicate they've lost interest at all. Hopefully, the OP remembered to get the HR person's telephone number when they spoke with them. Frequently, if you call you can at least find out if an offer is really in the works or not and if you are lucky they'll even verbally tell you the offer. Remember, in a big company the hiring manager usually has several layers of management approvals in order to hire someone. That usually takes time. – Dunk Apr 03 '13 at 14:41
  • It is frustrating to all (in particular the hiring manager/project leads) when you lose out on a good candidate because the process is slow. But that's life at a big company. There are many benefits of working at a big company but also some annoyances. – Dunk Apr 03 '13 at 14:43
  • @huntmaster:I've found the politics at small companies to be far more soul draining. Big companies offer lots of opportunities to develop your career, and generally in ways that will make you far more competent and versatile because there are generally many talented people to learn from versus being a cowboy/lone-wolf learned on my own developer from a small company. There are also more varying projects to choose from. You can be a big fish in your small pond at a small company or you can learn to be the big fish in the ocean at a big company. – Dunk Apr 03 '13 at 14:50
  • I agree with @huntmaster. Having worked for large corporations and small companies, I would never go back to a MegaCorp unless I absolutely had no other options. – James Adam Apr 03 '13 at 14:52
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    @Dunk: Personally, I've never waited that long for a positive response. And I've worked for companies of all sizes. But, fair enough, I'll believe it happens. I wouldn't jeopardise another job offer for a company who didn't want me badly enough to get moving on securing my signature though. – pdr Apr 03 '13 at 14:52
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    @Dunk: I disagree, from my own personal experiences. Big companies are composed of a lot of people, and typically, the best people end up leaving and the mediocre, who cannot get a better job, stagnate and remain (the dead sea effect). They are so big and slow to move that things are done inefficiently, which cripples both individual developers in their productivity, and those same individuals in changing projects/areas of work. I found I got much better experience in small companies because I had the visibility into more areas and the freedom to try new responsibilities without bureaucracy – huntmaster Apr 03 '13 at 15:20
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    @huntmaster, we are all different and have differnt experiences, but I have run into far more incompetence at small companies who like to hire their friends and relatives. I have also found it much easier to get rid of teh dead wood at large companies because they aren't related to the CEO. But yes there are large companies that are bad to work for and large companies where some divisions are great to work for and others not so much. Atleast you have more opportunity to grow your career. Of course I'm a specialist, so the jobs I prefer these days tend to only be in medium to large companies. – HLGEM Apr 03 '13 at 18:15
  • @HLGEM, agreed, our opinions are colored by our personal experiences, and our takes on this matter are subjective. I hope at least we've provided some useful commentary to consider when reviewing job offers. – huntmaster Apr 03 '13 at 18:18
  • @huntmaster:my experience differs greatly. While I do agree that big companies allow the mediocre developers to find a role; the really good developers tend to get to pick and choose their projects, their people, their roles and frequently their technologies. And being at a big company has the added advantage of having lots of various kinds of projects to choose from, versus a small set of the same-ol-same-ol product that the small company works on. If you are good then there is little reason to not want to work for a bigger company. – Dunk Apr 03 '13 at 21:09
  • I haven't a clue what you mean by big and slow (in regards to developer productivity), unless you mean changing processes. The reason customers hire big companies versus less expensive small companies is because they know the big company can deliver. Big companies try to guarantee that by having processes that have worked in the past. So yes, change can be slow because they already have something that works (maybe not always as efficient as possible) but it works. So when they change, they want to know that the change really is an improvement. – Dunk Apr 03 '13 at 21:11
  • But oh yeah.. here I am yet with No Offer. – NJU Apr 09 '13 at 15:49
  • @NJU:What have you done to attempt to get some feedback? Did you call anyone? Since the manager has responded in the past, ask him for an HR point of contact. I agree with pdr, I certainly wouldn't jeopardize an existing offer for those 2 in the bush, especially as a newbie. – Dunk Apr 12 '13 at 15:14
  • @Dunk... Yes I had contact with manager and he says Its still pending on the administrative side. – NJU Apr 12 '13 at 18:14
  • @Dunk More important, Its the administrative stuff, so it is not in his hands as far as I think. – NJU Apr 12 '13 at 18:18
  • @NJU-I know, that is why in a previous comment I mentioned how frustrating it can be for a hiring manager. However, what I have found is that if you can get hold of the HR person handling the paperwork, they can at least verify that an offer is in progress and even what the offer is. Thus, my reason for suggesting that the OP get hold of someone in HR. At the very least, he'll know for sure that the paperwork is in progress and might even get to find out their offer (even if it isn't set in stone yet). – Dunk Apr 15 '13 at 15:21
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The only answer that comes to my mind is "Move on". You will again be able to crack interviews. Don't waste your time thinking what has happened before three weeks and why they didn't provide the offer letter till date.

The only thing you should feel happy is you attended the interview and you know the questions that were asked and you cracked it. Prepare well and who know you might get a better offer from a more well known company in a few days.

lazy_coder
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I'd likely take the first offer if it is still available. Something to consider is that if you wait too long a company may change their mind as most offers will have a time limit to them.

While there is a chance that the MNC sent the paperwork to someone that was on vacation or sick for a week, this is long enough that I'd probably have had a few calls with the manager to inquire about their ability to get things done. Consider that if the offer letter took about a month, would you be OK with waiting a few months to get paid initially if their payroll had some similar glitches? In other words, how sure are you of the reputation of the MNC?

JB King
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  • Hi, sorry it took me a while to get back... the reputation is well known, big brand in IT – NJU Apr 09 '13 at 15:37