Hi all.. Can I ask u guys a question. I have the contact numbers of 2 HR officers - one who called and emailed me to go down for the job interview and the other one who is part of the panel of interviewers. If I wish to call to check on the outcome of the interview, who should I call? Thanks.

You are too anxious. It is only 1 week of waiting. Come back to post your reply at about late Aug to mid Sept.

The HR actually told me that if shortlisted for 2nd round, they will call me within a week. If late Aug to mid Sept, it seems too long for the selection.

is it common to release shortlisted and rejected results at the same time? or rejected ones will know their results earlier than successful ones? because im still awaiting results after pre employment medical.. and dont know if a long wait means i am being selected or eventually it will be false hope..

for myself i called the person who emailed me to go down, as we have exchanged emailed several times regarding the arrangement of interviews so i basically did a follow up with him and was told to wait for 3-4 weeks.

Reference Checks
 

Can anyone share when reference checks are done by a hiring ministry/statboard during the hiring process?

It seems like my references have been contacted but I only went for the first interview. Seems kind of weird for reference checks so early on, no?

you have asked your references?

Did anyone know what to check with references? responsibilities? leadership skills? job duties? salaries? or even including warning letters etc

Huh reference checks after just the first interview? I thought reference checks are only conducted when the company is serious about hiring u.

I applied for a position three months ago. Is it normal that the company now call in to ask one question and then tell me that I will be informed in a week time if shortlisted?

Shortlist u for interview? Omg 3 months is crazily long. Which ministry/stat board is that?

I got called for an interview with a stat board 3 months after i applied for the position. have to say 3 months before any reply is just too long.

3 months is way too long. So did u go for the interview with the stat board?

yup 3 months was too long.. i almost forgotten what i had applied.

It would be a bonus if i ever get shortlisted for interview.

i applied on last week on June...

this week got calle dup for round 1

after interview HR say if successful will contact within 2 weeks for round 2

wah... they interview people is one after another

when your turn to goto into room, the next candidate arrives to hr office etc

Quite scary isn't it? So many candidates for a job interview and u wonder how many vacancies are available.

This is not the worst.. I went to stat boards like PA and Nea .. There's a row of candidates ahead of me.

And you will feel negative because so many candidates vying for the limited vacancies or perhaps just one.

Yah! I experienced this before too. Even though my interview went well, I felt that chances were slim cos of the number of candidates. :(

yah man

btw any idea if the hiring done is mainly replacement headcount of expansion headcount

also is it true they do seasonal hiring? like every quarter

:(

Yah i went to the interview since there is nothing to lose but have lost interest in the position then. Usually if there's no response after 2-3 weeks after application then can assume that you are not shortlisted.

Depend on the positions and the ministries / stat boards. For e.g, ipos/ uniformed groups/ cpib are more of seasonal hiring.

However, I believe many positions (eg. in LTA/ Spring/ JTC) are auto posted in careers @ gov, so they keep appearing after every few weeks.

wonder how u all cope during the period after an interview

not knowing whether you made it or not...

That period would be the toughest period, swinging between hoping and disappointment.

yah

:(

its going to be a week since my 1st intw...

losing abit of hope lioa

U only wait a week only. I have waited more than a month before I decided to give up.

I called up the Stat board I applied to after slightly more than 1 week and was told verbally that i got the job. However, they need another 2 weeks to before the offer letter is ready. I was wondering will the Stat board/ministry keep their verbal offer? I have another likely offer in the works and i dont want to reject the offer only to find out later that the Stat board decide to withdraw the verbal offer. Any advice?

Congrats!

i think no harm calling HR and double checking tt your offer will not be withdrawn

tell them your current difficulty and say u really wish to work for them but would need to clarify to make sure that the offer would stand

btw... u needed to call HR before they told u that u got job? if not they also wont take initiative to call u?

:(

wah

they dun let u know if you have been rejected?

:(

I guess not.. Some government agencies only inform candidates who are shortlisted.

Request for an email confirmation instead. At least have legal guarantee I suppose. My friend kena played after being told having verbal offeryet waited for three months after calling to hr repeatedly. End up telling my friend that the upper mgmt decided not to approve the position.

These kind of companies should be named and shamed

Rejecting is easy but imagine how it is for the candidate who prob would have made plans

:mad:

Hiring Managers should normally already made up their mind on you after the final interview. For them to take more than 2 days to decide is abit long? If it is a no, HR will process the rejection notice by mail or email and this may take some time. If it is a Yes, HR will proceed with the background checks, proposals, approvals etc etc. So normally you would know after one week whether it is a Yes or a No. If it is a No, at least you can focus your time on other leads. If they can't tell you, maybe they are just waiting out for a better candidate... in this case, I would prefer to move on since the commitment is not there ...

If it is a yes, some HR will only call you on the offer after they have got everything done and approved and in Ministry/Stat board case, can take 2 - 4 weeks I guess....

This is bad both from the candidate point of view and company point of view

for company, if its taking 2-4 weeks to notify candidate without giving a verbal clue, den they should be prepared for high number of candidates rejecting as they might have founf other jobs

for candidates, 2-4 weeks without any clue is bad

Yup, why give people false hope ? Ya, pre-screening can take a few days after deadline but surely, it does reflect the efficiency of the HR department. If take 2-4 weeks, that is really too bad.

I agree. I was told to wait 2 to 4 weeks for the interview outcome. More than a month passed before I realised that I have to accept the rejection and move on. It is tough. At least there should be a verbal confirmation.

they did not give u a rejection notification?

:(

Nope no rejection notification. From the experiences that some forumers shared, I gathered that for some government bodies, they may only notify shortlisted candidates. For candidates that are not shortlisted, they just have to silently accept their fate. :(

This is 2014, It is widely accepted that

Companies will only notify shortlisted applicants.

Even after attending an interview, if no news after 2 weeks, it is also widely understood that it is time to move on. Do not waste time waiting for the reject email etc.

This is 2014, everybody it is time to move on with your life.

Thank you

Lol.. Ur post is funny.. I agree..

Ya any good news after 1 or 2 weeks would be a bonus. Be positive even if both organisation and position are ideal.

Or else just call to HR to confirm.

Applied for a few jobs but received no calls. Depressing.