The ideal response times during an interview process.
Today I’m here to talk to opportunity seekers about the right timing when responding to companies and hiring managers once you’ve started an interview process with them. Long story short, you don’t want much time to go by where you’re not communicating with them about what the next steps are. You should get back to the company as soon as possible. My opinion is that something short and sweet over email is better than nothing.
If you are interested, it’s critical that you get back to them within 24 hours of when they reach out. For every day that you don’t respond, their assumption about your interest level will nosedive more and more. You gain nothing by waiting.
If you’re not interested, there’s still no reason to wait. They’re going to develop an impression of you that you don’t necessarily want. You can cut things off quickly and easily by sending a short note saying something like: “Hey, I hope to follow up soon and have a more thorough conversation, but I just wanted to let you know that, unfortunately, at this point, I don’t plan to move forward with this opportunity based on other things that I’m looking at.” Short and sweet is always better than nothing.
Get back to those you are interested in as quickly as you can, and it will benefit you. If you have any related questions, call or email me, I’d love to help.