10 Reasons Why A Job Search Takes So Long

I once worked on a mid-level IT search that took almost two years to fill – and this was a Fortune 500 company with dedicated HR resources in addition to pulling in external resources, like the agency where I was recruiting at the time. Two years is an unusually long stretch of time, but the hiring process can stretch out for months. This means your job search can take months (or even years if you happened to want that particular IT role!).

You can help the process along by responding quickly to meeting invitations, being flexible to increase meeting availability and by keeping your contacts updated on your interests and expectations, so neither of you waste time pursuing an opportunity that ultimately won’t fit. However, you can only control so much of the process since you’re waiting on everyone else at the company to attend those interviews and make decisions along the way. This is where bottlenecks happen, even if a company is genuinely interested in you. Here are 10 reasons why a job search can take so long:

1 - Hiring department needs headcount approval

Sometimes the hiring department starts looking for their ideal candidate before the job opening is officially approved. Finding the right person takes time, so the hiring manager might start recruiting while the approval is still in the works. Then, an ideal candidate surfaces before the approval is received, and now the stall begins.

2 - Hiring department needs budget approval

The headcount might be approved but the budget for that hire might still be TBD. When budget is approved, the hire could be at a different level than the hiring manager initially expected. Level of the job (e.g., manager v. Director, Director v. VP) changes the scope of the job and desired qualifications for the candidate. If the search has already started, and you were tapped when budget was expected to be one thing but now has changed, they might stall with you while trying to negotiate the budget. Either way, there’s a delay till the budget is finalized.

3 - Decision-makers disagree on job description

Even if budget is finalized in advanced, there’s room within the same levels for what a job might look like. The hiring manager might want the role focused on one set of responsibilities, but their own boss has a different idea for the role. Colleagues who will work closely with the new hire might have competing priorities, each of which require different skills or personal attributes. When there are multiple decision-makers with competing and conflicting expectations, they look for and interview for different things. This draws out the screening process.

Full article @ https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecenizalevine/2023/04/11/10-reasons-why-a-job-search-takes-so-long/