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The imminent possibility of a job offer, after rounds of interviews, is weird territory.  It is exciting, it is huge boost to self-belief; it is also tantalizing.

It is a road much less traveled.  Many go through phone interviews and never heard from the recruiter again.  A small number of phone interviews, ends up with onsite interviews, and even that often end up not going anywhere, other than another experience. In an even smaller subset, there is a call from the recruiter informing “you get it”.    Like a tennis tournament, there is only one person getting the trophy; the early rounds are resumes, cover letters, email, maybe phone interviews; and the latter rounds are equated to on-site interviews.  Disappointing as it may be, losing in early rounds is less damaging than losing a close final. .

How would one live the days, when the recruiter tells “you get it” and “you would be presented an offer a few days later”

The first moment of knowing is huge and is among the moments of life, not much different from receiving an admission letter from the college of the top choice. The heart would beat at a rate in par with where the position and the company rank among the wish list.  The excitement is followed by a challenge to focus on the present.  The mind, wonder towards the new world, presents an uneasy barrier to stay in the present.  Not just that, it draws a different orbit for all future meetings and future due dates at work, with many of those futures you would no longer make happen.  Along the way, there are questions and doubts too – “would there be change in the decision?”; “what would the terms of offer be?”; “what is the decision criteria to accept, negotiate or deny?”; “would the new position warrant a change”; “what are the adjustment and adaptations required?”. Until the final decision is needed, it is not always obvious on how much we fear or embrace a change in landscape.

The more excited the opportunity, the tougher this transitional period could be.  It is stressful but a positive kind of stress.

Posted in Career Management