Waiting for My Offer Letter: How Long Does It Usually Take After Selection?

I have been interviewed by an HR of a renowned company in Patna, Bihar (Hyderabad-based company) on 2nd January 2014. The interview was good (lasting around 12 to 15 minutes), and I received fabulous feedback from the concerned HR. I was informed that I would have a telephonic round conducted by the HO HR in the upcoming one or two weeks. I was assured since I had a good interview session with the HR.

I had my telephonic round on 2nd February 2014, and during the interview, the HR Ma'am mentioned that there would be another telephonic round within three days with her Superior HR or Senior HR, focusing more on my domain expertise, which would be the final selection. The interview with the Ma'am was good (lasting around 12 minutes), and I was optimistic about the awaited crucial telephonic round.

The awaited day arrived; I received a call from the Senior HR on 4th February 2014. The most important telephonic round lasted around 25 minutes, the longest of all. The Senior HR mentioned that the results would be announced in about a week.

Subsequently, on 6th February 2014, I received a call from my local HR in Patna, confirming my selection for the HR job profile, asking me to join either the next day or the day after, with the offer letter likely to be generated by the evening.

As of now, no letter has been issued. I am curious about how many days it will take to generate the offer letter. It is a listed company, and the entire selection process has taken a month as mentioned above. Can anyone provide the exact date of the offer letter issuance? I am in a hurry.

I have asked them regarding this, and my local office HR told me that I and another candidate were put on hold by the company.

Understanding 'Put on Hold'

Here, what is the meaning of being put on hold? Normally, how many days will it take to issue an offer letter?

Regards

Generally, companies try to shortlist at least three candidates and tend to select the best among them. This is generally easy for junior and middle management positions but relatively difficult for senior management positions.

Assessment Criteria for Junior and Middle Management

At the junior and middle management levels, the knowledge, skills, and attitude of the employee are assessed, and of course, the pay package also plays a role in deciding the candidate. The assessments made by the panel members of the interview are collated, and then a decision is taken to hire the candidate.

Since your final interview took place only on 6th February 2014, I presume that it may take a week to 10 days at least before your prospective employer responds.

Negotiation and Follow-up

You have not mentioned whether you have mutually agreed on the pay package. If this has not been done, some employers tend to negotiate depending on the interest shown by prospective candidates. In my opinion, since you have already checked with them once, you need not follow up (presumably, you already have a job on hand).

Employers state various reasons for keeping the candidate waiting, and one of the reasons they mention is that there is another candidate competing for the same position when there is actually none. The reason for this is to buy time until the top management decides on the candidate and to show that their company is a preferred employer by candidates.

Wait for their call and then make a decision. Since you have gone through several rounds already, I am sure you will post an update that you have received the offer letter from them by the time you read this post.

All the very best!