Following up on Lateral Associate Interview Forum

[Anonymous User]

Junior associate lateral candidate in major non-NY market. Had a callback with a firm about 2 months ago. I am working with a recruiter, and she told me she got great feedback from my interviews, and the firm told me to sit tight and they would be in touch " very soon." Radio silence since then. At this point, I'm resigned to the fact they are likely ghosting me, but I still don't think checking in to reaffirm my interest would hurt. I'd definitely accept if offered the position.

The recruiter cautioned me against following up personally, since she said she is checking in on my behalf and that I'd come across as annoying if I did so myself. Thoughts on that? I can't help but feel that her interests aren't totally aligned with mine here. I know I am not the only candidate she brought to the firm for the position, and, at the end of the day, she doesn't care if I get the job, so long as one of her candidates does.

And if I do followup, should I do so with the firm's hiring person, or a senior partner I know personally who was helpful to me as I went through the interviews there? Thanks in advance for all opinions.

[Anonymous User]

Junior associate lateral candidate in major non-NY market. Had a callback with a firm about 2 months ago. I am working with a recruiter, and she told me she got great feedback from my interviews, and the firm told me to sit tight and they would be in touch " very soon." Radio silence since then. At this point, I'm resigned to the fact they are likely ghosting me, but I still don't think checking in to reaffirm my interest would hurt. I'd definitely accept if offered the position.

The recruiter cautioned me against following up personally, since she said she is checking in on my behalf and that I'd come across as annoying if I did so myself. Thoughts on that? I can't help but feel that her interests aren't totally aligned with mine here. I know I am not the only candidate she brought to the firm for the position, and, at the end of the day, she doesn't care if I get the job, so long as one of her candidates does.

And if I do followup, should I do so with the firm's hiring person, or a senior partner I know personally who was helpful to me as I went through the interviews there? Thanks in advance for all opinions.

Just an anecdote, but perhaps instructive: I did a callback lateral interview and heard nothing for 2 months. Called to follow up with the head of the practice group who I had interviewed with. I reiterated my interest in joining the firm and asked for an update. He said they were still evaluating their needs and would get back to me if they were still planning on hiring. 3 months later, I got an email from him saying they were prepared to give me an offer. By then, I had already taken another offer, but it just goes to show that you never know with lateral hiring. I do think calling the partner helped my case in eventually getting the offer as it kept me on his mind when he finally decided they needed someone.

I was not with a recruiter. My experience lateraling was that the advise and "help" of most recruiters was worse than useless.

[tyroneslothrop1]

In my limited experience, firms will tell recruiters when they reject a candidate. I use a recruiter, went on two lateral interviewers, and the firms told the recruiter they did not want to hire me. So it is quite possible you have not been rejected.