Employers Report A 4 Week Window Between Job Interview And Offer

Filed under: Finding a Job,Labor,News |

How long can a new college graduate expect to wait for that first big job offer after an interview?

If a job offer is extended, how long will he or she have to accept or reject it?

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2012 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey found that, on average, employers hiring new college graduates take 24.2 business days to extend an offer to a college student after an interview.

Once an offer has been extended, employers then give the candidate an average of 14.1 business days to make a decision.

Employers report 4 week interview-to-offer window when hiring.

Employers report 4 week interview-to-offer window when hiring.

“The average interview-to-offer cycle time in the 2012 survey is consistent with that from previous years,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. “These results show that there tends to be a relatively narrow timeframe during which the offer follows the interview.”

Industries’ Interview-To-Offer Cycles Differ

Some businesses will keep job candidates waiting to hear about their fate much longer than others, the survey found. There are significant differences in interview-to-offer cycle times across industries.

Government agencies have one of the longer interview-to-offer cycles with a 38-day average.

However, government agencies are not alone as employers in other industries — such as recreation and hospitality, 39.5 days, engineering services, 30.3 days, and construction at 30 days — have similar timeframes.

By contrast, some industries average of fewer than 18 days to deliver their job offers. For example, recruiters from computer and electronics manufacturers take 16 days, accounting services, 17 days, and miscellaneous business services take 17.5 days.

NACE’s 2012 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey was conducted June 15 through August 15, 2012; 242 employer-member organizations took part. An executive summary of the survey report is available at www.naceweb.org/Research/Recruiters/Recruiting_Benchmarks_Survey.aspx.

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