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Congratulations and don't sweat it. Unlike small firms, or when hiring for a crisis situation, these things tend to take a few weeks. But if you have a competing offer, then you can nudge the hiring manager.
I'm not at Cisco, but it took just over 3 weeks from when I told HR that I wanted to hire someone to them handing me the offer letter and paperwork for approval to give to the person. So yeah, a lag is pretty typical.
This is very typical, in small and large firms. At larger firms, it's the internal process combined with the time it takes for background checks, reference checks, etc. (You probably gave permission for these when you completed your application, even if you didn't read the small print).
BTW, to the OP: I hope you told them about anything decremental they might find on the background check, DMV or credit reports. Those that 'fess up will get a lot more credit than an applicant who keeps quiet until 'caught'. It also gives you an opportunity to 'explain' why you have such crummy credit or that five year old DUI.
In my experience, applicants who explained the circumstances before discovery nearly always still received a written offer. Those that said nothing usually received nothing except a letter saying something about regrettably, we will not be continuing in the process because of your. . .
All good advice here, and it would be impossible to draw any conclusions without more details which even you as the candidate don't have. however, here are my thoughts:
-Firstly, what is your gut intuition regarding the hiring manager's demeanor? Did he seem genuinely enthusiastic? Body language can tell you a lot about a person's train of thought. If it was a panel interview, were certain personnel attempting to discourage you or attack you? It could be political, or the hiring manager could be the type who makes promises he can't keep. It's normal to negotiate the offer with HR of course, but the way you described his statement it seemed "weak"..
-A few organizations I have worked with developed circuitous budget approval processes that were ultimately designed with the objective of cost cutting. If you receive the offer, it could also mean a painful process in store for you when you are trying to push your own budgets through.. It could also indicate that key personnel in the process have been let go or shuffled around and are running much less efficiently. The organization I was thinking of in this particular instance eventually spun off their entire division and closed a number of their US plants in favor of their Singapore operations.
Some may find my views unnecesarily pessimistic, however they have served me well in the corporate world and I do not count on anything until it is in writing. As another poster wisely suggested, obtainin another offer would allow you both leverage to expedite the process and an exit strategy should things not work out.
Sounds to me like you are #2 on deck and that they are negotiating with #1 right now. Weeks for verbal to written is not normal in my experience. You could always force their hand saying you have another offer and need to make a decision by the end of the week. Hiring can suck especially when financials get in the way adding overhead.
All good advice here, and it would be impossible to draw any conclusions without more details which even you as the candidate don't have. however, here are my thoughts:
-Firstly, what is your gut intuition regarding the hiring manager's demeanor? Did he seem genuinely enthusiastic? Body language can tell you a lot about a person's train of thought. If it was a panel interview, were certain personnel attempting to discourage you or attack you? It could be political, or the hiring manager could be the type who makes promises he can't keep. It's normal to negotiate the offer with HR of course, but the way you described his statement it seemed "weak"..
-A few organizations I have worked with developed circuitous budget approval processes that were ultimately designed with the objective of cost cutting. If you receive the offer, it could also mean a painful process in store for you when you are trying to push your own budgets through.. It could also indicate that key personnel in the process have been let go or shuffled around and are running much less efficiently. The organization I was thinking of in this particular instance eventually spun off their entire division and closed a number of their US plants in favor of their Singapore operations.
Some may find my views unnecesarily pessimistic, however they have served me well in the corporate world and I do not count on anything until it is in writing. As another poster wisely suggested, obtainin another offer would allow you both leverage to expedite the process and an exit strategy should things not work out.
Good luck!
You make good points here. In my experience, when a hiring manger is very interested in hiring me, they've told me that I'm hired, they just need to get the letter and that process is handled by HR. They've given me a timetable within which to expect a letter. This is with larger companies, like Cisco, because they know it takes time and if they want a candidate, they don't want him/her to give up waiting and take a job elsewhere because another company can move more quickly with a written offer.
Again, just my experience. That the hiring manager said he wanted to "move forward" sounds like he was a bit lukewarm about the whole thing. If he welcomed the OP aboard with a big handshake, however, maybe that's just his style and this really is just a holdup in HR.
Hard to say.
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Background checks add up in cost. I cannot imagine that a company like Cisco would run a check prior to having the candidate accept the job. They just made the offer contingent on passing the background check. There is also a lot of legalese in doing a background check right so you should definitely know it is happening.
I do agree about disclosing anything that would come up. We will likely hire people with a ding or two on their record but if you say there is nothing when there is then we will probably not hire you due to lying. There are a lot of protections in place these days so it is hard to deny someone employment if the offense is unrelated (well, it is relatively easy in NC but the "ban the box" movement is moving as quickly as the marijuana movement so much of this will be moot soon!)
Incidentally, We get our local background checks back in 2 days
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