finding a job sucks. honestly, root canal without any drugs or an amputation without being knocked out is easier to take. okay, maybe i took that too far. but it still sucks. to make matters worse is not just getting your foot in the door and getting the interview, but now you get to wait…..and wait…..and wait…..and wait for there to be any response. often times there’s no response at all. this can be frustrating to say the least and while i understand that the company often doesn’t make split-second decisions regarding personnel the job seeker is still left in a lurch.

i have, after many nights of not sleeping well, have come up with a theory about the probability of getting a job post-interview. here’s the scenario: let’s say that you interview on a thursday and you interview well, ask and answer questions well, and they tell you that you should hear from them in 3-5 business days. i propose we look at the idea of getting a call back on a bell curve.

we all know and hated the bell curve. it was that one geek that ’screwed the pooch’ for the entire class by getting a good score on the test. what i’m thinking is that on the two ends of the spectrum we can refer to as the length of time in days. the shorter and longer the ‘callback time’ the less likely you are to get one. however, that sweet spot is in the 2-4 day marks where the standard deviation says that the probability is best.  if they call you back in the 2-4 day area they are interested and not desperate (like calling after getting a potential date’s number).  there is a certain amount of restraint in waiting that period of time.  i say this because right now i’m sitting outside of the sweet spot and i want to tear out what little hair i have left.

now before any mathematicians or professors jump all over me for using a bell curve, it’s more of a visual aid, rather than any actual mathematical process. so there.