The old cliché is that you should think about a problem from the perspective of the other side to gain a full understanding of the situation. Nowhere is that more true than in a job search/hiring situation. Too often deals are lost because of the problem of perception.
When a candidate applies and/or interviews with an employer, they are excited about the position. They check their email and voicemail for updates, excitedly hoping for news. If they don’t hear anything from the firm for an extended period of time, they assume the worst (that they are no longer being considered for the position) and often will come away with negative thoughts about the employer and may generally “reimagine” their perception of the firm to be one where the attorney wouldn’t have wanted the position. “It was for the best,” attorneys will often remark. From the candidate’s perspective, the process went from one of hope and excitement to an awful experience (and one which they will remember for a long time).
On the employer side, they might believe that interviews went fine but the firm just got busy and hasn’t had time to respond to the candidates that interviewed. Without nefarious intentions, they simply stopped/slowed the hiring process until there was more time to move forward. Form the firm’s perspective, everything is fine. They can’t understand why a candidate would have been turned off by the process.
The person who is in the best place to step in and help each side see the process from the others’ perspective is the recruiter. They can calm the candidate and nudge the employer to move the process forward (or at least communicate their updated timetable to the attorney). This is one of the many reasons that both attorneys and legal employers turn to a recruiter. If you find yourself in a similar position just take a deep breath and try to see it from the other side’s perspective.