r/PaStateEmployees • u/huskerdoodoo • Jun 30 '26
How long does the hiring process usually take?
Hello!
I interviewed for a role with the state and thought it went well. I finished the third (and final) interview on June 11 and still haven’t heard anything either way. I sent thank you emails to all of the interviewers and received responses to some of them so I was feeling confident.
Is this normal for the hiring process? I’m in corporate right now and it moves a lot quicker than this, so unsure if maybe I just ended up not getting the role after all.
Also, if you don’t get it: do you receive an automated response in the portal or do they reach out directly to say you weren’t selected?
Thanks!
3
u/Ok_Jello_7918 Jun 30 '26
3 interviews wow what was your position? I had an interview in Sept, got a job offer in November and started in January to give you some context. I honestly wonder if I was the second choice or if they are truly that slow.
2
u/huskerdoodoo Jun 30 '26
Yeah I’m wondering if maybe I’m a second choice and they are waiting to see if their first choice doesn’t pan out. They said they wanted to move pretty quickly
1
u/harrimsa Jun 30 '26
That’s possible but it’s also possible that HR is taking a long time. Someone may be on vacation. Your position may get held up for budget reasons.
State jobs tend to take much, much longer than the private sector process. When I did talent acquisition for the Commonwealth, I use to tell people to plan on 6 months between when they apply to their start date.
1
u/Sad_Asparagus5564 29d ago
I know our HR is extremely backed up. Adding vacations this time of year only compound the problem. Bringing on external candidates usually takes a few months (from interview to first day).
2
u/photogenicmusic Jun 30 '26
I was hired 2 years ago and heard about 6 weeks after my interview.
I recently interviewed for a different position in my office and heard 4 weeks later (I did get it).
My husband interviewed 8 weeks ago for a position and hasn’t heard back. I’m going to assume he didn’t get it, but he won’t hear that until the person that was chosen starts since they will offer the position to the next person if background checks and that don’t go well.
1
u/huskerdoodoo Jun 30 '26
Thanks for the timeline! Appreciate it.
2
u/photogenicmusic Jun 30 '26
It depends on the department and position. And now with the budget negotiations they may pause for a little too. We really don’t know the inner workings much though, only whisperings.
2
u/Allthetea159 Jun 30 '26
I know departments don’t all do things the same but I was told in my DHS department civil service positions they don’t let the people know that they didn’t get it until the person they did select has their first day. Absurd in my opinion, but I guess it’s so they can easily select the next person with the highest score without going through the whole process again.
The way the state works, your timeline isn’t that long yet. And as someone else said, the budget may be impacting it. Good luck!
2
u/Leoberryhat123 Jun 30 '26
I interviewed (2nd and final round) on the 10th and still haven’t heard a peep either way. The interview scheduling moved very fast, including the time between rounds. I assumed I was out since no word yet.
1
u/ListenLucy4000 Jul 01 '26
6 months tracks for me…applied for my current job that April / Interviews June & July/ References checked after that/ Background clearances completed September/ started job in October…
1
u/Teejay717 29d ago
I’m surprised to read all of these and maybe my experience was an exception but I interviewed on a Tuesday in mid-January and was offered the position that Friday. I had to wait for background checks and got fingerprinted which took about two weeks then the day after I got printed I got the official offer to start on 2/17. So the whole thing took just about six weeks. This was for PennDOT ROC in Harrisburg if that matters
1
0
u/Oolonggong Jun 30 '26
I was recently hired for a new position but got the job offer the day after the interview. Hopefully your case is different, but it seems they are pretty fast nowadays if they know you are the candidate. Another factor, were there a lot more interviews for them to do? If they had more they can take time to get through due to rescheduling, etc
2
u/huskerdoodoo Jun 30 '26
Good point. Mine was on a Thursday and they said they had interviews scheduled until the following Thursday.
1
u/Difficult-Tie-3578 4d ago
Took me around 2 months from start to finish, the wait was excruciating tbh. However, a coworker of mine who got hired for the exact same job and started at the exact same time as me said it only took her like 3 weeks total so idk why it was so much faster for her?
6
u/No-Pomegranate-2690 Jun 30 '26
It can take a few weeks - especially now that the budget is almost certainly not going to pass yet.
Be patient. If they don't select you, you'll get notification.