“When it rains, it pours!”

“Something must be in the air!”

If you’re a strong candidate who has actively job searched before (or I suppose, if you’re a recruiter who sees this play-out all the time with candidates you interview), these phrases are all too common. But it happens, a lot. Oftentimes candidates complete their multiple interview processes within one or two weeks of each other . . . just enough time for decision windows to barely not overlap. Thus, candidates find themselves in a pickle, making tough decisions within tough deadlines. Suddenly the excitement and intrigue of interviewing comes to a stressful end. Here are two tips to help reduce the stress, anticipate your deadlines and stay dry when the offer rains pour.

(1) Ask during the first conversation: “What does your entire interview process include for this job, and how long do you anticipate it taking?” Knowing this will give you an estimate of what sort of a journey you may have in store with that particular company. Whether you have one, two or three rounds of interviews, an assessment, final assignment and/or reference checks at the end . . . those variations in the interview process can shape the process by weeks, even months. Furthermore, the recruiter will likely be honest with you. After all, setting your expectations is important to their job. Most often, if they have a clear sense of the interview process going quickly or slowly, they will be as forthright as possible about it.

(2) Ask when you’re headed into final stages, or if you’ve been told that you’re a leading candidate: “How long do you typically give final candidates to respond to offers for a job like this?” (And if relocation applies to the situation, include that in the question). This intel again helps you map-out your potential timeline with another crucial phase of the process, the offer decision stage. This stage is discussed far less often, yet is the stage where people most frequently find themselves during those stressful “when it rains, it pours” situations. If you know ahead of time that you’d be given 48 hours to decide – or a week to decide – keep that knowledge in your back pocket as your multiple interview processes come to a close.

(3) Make a chart. It’s a good idea to keep track of with whom you’ve applied and interviewed, but for those visual people, a chart might be helpful to actually show you where you’re at with things. See below:

If you don’t know this already, it is very poor practice to accept a job offer and then rescind your acceptance soon afterwards. It damages your industry reputation – which is everything – and word gets around employers and your network more easily than you think. Most people who do this do it because they were in a bind and had to accept a guarantee, and then their most preferred job offer arrived a bit later. And hey, I get it – I’ve seen people with their mortgages and families on the line, and sometimes it’s the only choice they have. (Good future blog topic, right). These steps will help you navigate your interview journeys with more direction and confidence. You can’t control the rain . . . but you can know the forecast, right?

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