Helene went straight home and waited by phone all day. The phone never rang.

As week drew to a close, Helene began to get nervous. She hadn't heard from HR. She wondered what had happened. She convinced herself that everything was fine, that HR department must have been swamped. She wasn't exactly sure what would be more important than calling and welcoming her onboard, but she knew HR department had a good reason. After all, Helene was most qualified candidate; hiring manager told her so.

Days went by and still Helene heard nothing. Confused by situation, she anxiously glanced through Sunday morning classifieds wondering what had gone wrong.

Unfortunately, this happens to many jobseekers. They are offered position by interviewer and they never hear from HR or it takes months before a firm offer is made.

But there are steps that you can take as a jobseeker to minimize your risk of being strung along by an employer.

An easy and often neglected step is to find out what comes next after each interview. Establishing next step gives you some control over hiring process, and helps avoid guessing game. Make it a point to leave each interview with a clear understanding of what you are supposed to do and what hiring manager is supposed to do.