Recruiter phrases decoded: 'position on hold', 'still interviewing', 'early next week' and what to reply

What recruiters usually mean by 'the position is on hold', 'we're still interviewing', 'early next week' or 'we'll keep your resume on file', what to reply to each, and when to follow up.

The recruiter ends the call with "the position is on hold for now, but we'd love to stay in touch". Or the email says "we're still interviewing, you'll hear from us early next week", and next week comes and goes. You read the sentence ten times looking for the real answer.

Nobody can tell you for sure what one recruiter meant. What we can do is read each phrase against what it usually covers, what the recruiter's own software does when the job stalls, and in one case what the law says. For each phrase you get the likely meaning, a short reply when one is worth sending, and the date to follow up. Portal labels such as "In progress" or "Not selected" have their own guide: job application status meanings.

Here is the short version. Each row has its own section below.

The follow-up delays in this table are our rules of thumb, not something any recruiter commits to.

"The position is on hold"

This is the phrase people search most, and the one with the least information behind it. It usually means the company stopped the hiring for a reason that has nothing to do with you: the budget was frozen, a reorganisation is coming, the manager left, or another role jumped the queue. Sometimes it is a softer way to say they will not hire for it at all.

What "on hold" looks like in the recruiter's software

In an applicant tracking system (ATS), a hold is often recorded by closing the job. Greenhouse's help center lists a job "placed on hold" while other roles take priority, and a hiring freeze, among the reasons to close one (Greenhouse Support). Closing the job does not reject the people in it. They stay active until someone moves them, which we cover in what happens when a job posting is taken down.

Workday can freeze a requisition instead. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, which documents its Workday setup, a candidate on a frozen requisition sees "the status they were in at the time" (UW–Madison HR). Nothing changes on your side of the portal.

Two things follow from that:

• A portal that still says "In progress" does not contradict "on hold". The label simply did not move.
• The recruiter's sentence is more than the software will ever tell you. Write it down with the date, because nothing else will record it.

We found no reliable data on how often roles put on hold come back. Treat it as a pause with no end date until they give you one.

What to reply

Reply within a day. Thank them, ask one question, and say in one line that you are still interested. Do not ask why it is on hold: they rarely can say, and you do not need to know.

When to follow up

If they gave a date, follow up the business day after it. If they did not, send one short check-in after three to four weeks, then one more a month later. Between the two, keep applying elsewhere as if this role did not exist. In your tracker, leave the job in Interviewing with that follow-up date. It is not a rejection until someone says so.

"We'll keep your resume on file"

This one is almost always a no for the role you applied to. The second half of the sentence is where people get their hopes up, so it is worth knowing what "on file" really covers.

How long "on file" lasts

Keeping your application is, first of all, a record-keeping duty. It is not a promise that anyone will search that file for you.

• In the US, employers must keep application forms and other hiring records for one year (29 CFR 1602.14). Federal contractors keep "applications, resumes, and any and all expressions of interest" for at least two years, or one year if they have fewer than 150 employees or no government contract of at least $150,000 (41 CFR 60-1.12). These are minimums: they must keep your file that long, in case of a discrimination claim.
• In the UK, the rule runs the other way. The Information Commissioner's Office says recruitment records of unsuccessful candidates should not be kept longer than necessary, typically no longer than the period in which a claim about the recruitment could be brought. To keep them for future vacancies, the employer must have told you so beforehand. The ICO's own example is a firm that keeps its top 10 candidates for six months, and says so on the application form (ICO guidance). The ICO notes this guidance is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act.

This is a summary, not legal advice. The practical point holds on both sides of the Atlantic: "on file" has an end date, and a filed resume does not apply itself to the next opening.

What to do with it

Move the job to Rejected and note the stage you reached. A reply is optional. If you liked the company, one line is enough:

Thank you for letting me know. I'd like to hear about future data analyst openings on your team, and I'll keep an eye on your careers page too.

Then do what that last clause says. Check their careers page every month or two and apply again to any new posting that fits, with a resume tailored to that ad. That is far more reliable than waiting for someone to reopen the file.

"We're still interviewing other candidates"

This usually means the process is not finished, and it tells you that you are still in it. You might be the front-runner and they want a comparison, or they are waiting on a candidate whose interview is next week. The sentence cannot tell you which.

What it does not mean: that you were eliminated. People who have been eliminated tend to get a rejection, a template, or silence.

Reply only if you have something useful to add: a question about the timeline, or an honest deadline of your own. If you have another offer with a date, say so plainly. It is information the recruiter needs, not a threat.

Follow up the business day after the date they gave. With no date, wait a week. At the end of every interview, ask when they expect to decide. The interview preparation guide has that question and the others worth asking.

"You'll hear from us early next week"

This usually means a decision meeting or a debrief is on the calendar. It is a real date, and it slips often. Someone is out, a second interviewer has not sent feedback, or the offer needs one more approval.

There is nothing to reply. Write the date down. If Wednesday comes with no news, send one short email the next business day:

"By end of week" works the same way: follow up on Monday. If that email gets no answer either, wait another week and send one more. After that, you have done your part.

"The feedback was positive"

It usually means you passed this round. It is not an offer. Positive feedback from the hiring manager can still sit next to positive feedback on two other people.

The useful reply is a question about what comes next:

Thank you, that's great to hear. What are the next steps, and who else will I be meeting?

Then follow up on the date of that next step. If the answer is vague ("we'll be in touch about next steps"), treat it like the phrase below.

Phrases that sound like news but are not

Some phrases feel like a signal and carry no information at all. Recruiters use them with every candidate, including the ones they will hire.

"You're a strong candidate"

It can come before an offer or before a rejection. On its own, it means the recruiter is being polite. Answer the question it avoids: "Thank you. Do you have a sense of when the team will decide?"

"The team is still aligning" or "we need to sync internally"

This often means the decision makers do not agree yet, or the budget or headcount is waiting on approval. It can come before "the position is on hold". Follow up after a week, and keep interviewing elsewhere.

"We'll be in touch"

No date, no promise. It is not a bad sign in itself, but it puts the whole follow-up on you. Wait a week, send one email asking for a timeline, then one more a week later. No answer after that? Mark the job Ghosted and stop checking your inbox for it. Next time, ask for a date before the call ends.

Phrases that usually mean you are close

"We're checking your references"

Reference checks usually come at the end, when a company is close to deciding on one or two people. It is a good sign, not a promise: some employers check references for every finalist. Tell your referees who will call and what the role is, today, so the call goes well. Then follow up three to five business days after the calls, if you have not heard back.

"We're putting together an offer"

This is as close as it gets without the offer itself. Wait for it in writing before you decline other processes or stop applying. Verbal offers can still fall through when an approval is refused, which is the same thing that puts positions on hold.

"We decided to move forward with a candidate whose experience more closely matches"

This is a rejection, and usually a template. The wording rarely points to a specific gap in your experience, so do not rewrite your resume around it.

Move the job to Rejected, note the stage it happened at, and ask for feedback only if you had an interview. Keep it to one line, and expect that many companies will not answer. If the rejections keep coming at the screening stage, before any human contact, the problem is more likely your resume than you.

Turn each phrase into a stage and a date

Every phrase above ends the same way: one stage for the job, one date to act on. That is all you need to write down after a recruiter call, along with the exact words they used.

If you track in a spreadsheet, our free job application tracker template has a follow-up date column for this. The job application tracker guide has a short follow-up email for the applications that never got as far as a recruiter.

Tracking recruiter replies in HiredFolio

The HiredFolio tracker uses the same six stages: Saved, Applied, Interviewing, Offer, Rejected and Ghosted. Each job has a follow-up date, and on the morning it comes due you get one email listing that day's follow-ups. So "early next week" becomes a date in the job, and the reminder arrives on Wednesday whether or not you remembered. Paste the recruiter's exact words in the job's notes, so you can quote their date back to them. See how the job application tracker works.

Read next

• Job posting taken down after you applied or interviewed? What it means, and why you should save every job description

  A removed job posting is rarely a rejection. What LinkedIn, Indeed and Greenhouse actually do when an ad comes down, what a repost means, and what to save before the ad disappears.

• Free job application tracker template for Google Sheets and Excel (with automatic follow-up dates)

  Free job application tracker template for Excel and Google Sheets, no signup. The follow-up date fills itself in and due rows turn yellow. Every formula explained.

• Job application status meanings: what Workday, LinkedIn and Indeed are actually telling you

  What 'In progress', 'Under consideration', 'Not retained' and 'Response seems unlikely' really mean, who set each status, and the follow-up date to put in your tracker.