Short answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
People wonder what to do after the job interview . I just read a recent comment from one of my readers who said “I still haven’t heard back from them after my job interview and they stopped answering my weekly follow up calls and emails so I just assume they don’t want me. I think that’s rude not to respond to me, but oh well. I will continue applying for more things!”
Of course my heart goes out to her, but I almost jumped out of my skin when I read how often she was following up with both phone calls AND emails after the job interview. I get she was just eager to know “Did I get the job?”, but there’s good reason not to do what she was doing. What you do after an interview can count as much as before or during!
While I well understand the agony of waiting to hear back after the interview – and do love her positive attitude about moving on to look for the right job – I worry some of you, including this reader, may actually hurt yourself badly with an overly zealous approach. Bugging a potential employer week after week – no matter how wonderful a hire you might be – is not going to get you the job. In fact, too many phone calls or e-mails can totally turn off the very people in the company you want to impress.
Avoid weekly follow-up calls and emails after an interview
Sending all those e-mails and making all those phone calls does not help your case with the company – and in fact only irritates HR folks and other hiring managers, many of whom have inboxes full of e-mails all demanding immediate attention. An occasional polite post-interview e-mail or phone call can be a good thing…but after that, believe me…if they are interested, they’ll remember you!
Unless you have something you absolutely need to tell them or maybe a new Pulitzer Prize you just won and want them to know about…less is more is a pretty good rule to follow when it comes to contact after the interview. And if they aren’t getting back to you – as annoying as that can be – just assume they have a good reason and do your best to focus on other things…like continuing to look for a great job!
(If you are waiting to hear back, you might find some helpful hints here: 12 Ways to Stay Sane After a Job Interview)
What about phone calls or email before an interview?
Speaking of following up…here’s a post from Kerry over at Clue Wagon that generated some great discussion. Basically, she tells us be wary of online experts who advise us to call or email after sending a resume (before any interview):
Calling to Follow Up? Hand Me a Fork.
(Kerry, a former HR person, is not one to mince words you’ll notice.)
Seriously…unless you have a contact there or a very good reason to call or are in an industry where this is ok (as Kerry also advises in 3 (Possible) Exceptions to the Do-Not-Call Rule), you are probably not helping yourself one bit by calling before an interview to follow up on your resume. Employers sometimes get a hundred or more resumes for one job posting. Believe me…they do not want a hundred or more calls or e-mails for each job they post! (Hmmm…maybe we should call anyone who suggests you do that?)
Of course, for every rule there are exceptions. And I will admit I may have helped myself get to a couple of interviews by using the send-resume-then-make-polite-follow-up-call technique – but then again, it may have been my particular circumstance. And I also might have gotten there anyway based solely on my resume and strong cover letter. (That’s what a good cover letter is for.) So please…if you do try this, just tread gently.
Nuff said.
So what’s your take on how often to follow up AFTER an interview? How have you handled your own post-interview follow-ups?
hmmm, that is interesting….from my experience in Canada, contract staffs are always the first to let go if things go south. It is easy to do so because employers can just simply stop renewing the contract.
Another reason might be that banking middle office conducts projects, so it is easy to plan staffing needs ahead. For every new project, banks look for experienced people as contractors. If the project turns into an ongoing basis, i.e. from development to maintainance, contractors might get an opportunity to become permanent.
In bad economy, sales, marketing, even HR were the first to downsize, followed by contract staffs in middle office, permanent staff in middle office maintaining compliance and risk management programs the last.
Awhile back I wrote to you that I recently came in contact with a gentleman (Ron) that I worked with 30 years ago who still works for the same company and told me that a secretarial position would be opening up and for me to submit my application and resume to the HR person. Ron said he would give a heads up to HR to let him know it would be coming. I stopped by the organization to say hi, catch up with Ron, and meet the HR person. Ron said to me when I was leaving not to be afraid to keep in contact with Jason (HR). Your comment to me was more curious as to how there interview process worked, where do they post, do they interview internally first and so forth. I sent and email to Jason (HR) and cc: Ron asking those basic questions. Jason’s response: “I spoke with Ron and we are both in agreement that as soon as a secretarial position opens I will contact you. We do post internally first however I would also call you to be included in the first interview process. The only outside source I use at this time to post any (professional position) jobs is the Michigan Works Talent Bank. Thank you for your continued interest and I will be in contact with you as soon as a position opens up”. I don’t want to be a pest. But I would like to periodically send an email just to reiterate my interest as I don’t want this opportunity to slip by because I lacked any form of followup. What do you suggest? email, a written note mailed? How often? What should I say?
Hi Ashley,
Since they post their jobs at the Michigan Works Talent Bank, is it possible to set up an email alert at the Talent Bank in case a secretarial job with this company is posted? If there isn’t an email alert, I would just check the Talent Bank every week to see if they have posted a job. That way, in case Jason doesn’t remember to contact you, you will still know about their opening and can contact him.
Meanwhile, I would definitely send Jason a note using whatever method you used before (email?), and thank him for his assistance. It doesn’t sound like he wants you to check in with him very often, so I would limit it to once every 4 to 6 weeks, meanwhile checking the Talent Bank frequently.
Good luck!
Susan
Ok I need some advice please.
I am currently a college student and I applied to an HR intern position at BCBG. I applied March 12th and received a phone call on April 9th. The person whom I spoke to told me that she would email me on Wed (April 11th) since she was going to speak to her manager regarding all the applicants. She asked me when I would be able to meet during the following week (this current week) for a fact-to-face interview. Since this is a dream position I have been anxious since April 9th. I sent her an email on the 11th about my status since she didnt email. I figured that she probably doesnt check her email often since it took her 1 month to call me from when I sent my resume. Therefore I called her last Friday and left her a voicemail. Should I wait until she gets back at me? Or should I call or email again? Now I am scared of messing my chances…if I have any in obtaining this position. What do you suggest?
Hi Imelda,
I have a feeling that nothing will happen quickly at this organization or with this person, so I would back off. You’ve reached out twice since you spoke with her on the 9th, so the ball is in her court. She knows that you are very interested. Contacting her more will just annoy her.
The reason it took so long for her to get back to you initially probably has absolutely nothing to do with how often she reads her email. It probably has a lot more to do with their own internal processes and procedures.
Your job now is to wait – at least until next week – before you contact her again. And, you need to also continue to look for other opportunities so you aren’t out of options in case this one doesn’t work out for you. So, keep looking.
Good luck!
Susan
Hello.
I got a job. Before they offered me a job, I told them I am going on a vacation for 3 weeks.
They offered me a job and said I can take my vacation and then come back and join them.I happily signed the offer letter, and filled up my personal information for background check.
(I am on a work permit, so my visa needs to be transferred from current company to another company).
With in 2 weeks I am leaving the country and when I come back, I will have 2 weeks before their said joining date. They haven’t asked me about my work permit related documents till now. Last Wednesday, I asked the HR and they said everything is fine and they don’t need anything from me as of right now.But as I told you, it is exactly I have 2 weeks before I leave the country.Am I unnecessarily being impatient? Shall I wait for their intimation, or shall I directly ask them about my work visa related documents?
Hi,
First, congratulations on your new job. That’s wonderful news.
My recommendation is that you assume full responsibility for your visa status and work permit information. If you know they will require certain paperwork and it is standard in the company where you are working, then you should provide them with any copies and information that they will need. Don’t ask them, just offer the information in an easy-to-understand, well organized manner.
If you cannot return back to your current location without the work authorization and will be crossing borders during your trip, I suggest you speak to your official government agency and find out exactly what you need and when — and how you should handle the situation.
It is okay to take a leadership role on this — people who don’t need work authorization may not feel the urgency as much as people who do and have experienced problems in the past. Again, the best approach may be simply to educate yourself about work permit requirements, and proactively provide them with the information that they need to get the information. (Example, “I understand average processing time for transfers is five weeks right now with ____ office, so here is my information in advance. I’ll be out of the area from ____ to ____ and am available at your convenience until _____ date. Here’s a phone number you can reach me through at any time: ______.
Good luck!
Best,
Chandlee
I would first like to say that I love this blog. I used the “where do you see yourself in 5 years” suggestions almost word for word and it works!! In saying that, I have been actively interviewing for about a month. After my last officially scheduled interview something told me to continue looking so I applied to a few more positions online. This lead to a few calls and an interview from a really well know prestigious company. I am now in the final round which is a face to face competing only against one other person and was told that I was the lead candidate and that they were very excited about me. Now this job has a salary at almost six figures. The other day I had gotten a call from another job and received an offer ( salary begins at mid 30’s plus commission). Knowing that I had yet to receive an offer from my dream job I accepted. I have rejected other offers so now it is just down to company A and B. Here is where I run into an issue. I leave for training in about a week. I have since mentioned to my dream job that I received an offer and have a week deadline before I make a final decision. I also told her that I see her company as a better fit and is preferred; in addition I am willing to try to risk asking for additional time if that is what they need and that they just needed to let me know. She advised that she will see how she can speed things up since I am at the “top of the pile”. I have not heard word in two days and am very nervous since I would like to reject the offer by next Friday before I actually officially begin work out of respect for the other company. I am not sure if I should call and follow up. So far I have always allowed them to call me but the clock is ticking. I am so stressed out and would love this job- it is literally the opportunity of a lifetime! Should I just wait it out, or follow up after the weekend (which would be 5 days or three business days) since I am on a time crunch. I am trying to make sure that I give the other company enough time to go to the next candidate and have already decided to reimburse them for the plane ticket to try to “mend the bridge” so to speak if it comes down to having to choose. I feel like this dream job is one worth fighting for but I don’t want to be pushy either. What should I do?
I recommend following up Monday afternoon with the company you have not heard from and let them know that you understand that you would not expect them to be able to rush a decision based on their timeline — but that you remain interested in working with them but should let the other employer know by Friday…
You are doing a great job overall by letting your first choice employer know what is happening in the process.
Good luck,
Chandlee
HI! I had interview with one of the banks in South Africa on 13/04/12 for a position as Sales Consultant i filled up some forms and i attached my id copy and matric copy then my interviewer told me that they will call after two weeks because they have to check my credit record now is already four weeks does this means i was not a perfect candidate for a job ? Can i contact them or not it will show them that i am not pro.