In a recent exchange of comments on How to Tell If a Job Interview Went Well, the subject of how soon and how often to call an employer after the interview came up. One of my wonderful readers, CE (who recently got a job herself), was helping comfort someone anxiously waiting to hear whether she got the job.
Speaking specifically to the question of how often to call, CE wrote:
I once got a job because the hiring manager said they would hire me if I quit calling them all the time. They said I was persistent, and they hired me! While I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone, I would recommend that you call the prospective employer back to check on the status. Anyone else agree with this or do you have another opinion?
Glad you asked, CE. I covered this a while back in After an Interview: Can Weekly Follow Up Calls and Emails Help Get You the Job? But since this question comes up so often, I figured it was worth discussing post-interview follow-ups again in a new post.
What You Need to Know about Post-Interview Follow Ups
Here’s a quick summary of salient points I hope will help ease at least some of the waiting pain:
- Thank you notes are a great first follow-up step. While I have hired folks who never sent one, it is a good positive initial follow-up contact and leaves a nice impression. (Although there was one time when it didn’t.)
- Show you have patience and professionalism by waiting at least a week – or better yet two (depending on the type of job) – before you follow-up after the thank you note.
- When you do follow up, make it short and sweet unless you have something new and relevant to add – and keep that short too.
- Some of the very folks you are waiting to hear back from get over a hundred e-mails a day – many requiring immediate action – so if they don’t respond right away (or at all)…it’s NOT about you.
- Some companies take weeks just to interview the first round of candidates – plus there are internal decision-making processes that take lots of time.
- Some companies have policies about not responding at all to follow-up contacts (there are legal implications such as when responses are misconstrued by the candidate), and so these companies wait instead until an offer was made and accepted. Again this is not about YOU.
- After the thank you and additional follow-up, wait at least 2 weeks before checking your status again – unless they tell you to call on a specific date or to just wait until they get back to you.
- If there is even a chance you might get the job, the employer remembers you – really! If there’s no chance…no amount of calling will help, and it may hurt your chances next time there’s an opening. So please resist trying to remind them every few days. There’s a fine line between persistence and stalking!
Hope that helps. Feel free to add your own thoughts about follow-up frequency. And thanks again CE and all my other readers who so kindly pitch in to help those with the post-interview OCD blues.
And last but definitely not least…congratulations on your new job CE! I’m happy to report she’s not the only reader who has recently gotten a job. There is indeed light at the end of the long interview tunnel! 
Posts to read while waiting to get that post-interview call:
How to Tell If a Job Interview Went Well
After the Job Interview: Why Haven’t They Called Me Yet?
Stuck in the Waiting Game After 2nd Interview
12 Ways to Stay Sane After a Job Interview
I Got the Post-Interview Temporary OCD Blues
Hello
I interviewed with a company on Jan 23. The interview seemed to go well. Followed up with a thank you not on thursday so they would get it that friday. I emailed them on Jan 31 to see where they were in the hiring process.
I got a response the same day saying:
The feedback that I heard on your interview was that it went really well and that you are very smart and they did like you but their only concern was that you may not have as much experience as they are looking for in filling this particular position.
The job was asking for a 4 year degree and I am about to finish my masters. I dont want to push to much on this and am not sure of a proper time frame to reconnect with my hr contact.
Any advice?
Hi Christopher,
Hmmm… Interesting situation. The good news is that they like you and think you are smart. Smart people catch on to things quickly, making the lack of experience not such a big deal, unless we are talking many years of experience (5 or more).
I think that tomorrow, the 8th, could be a good time to try reconnecting, since it will officially be “over a week” since your last contact with them. If possible, connect by phone with your HR contact to see what is going on.
If they haven’t hired someone else but are still hesitating about hiring you, ask about alternatives they might offer or consider. The conversation could be quite interesting and informative.
Before you call, think about options you could offer if they don’t have any alternatives, like:
* Early performance reviews, like every month or every 3 months, with specific and achievable goals for you to accomplish. These will keep you on course, and show them you can do the job.
* A 6-month (or 3-month or ??) contract to see if your perceived “lack of experience” is really an issue. Not ideal, but income for you and no gap in your resume.
* Perhaps a lower-level job and/or lower salary with a 3-month (or 6-month) mandatory review with a promotion and salary increase based upon hitting specific (achievable!) goals. Maybe make the promotion and/or salary increase retro-active, if all went well? Kind of a high-risk strategy, but…
* Some sort of paid – NOT free! – qualification test (bring in a new client or complete a sub-set of a larger project or whatever is relevant).
* Additional references who could attest to your qualifications.
* Any paper or other research you have done during the course of your schooling which could demonstrate your depth of knowledge.
* Anything else you can think of.
Or, hold your ground, and see if they will decide you are worth the risk.
It could mean that this employer would be a stepping stone to the next employer where the job would be at the right level and salary, after you finish your master’s degree. Which, unfortunately, means another job search in a year or two.
I’m not sure what the best idea is in this situation, frankly. Keep looking to see if there is a better fit for you out there.
Good luck!
Susan
Hi there-
Like many of the viewers here, I am stuck in the treacherous “waiting game” post-interview. I have had two interviews so far. Job #1 interview was January 12th. It went well, very well. I was told I fit what they wanted. One of the two guys interviewing me said I would probably be their candidate. However, I was the first person to be interviewed for the position. I live nearby, so not bad of a commute (which was made aware to them). The other guy was someone I’d be working with and he happened to be a graduate of the same college as myself. I felt there were those good connections made, but I still have not heard (after sending their HR a forward-along TY email and follow-up email a week after that). I know I was the first candidate to be interviewed, so it will take a bit of time, but I’d love some feedback, especially after such a promising interview.
Job #2 interview was January 17th. It also went very well. I was interviewed by 3 people, at the same time. They are a smaller company than job #1. The position is for a job I feel I fit the qualifications for, but they are working on developing a solid idea for the project they need this candidate to work on. Not to mention I live five minutes away (which they were made aware of). I was made aware that they had already been interviewing other people, but same as job #1, not sure when they were going to have a decision made by and when they would finish their interviewing process. I was not given a timeline. I was given a tour of the factory inside the building/office and was given the low-down on everything. I piped in with ideas and relevant comments to build convo and to show I had the familiarity and knowledge. After the interview was over, one of the three guys who was interviewing me stopped to talk with me more at the door, and we spoke back and forth for what felt like a solid 5-8 minutes, before actually parting ways. The main guy said he would email me some questions after the interview, but didn’t say when. I still have heard not a peep from the company, even after sending a TY email and a follow-up email expressing my continued interest a week after sending that. I felt such a great connection with this job but I have heard nothing whatsoever from them since the interview.
I am trying my hardest to fight off the feelings of hopelessness and telling myself that the hiring process can take time and patience. I have recently graduated from graduate school, moved back to my home state (NY) and am looking for my first professional job venture. I have a lot of talent and enthusiasm and I can’t wait to start putting my talents to work. These jobs I’ve interviewed for are looking for someone “entry level,” so I’m not running out of my league, but I understand someone with no professional experience yet can be scary. But I am always “myself” in my interviews and they understand I have to begin somewhere.
What I don’t understand is why, after such a positive experience, I feel like I get the silent treatment. I hope they haven’t forgotten about me, and are still considering me.
I am headed to an interview at job #3 today, we’ll see how it goes. Overall, though, I am gunning for job #2. It is close to home, and would be the best use of my talents and had a great atmosphere.
This site has been a great resource to help calm myself down. I realize this sort of thing happens more often than we might like, and I am not alone in this fight!
Hi Diana,
You are definitely NOT alone in this fight! Everyone goes through it!
It sounds like you are doing everything you should be doing in interviews. The positive experiences you are having are VERY good signs, and the fact that you have interviewed for 3 different jobs in less than 1 month is excellent. That’s a great “batting average” that many would be very pleased to have! So, you are really doing very well, even if it might not feel that way.
On the other side of this experience, hiring someone is a scary thing to do, so it always takes more time than most job seekers feel is necessary. People need to do their jobs every day in addition to interviewing, discussing, and trying to figure out who would be the best person for the job. Then, people get sick, go on vacation, get tasked with some sort of “emergency” job, and many more things. It all takes far too long, and none of it has anything to do with you, personally, or your qualifications!
My recommendation would be, if you can, to call the HR people or your other main contact at each job. Sometimes emails do not get through, and sometimes they do get through, but get “lost” in inboxes too full of urgent messages. So try reaching out with a phone call and ask what is going on.
Don’t sound too discouraged. Don’t sound angry. Do remind them of your name, the job you interviewed for, the date you interviewed, and who spoke with you.
Then, politely ask them the status of that job. If the job is still open, ask them when they think they will call people in for a second round of interviews, and what will be next after that in their process. See if you can get information about how you stand in the competition. Ask for permission to call again in a week (or whatever seems appropriate giving what they’ve already shared with you).
Don’t give up, and don’t lose hope. You are doing VERY well, and you will land a job soon!
Good luck!
Susan