Don't Stop Job Hunting Just Yet ...
It's tempting to halt a job search when an interviewer gives every indication that the company is about to make an offer ... after checking one last thing. It's that one last thing that does many job seekers in. For whatever reason, they don't get the jobs they thought were "in the bag." That's why Susan Adams, in her article, When They Don't Call to Offer You the Job," recommends sticking with a job search until a concrete offer has been made.
A concrete job offer is either a written offer or the employees' first day of work, filling out all the necessary papers for HR and the payroll department. As long as there's even a hint of doubt, a job seeker should continue looking. But that doesn't mean that following up to find out how the hiring process is progressing is a bad idea.
The most important thing to remember about following up with a potential employer is to make sure that persistence doesn't become pestering.
Following up with an interviewer from a small company might be easier than it is with a larger company. After the initial thank you letter, sent after the first interview (that's if there was more than one interview), it's a good idea to send an email to check on the status of the hiring process and to offer any help. If the interviewer doesn't reply, Adams suggests sending an email once a week until either a response is received or another job offer comes through.
Phoning is tricky because it's difficult to know when someone is going to be available. His assistant is a good source of this kind of information and a relationship with him or her should be established early on. Of course, it's a good idea to avoid pestering the assistant, too. Another effective technique is to keep calling back, without leaving any messages, until the interviewer is reached.
Looking for a new job is stressful under any circumstances, but nothing is more nerve wracking than to interview for a desirable job, receive every indication that the company is about to make an offer, then hear nothing. That's why so many career coaches agree with Adams that job seekers should never stop searching until job offers are made in writing or until they're actually sitting in cubicles or training classes. But while they wait, it's all right for them to tactfully follow up with interviewers in the companies where they would most like to work.
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