Ask the Experts: When and How to Follow-up After Submitting a Resume
Question:
After submitting my resume to an employer, should I follow-up? If so, how and when should I follow-up? What if I found their ad on a job board and the
ad just had an apply button and no contact information?
First Answer:
Always, always follow-up on resumes that you send. If you have a name and phone number, I would follow-up by phone. Something like this might work:
“Hi, Mr.__________. My name is ___________________ and I submitted my
resume for the position of ___________________ by mail last week. I was
calling to see if you received it yet? When do you plan on making a
decision on who to interview? Thank you so much for your time.
The conversation should be brief and to the point. Many times employers take much longer to review resumes and set up interview appointments than
we want them to. You can follow-up on your resume every 7-10 days until
you know the job has been filled. Of course, there will be some instances
where you do not have the information to follow up. There is nothing you
can do about those.
— Linda Wyatt, Career Center Director, Kansas City Kansas Community College
Second Answer:
Assume that the employer is getting plenty of resumes, and give him or her time to respond. The amount of time you might want to give will vary. If you have applied for a very specific position that only a select few could fill, expect to be contacted within a week to ten days, but if you’ve applied for a very generic position or to a box or blind ad, or a popular job board, it might be several weeks to a month before you hear anything (if you ever do).
When you are ready to follow up, take the in-person approachif you can, and call to ask the status of your application and the interview process. If there isn’t any way to get the phone number or the specific person to contact, at least follow up in a week to ten days with a brief note to the same place you applied. Email is ok if a name and contact email was included in the posting or ad. If you use an online form where there isn’t any contact information, hopefully you at least know the company at which you applied, and perhaps, the department or job title. A little sleuthing( by phone) should help you identify the person who is handling the search. If you don’t get a response, follow-up in a week to ten days with a print version of your resume and cover letter, sent by regular mail. Wait about a week and then call (or send a brief note) asking if your resume has been received. Don’t forget to mention what job you’ve applied for, and when, along with a few lines about your skills.
If you still don’t get a response, send another letter or email and be sure to include a copy of your resume with this one, too. Restate what you’ve applied for, and when. Make it clear that after several attempts to contact the company, you’re trying one last time (because you’re really interested in the job but must no consider other offers).
If you don’t get any response after all of this, it’s safe to assume you’re not going to get an interview, but at least you can be assured you did everything in your power to “make it happen.” Next time, it will!
— Alison Blackman Dunham, life & career expert, columnist, personal public relations consultant, half of THE ADVICE SISTERS®, and the author of the ASK ALISON career advice column
Third Answer:
Follow-up is essential not only because you need to be proactive in finding new opportunities and not expect them to come to you, but also because it demonstrates to a prospective employer that you have what it takes to be successful. You are motivated, you follow through on assignments, you take initiative, you are sincerely interested in them and not just submitting resumes all over the map.
If you don’t have contact information then it is even more of an impression you will make on a potential employer if you are clever enough to figure out how they can be reached!! Good luck and with the insights you are demonstrating, I feel confident that you will have lots of success in your career endeavors.
— Debra Feldman, founder of JobWhiz, creator of the JOBWHIZQUIZ, and specialist in cyber savvy strategic job search consultations
Fourth Answer:
The traditional rules of job-hunting have dictated that, yes, you should definitely follow up after sending out a resume. Follow-up shows your
assertiveness, and even more important, your enthusiasm for the job.
Job-seekers who have followed up have always been more likely to get
interviews than those who haven’t.
There is a sense, however, that the rules of job-hunting have changed a bit with the growth of Internet job-searching. Many employers, indeed,
have made it a lot more difficult for job-seekers to follow up by
providing no contact information. That’s because the ease of applying
for jobs over the Internet has meant that employers are inundated with
resumes and are simply not equipped to handle follow-up calls.
I still believe, however, that as long as there is a shred of contact information, you should at least try to follow up. For example, if the company
name is given, you can always track down contact information for the company,
call up to find out the name of the hiring manager for the position, and
contact that person to follow up. If no contact information except
an e-mail address is given, you can at least send a follow-up e-mail
to the same address to which you sent your resume.
You might also want to ask yourself if you really want to apply to job postings where there’s no possibility of following up. It’s a little
like sending your resume off into limbo. You may be better off with a
more targeted job search in which you know what companies you’re
applying to and can definitely follow up.
— Katharine Hansen, former speechwriter and college instructor who provides content for the Web site, Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and prepares job-search correspondence as chief writer for Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters
Fifth Answer:
WARNING:
ONLY DO THIS IF YOU WANT TO BEAT YOUR COMPETITION:
Absolutely you should follow up. I recommend that you follow up with a phone call and an email within 24 hours. Again three days later. Make sure you
mention the job listing and the source of the listing.
If the company does not have a contact number, look up the company on the web and use the contact information provided. When you reach the company
please ask to speak to the person in charge of this job opening. You will
most likely be directed to Human Resources, but don’t stop there. Ask
Questions..Ask Questions..Ask Questions. Find out who you would report to
and contact them..via phone message or email. When you leave the massage
mention the job order and tailor your 90 second commercial to the specifics
of the job listing. Yes, this is work, but these activities will separate
you from the pack.
Good luck hunting!
— Pat Riley, Founder, 10 Abbott Street and PharmaceuticalInterviewQuestions.com
Sixth Answer:
Imagine the word ‘No’ written in four feet high letters. That’s the quick answer. The longer version is ‘Hell, no.”
Hiring managers and HR folks have a hard enough task filtering through dozens of inappropriate resumes, trying to find the occasional correct fit
for the position they’ve posted, without having to constantly field calls
from applicants wanting to know if the postal service did its job. Trust
me – it generally does, and if an employer wanted to see you they’d get in
touch. So, please, never be a pest and follow up on a resume, except in the
following circumstances:
- if you submitted your resume through a friend who works in the company already, have them drop a casual enquiry as to what’s happened to it;
- if you’ve been submitted through a headhunter – bug the headhunter;
- if you were specifically invited to submit your resume and don’t hear back within a week or so, then it’s okay to call;
Rather than spend your energy after the event, make sure your resume is really on the mark. There are many good articles on resume preparation and
writing on this site, but my three point check list is:
- Research the company so you understand not just what the job is about but whether the organization’s mission, values and culture are in line with
your own personality and preferred way of working (being a creative free
spirit in a buttoned-down, botton-line obsessed company is a recipe for
disaster!). - Your opening summary should demonstrate that your personal mission, values and way of working are in alignment with those of the organization.
This is about WHO you are and WHY you are a perfect match for that business. - Make every key accomplishment that you highlight on your resume relate to a specific requirement of the job you’re applying for. For example, if
it’s a sales position, use illustrations of projects where you’ve used sales
skills and achieved quantifiable results. If being a team player is a key
component of the job, make sure to include details of teams that you’ve been
involved with where you’ve played a measurable role in their success. If
the position you want involves interacting with many different kinds of
internal and external customers, then highlight occasions when you’ve had
experience working or dealing with people from different backgrounds or
cultures to you. This is the WHAT, WHEN and WHERE of your expertise and
should always be ‘spun’ to appeal to whoever is receiving it.
— Liz Simpson, motivational speaker, workshop leader, author, journalist, and forum panelist.
