Ask the Experts: When to Follow-up After Applying for a Job
Question:
I am applying on-line to job openings. I’ve been told to follow-up to make sure that the employers have received my application and that I should either use the contact information in the job posting ad or, if there is none, to find their corporate web site and contact them through that. My question is one of timing: how many days after applying should I follow-up?
First Answer:
Been told by whom? Lots of people have “been told” about the “right” ways to conduct a job search. There are books that tout skydiving and services that will practically jump out of the plane for you if you pay them enough (hope you can you see through my metaphors).
When I was directing staffing, I would talk to walk-ins and call-ins…building relationships was one of the elements of my job. Frankly, I didn’t care whether the person had just sent in the resume and was checking to see if I had received and read it. I would let them know about the process and promise to get back to them by a certain time. If I had time, I’d conduct a mini-interview.
So how long should you wait? How comfortable are you knowing that many recruiters easily misread resumes and don’t give candidates a fair review? Personally, I’d call two days after submitting the application. However, write down what you want to say before the call – pretend your conducting a call-in survey and a respondent’s answer can send the survey down any number of branches. Be prepared to sell yourself, to talk in detail about accomplishments.
Here’s a radical job search tactic – if when calling in, you receive the brush off, ask the following question in a very polite voice, “I can understand how annoying it must be receiving calls like this – you probably receive hundreds each day but if it’s your job to identify talent how can you accomplish this if you won’t speak with me?”
— Steve Levy, Principal of outside-the-box Consulting
Second Answer:
To on-line job openings, if you can find contact information, I would say wait just a week. If you snail-mailed it, wait two. The trick here is to express enthusiasm and tenacity, not annoyance that you haven’t been contacted for an interview yet. If you can call, do so; otherwise email. Your tone is as important as your words:
“I’m calling to confirm you’ve received my application for x job, sent via_______on November __.” If the answer is no, resubmit and try to get the name of the person to whom you are resubmitting; if yes: “Can you tell me the status of your search? I am very interested in and qualified for this position, and eager to contribute to x Firm’s success.”
Some employers and some external recruiters, desperate to reduce the number of candidates they have to choose from, have been known to invite candidates in for an interview just because you called and made it easy for then to do so.
A few employers and recruiters will send icicles through the line to let you know they don’t appreciate your follow-up. If so, move on, or find a way to get to the hiring manager directly-who also may respond positively or negatively to your tactic.
There are no guarantees, but taking some action-so long as it is not confrontational or hostile-is better than hoping you get noticed.
— Carol Anderson, Career Development and Placement Office, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at New School University in New York City
Third Answer:
This is an excellent question. It’s one thing to trust in the back-end software and to be courteously patient. It’s quite
another to be professional as well as demonstrate an active
interest in the opportunity.
Although I did not have an opportunity to do a small survey of some employers as to their reaction to the more aggressive
approach of follow-up calls to confirm receipt of resume
submissions, I can draw on my own aggregated recruiting and
staffing office experience and my own experience of hiring for
my business.
A follow-up confirmation call about one day — at the outside, two — shows the candidate is interested in the opportunity. The
one call was enough to bring the person back to more immediate
attention and a further review. Many times, consideration of a
resume was interrupted by some other issue that needed immediate
care.
The follow-up phone call provides something that the employer or screener wants to have and that is some sense of the real person
who goes with the paper. During the call, some clarifying
questions can be asked, details about one’s background can be
fleshed out a bit more than was done in a few quick phrases in
the cover letter or resume.
There are two things that also happen with an early follow-up call. This is also a prime time to learn more about the details
of the opportunity. If it is a preliminary fit, you are moved up
on the selection list and have a better opportunity to have an
in-person interview sooner than your competition. If the
opportunity is not a fit, you’ve still gained four additional
opportunities:
- You’ve been able to learn more about the company;
- You’ve had an opportunity to do an informal informational interview;
- You’ve made a contact who may be interested in you for some other opportunity that is a closer fit; and
- You’ve had an opportunity to do some networking. No doubt, while talking with the contact, there was some mention of an
organization that specializes in your area of interest or else
some other small nugget of information that will hurry you to
the right door.
So do make a follow-up call about one to two days after submitting your resume. There are a lot of reasons to do it. One
of them is to keep those doors of opportunity and success open!
You may contact me to set up a coaching or counseling schedule if you would like further coaching and career development
advice.
— Yvonne LaRose, career and professional development coach, Career and Executive Recruiting Advice
