Transcript Follow-up on an Interview

Follow-up on an
Interview & not hearing
from a recruiter
Mr. Endicott
Personal Career Planning Class 110
Why should you follow-up on an
interview?
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It is expected
To remind the recruiter
Help them remember you
You will stand out
Keeps your name in front of them
To be proactive
It shows you care
It shows you are interested
If the search drags out they still have your name
Typically you can assume the company hired someone else
within 3-4 weeks from your interview
How do you
follow-up?
• Either via email or a card/letter
• In most cases, they say, an email
is the best way to follow up
after an interview—it's fast, friendly, and unobtrusive, and
doesn't put pressure on the hiring manager to stop
everything they're doing and take your phone call, listen to
your voicemail and call you back, or return a paper letter.
• Within 24-48 hours
• The follow-up should always include: 1) your legitimate and
enthusiastic interest in the job and 2) why you’re best
candidate for the job, including a quick highlight of applicable
experience and skills.
What do you say when you follow-up?
• Show appreciation for the employer's interest in you.
• Reiterate your interest in the position and in the organization.
• Review or remind the employer about your qualifications for
the position. If you thought of something you forgot to
mention in the interview, mention it in your follow-up / thankyou letter.
• Demonstrate that you have good manners and know to write
a thank-you letter.
• Follow up with any information
the employer may have asked you
to provide after the interview.
Send that thank you note/email NOW!
• To view various examples of thank you letters go here• http://www.salisbury.edu/careerservices/students/OtherCar
eerEmails/Default.html
What do you do if you did
poorly on the first interview?
• Make sure you are not overreacting. Ask for feedback on your
interview
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Follow up with the hiring manager/ HR person
Ask what they thought went well/what you could do better
See what kind of response you get
Remember that follow up is also part of the
interview
• Being open to feedback is a sought after
characteristic from employers
• Some may refuse due to company policy
• Be honest and ask for a second chance
• Find folks who work in the company/trusted
colleagues connected to it. Have them act as
supportive references for you
What if you don’t hear from the recruiter?
• Before your interview ended, your interviewer should have
informed you of the organization's follow-up procedures
• If the interviewer did not tell you, and you did not ask, use your
follow-up / thank-you letter to ask.
• If more than a week has passed beyond the date when you were
told you would hear something from the employer, call or email to
politely inquire about the status of the organization's decisionmaking process.
• A polite inquiry shows that you are still interested in the
organization and may prompt the employer to get on schedule with
a response.
• In your inquiry, mention the following: name of the person who
interviewed you, time and place of the interview, position for
which you are applying (if known), and ask the status of your
application.
• Rule of Thumb-email immediately after interview>wait 10 days to
2 weeks and contact again>after 3-4 weeks of contacts it is time to
assume they hired someone else
Why don’t you hear from
recruiters? (By Lisa Rangel-Yahoo small business advisors)
• Corporate HR people and search firm recruiters are middle
men/women
• Most are well-intentioned and want to move candidates through
the process to get the open job off their desk.
• To keep the candidate hopeful, the recruiter says things like “I will
let you know by Friday” or “I am expecting the manager to get back
to me ASAP” with full intent on making that happen. Then the
manager does not get back to the recruiter, leaving the recruiter in
an awkward and frustrated position.
• Some recruiters simply manage the process poorly
• The bottom line is most middlemen/women have little to no control
in the process and often make promises they cannot keep.
Example: “I hope to hear by Friday, but you have to know I have no
control over when they will tell me. If you have not heard from me by
Monday or Tuesday the latest, please feel free to check in with me.
But know that if I hear anything, I will let you know.”
Why don’t they return my emails?
• Hiring managers (or line managers) that are responsible for
pulling the trigger typically have no idea that a
communication deadline was made to the candidate by a
recruiter.
• Also there are hiring managers that know this, but just
frankly do not care. They often do not get back to the
corporate recruiters or the third party recruiter that might be
in between in a timely fashion.
Why don’t you contact me?
• Lastly, but certainly not least, many people have a hard time:
• 1. Giving bad news (the manager chose someone else)
• 2. Saying they were wrong (I am sorry that I said I would have
an answer for you by tomorrow and now that tomorrow is
here and I do not have an answer)
• 3. Saying they have no clue what is going on “I must admit
the manager said this was a priority, so that is why I
communicated urgency to you. I have no idea why they are
now not responding on the next step).
• As a result, with any of these scenarios, many people choose
to just avoid it and never make the phone call or send the
email and focus on other priority jobs.
What about all that time I put in the
application?
• Do not hold on to the results of the actions the recruiter takes
personally.
• Take the actions to move forward during the job search
transition (send emails, do follow-up, go to interviews, apply
for the job, network, etc.) and try not to tie expectations to
each result.
• When you can let go of expectations, you are not often
disappointed and you are then open for other wonderful
things to come into your life.
The moral of this pp is
• Don’t be upset if you do not hear back from an employer
• Don’t take anything in the job search personally-stay positive
and hopeful