By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
How to follow up after an interview
There Are Stories And Then There Are Stories!
The subject of this one is when to follow-up and how to follow up.
There is a pretty common school for that is correct about sending a thank you note immediately after the interview. However, to me, the follow-up really starts at the end of your interview when they are about to wrap it up and they say something like, “any final questions?” Or, you know the interview is ending and 1 of your questions needs to be, “When do you expect to finish this round of interviews?” The can always be a delay but you are getting a sense of their timeline.
“You’re the 1st person were meeting with that we don’t have anyone else scheduled.”
“I understand but when do you expect to be following up on this round?”
Or they might say, “We have 3 or four more people scheduled. We should be done by the end of next week.”
“Terrific. Do you mind if I check back with you after that?”
“No. No problem at all.”
“Great!”
After the interview, send a thank you note that thanks them for making the time to speak with you. Don’t just simply send it to one person for a group. Send it to each individual person who you met with. Tailor it slightly differently for each person. Email it, don’t US mail it. Don’t go to your car, write it out, and delivered back to their reception desk. It seems cheesy.
My suggestion is to get a card from everyone that you meet with as you are finishing up. If they don’t have a card, call reception, call the main number and
indicate that you want to get an email address for someone that you interview with. I’m sure you’ll be able to get it. If not, you can get from LinkedIn or do a Google search. It’s not a big deal.
Send a thank you note to each and once the date approaches, and you haven’t heard anything, I know the convention is to stay in touch by sending an article but like that idea because of her from too many managers who said to me, “Are they sending this to me for? I don’t get this.” It becomes a turnoff to them. That’s obviously not what you want to do.
You get to the point we were expecting to hear (if you are working as a recruiter, contact the recruiter; if your cup working directly with the firm, contact the firm), if the recruiter is in getting back to you. Maybe that’s a single with the firm wasn’t interested or that he or she doesn’t know yet. Give it a day and then contact the firm directly.
When all is said and done, the message that you might lead with is, “Hi! When we met, you indicated that you would be done with your round of interviewing around now. I haven’t heard anything. Have things been delayed at all?”
Wait for them to call back; if they don’t, take it is the signal of rejection because if they were interested, there by trying to keep you warm while the process extended itself.
Again, from a process perspective, find out timeline at the interview, send a thank you note to each person that you met with afterwards, from there, follow-up, not on the day, but the day after they told you that the interview cycle would be done just to check in.
“Hi! I just want to see where you stood on your interviewing has there been a delay?” Then wait for them to call or not. All the while, you continue to interview so that you are not depending on this 1 firm for whether or not you are going to be landing a job.
Using A Surrogate to Follow Up
How to Get More Interviews: Submit a Video with Your Resume
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. He is hired to provide No BS Career Advice globally. That can involve job search, hiring staff, management, leadership, career transition and advice about resolving workplace issues. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 3000 episodes.
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