It’s that uncomfortable, nervous period that starts immediately after a job interview ends. Unfortunately, the tension doesn’t always get a quick resolution. After all the build-up and anticipation, all the preparation and worry, all the discussion and conversation, often the result is…nothing. No call. No email. Now what?
It’s a tricky topic, figuring out when and how to follow up in the wake of an interview. Often, you’ve barely finished the walk from the interview room to the reception area, before you start thinking, “how long should I wait before following up?”
There are many conflicting goals in mind. You want to reiterate your interest and cement the connections you made during the interview. However, you don’t want to seem overly eager and ruin any hope you have for bargaining leverage. Or worse, come on so strong that you punt away what could have been a real opportunity.
With all those potential complications, here are some steps to take when considering your interview follow up:
Wait a Sufficient Amount of Time
Your first concern is to time your response properly. Again, you don’t want to come off as overeager. As such, don’t give into the temptation to punch out a follow up to on your phone as you walk back to your car. Instead, send a quick “thank you” in the next day or so, and then wait for a response. If you don’t hear something in a week or so, you can begin contemplating a further strategy, depending on the specific situation.
Find Someone Specific to Contact
An email to a generic HR account is easy to ignore. Instead, you want to send your follow-up to someone specific. You should isolate an individual that you can contact directly. Ideally, it would be somebody that you’ve had some contact with, either the person who helped schedule the interview or one of the main people present during the meeting.
Be careful, though. You want to keep the hierarchy in mind. Aim too low, and any response you get will be meaningless. However, aim too high, and you might get ignored. Bottom line: put some thought and research into the right person to contact.
Stay Concise
The people running your job search probably deal with a large number of applicants. Even at the interview stage, dozens of candidates might still be in the running. As such, don’t waste their time. When you craft an interview follow up, get to the point as quickly as possible. Your goal is to keep your name on their minds, and maybe spark a two-way communication. Focus on those objectives, and don’t try to accomplish too much.
Take an Appropriate Tone
Along with timing, tone presents the trickiest aspect of an interview follow-up. Try being too familiar, and you might end up alienating the person. However, you don’t want it to seem like a form email. You want to find something in the middle: personable and memorable, yet but still respectful and professional.
To do this, you need to take some time to craft a response, choosing your words carefully, and honing your pitch. In other words, don’t just dash off a quick message. Put some effort and thought into the precise wording.
Don’t Get Hung Up on One Job
Desperation is hard to hide. Again, you don’t want to come on too strong. Guard against this by not getting overly invested in any single opportunity. Even if a position seems perfect for you, and the interview went as well as it could, don’t focus exclusively on that job. Keep pressing forward with other open positions. The additional options will help you to stay rational about your preferred target.
Work with Qualified Staffing
Knowing exactly how to handle every situation in a job search is impossible. However, it gets easier when you have expert advice at your disposal. A reliable recruiting partner, like Qualified Staffing, can help you navigate the job-search minefield, and end up in the best possible position for you.
Contact Qualified Staffing today to find out more.