Should you follow up after an interview?
July 30, 2007 By: almostgotit Category: Uncategorized, confusion, interviewing“You’ve been to your interview, you’ve waited patiently, but you haven’t heard from the interviewer. You need to make the follow-up call.” – Carolyn Silvey, VP, Staffing Solutions
Careerbuilder.com suggests waiting a week to 10 days before following up, giving the company time to complete any other interviews and wrap up other business related to the hiring situation. If one hasn’t heard from the company after that, so the reasoning goes, it is time to make contact (by phone or email) to indicate one is still interested in the job and to determine if the position has already been filled. At the same time, one is also supposed not to be intrusive or annoying.
In my opinion? Any phone call initiated by a candidate at this point will probably be both intrusive and annoying.
Whether the company hasn’t been able, or hasn’t bothered to call a candidate after an extended period of time, (e.g., THREE WEEKS) it’s a good bet that either someone else got the job, or else something has gone wrong. And if the latter, it’s hard to imagine that it could be in the candidate’s best interest to inject herself or himself into the mix. If the problem is at the company’s end, for instance, it may be that
- · Other overwhelming or urgent business, possibly unexpected, has forced the search committee to put this particular item of company business on a slower time table.
- · If a company is heavily bureaucratic or politicized, or where finances are tight, the hiring process itself may have become enmired in complications and extensions. (Can you say “UNIVERSITY?”)
If, on the other hand, there is nothing wrong at the company’s end (other than appallingly bad manners!), and provided they haven’t already filled the position with someone else, the only logical possibility that remains is that they haven’t seen their ideal candidate yet. And if that is the case, either
- · Everything (and everyone) has been put on hold while waiting to see if that Spectacular Someone (S.S.) will show up… and only if S.S. does not will one of the lesser candidates be called up out of the bullpen. -or-
- · All candidates, whether they knew it or not, have been participating in a single-elimination contest with no decisive end in view, save that unknown future point when the S.S. shows up, a hire is finally made, and the search is officially declared “closed.”
In my own case — and you knew this was all about me, right? — I really can’t make heads or tails of it, and it’s officially been three weeks since my interview, with all offers and negotiating to have been done, hopefully, so that the job could begin by August 1.
If this were any other organization, I’d assume my chances at this point were nil. But this isn’t any other organization. This is The Institution Which Shall Not Be Named, which follows no rules I’ve ever heard about, ever, anywhere. And the August 1st date was presented to me as the most optimistic, and would have been so even had they offered the job to me on the spot three weeks ago. This being the T.I.T.S.N.B, after all.
However, another (though much less lucrative) job possibility has come up this week. Therefore, it would be nice to know where I stand this time ’round with T.I.T.S.N.B., and as they never have followed any of the standard business conventions, and likely never will, it looks like I’ll have to improvise a little.
July 31st, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Love reading your posts. And you know how I love to share stories, so…
Last year I interviewed in APRIL for a job at a major university in another city. I thought the interview went great (and I sent everyone a short sweet thank you), but by the end of June I hadn’t heard anything. So…assuming I had nothing to lose anyway…I contacted the man who would have been my boss and told him that, while I was sorry not to have heard from him and must assume that meant I was not their top choice, I really enjoyed everyone I interviewed with and hoped they would consider me for something if it opened up in the future. I got a quick note back from the man apologizing and saying they hadn’t decided anything yet because of some unexpected new projects. Again, I answered politely and encouragingly. And then I heard more nothing. Oh well. At least I tried. No harm no foul. I figured whatever is is and if I’m not the right fit then all the better for me not to get the job. Then, in mid-September, I got a call to arrange for a flight to the campus to meet the whole team and spend some time there. Turns out I was the top candidate all along. (Got this scoop from someone I know who works there.) So…ya never know. As my friend Richard says “No news is no news.” In my opinion, it pays to treat it as a live possibility until the whole story is finished. The universe senses our vibes. And anyway…there’s always time to curse people later. (-;
Good luck finding the job that deserves to get you!
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Of course, I’m clinging to these supportive comments like crazy this afternoon. Thank you! Unfortunately, in this case I was not the top candidate. After my very polite email last week received no reply (”I’m back from vacation, happy to provide anything else I wasn’t able or didn’t think to bring to my VERY LAST-MINUTE, LEAVING FOR AIRPORT IN ONE HOUR interview…”) I sent another yesterday which also met radio silence (”terribly, terribly sorry to bother you, but I’m still interested and have you filled the position or any idea of a time frame at this point? Hate to even bring it up, but I’ve got something else on the table…”) So finally I called today. They have offered the job to someone else, but were reluctant to let me know as it’s not gone through all the paperwork pipelines etc. (which, had I not called, might well have left me in the dark for several MORE weeks/months. Which, I should add, is NOT the way universities handle interviews and job offers with FACULTY members…)
It might have turned out otherwise, though, and it’s good to have your reminder that things are live until definitively dead. (shall we claim co-authorship of that one, do you think?)
(& dare I ask what happened after your Sept. interview?)
August 5th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Hmmm, I actually think a quick, polite follow-up can be a good thing. When I’m hiring for a position, candidates who follow up after an interview reinforce their interest in the position — and in a close contest between two candidates, obvious interest in and enthusiasm for the position counts for a lot.
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Thanks for commenting!
And I did decide, after all, to send a follow-up email. And, when it wasn’t answered, I went even further and made a phone call. I should add that this was *not* the standard, obligatory, follow-up-immediately-after-an-interview, in which one thanks the interviewers for their time and interest and re-emphasized one’s interest. This one was three weeks later, when there had been no word. Which was indeed, as I strongly suspected, because they had already offered the job to someone else.
But if they hadn’t made *any* offers after three weeks, my contention is that they might well resent being bothered (if they are really that busy) or being reminded that they’d left all of hanging for much longer than best-practice requires… and guilt manifests, often, as irritation — with me, the candidate, as its source.
And what if there is a negotiation with another candidate underway, one which hasn’t yet resolved to the point that the company feels it can inform the other candidates? Hmmm indeed… does it help to push them into saying “no” before they’re strictly ready to do so? Or can there still be any other benefit to the rejected candidate to make contact at this point? This was my other concern.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:44 am
I think you might be being too cautious about it. If I haven’t rejected a candidate and they’re still in the running — even if I’m *more* interested in another candidate — I don’t resent being bothered by a short, friendly reiteration of their interest and it’s definitely not going to push me into saying “no” if I wouldn’t otherwise be saying that. Hiring managers know it’s nerve-wracking to be on the candidate’s side of thing (we’ve been there ourselves, after all), and I can promise you that many, many candidates do this sort of follow-up, so it doesn’t come across as inappropriate; enough people do it that it’s a not unexpected part of the process.
Of course, that assumes the candidate is being relatively low-key in the follow-up. For me, I prefer it when it’s done by email rather than phone (less of an interruption and I can respond when it’s convenience for me). Something like this is perfect: “I realize these processes can take time, but I just wanted to check in and reiterate my interest. Please let me know if there’s any additional information I can provide you with as you’re making your decision.”
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Thank you kindly!