Should I always reply to potential employer using professional tone/grammar, even when employer replies in casual way?

Question

There is a website which allows job seekers to apply for jobs, and potential employers to chat with the job seeker if they are interested in him.

I had a similar experience with two potential employers over chat, and I am wondering if I did something wrong.

The discussions went on somewhat like this,

employer: Hi John Doe, thanks for applying ..... I would like to speak to you at 2 PM.... Thanks, Jane Smith.

As the employer was using professional email-like style, I too used a similar style and replied with the time that was suitable for me.

After this, in both cases, the employers replied in more casual manner

employer: How about 4PM?

As the employer used casual style, I too replied similarly,

Me: Sure!

After this though, I didn't receive the call from either of the employer. After a day, I replied again, this time using professional style, stating that I was expecting a call from them, but I did not receive any reply.

Did my Sure! reply make them not call me, or I am thinking too much about this?

Note: The website shows the chats in its own web UI, as well as sends the messages over email. As I have had very few employers reply to my applications, I don't have any other experience to compare these incidents with.

Answer 1

I sincerely doubt that your saying "Sure!" motivated them to stop the interview process. The conversation as described seems perfectly reasonable to me.

It's possible that they simply forgot, or that they found a person they wanted to hire and therefore didn't call you because the position was filled. It's also possible that there was some technical difficulty and your phone didn't ring even though they were trying to reach you (this actually happened to me - several times - during the interviews that led to my current job!)

The best thing to do is follow up, as you have already suggested doing. Ask if the position is still open and when would be a good time to re-schedule. Be professional, of course, and avoid any language that might imply you're blaming them for not calling the first time. (Even if it was their fault, that's not helpful.)

Answer 2

You should always be professional, no emojis or CU@4, but that doesn't mean that you need to use a hundred words to say "yes" [1].

You should try to match their tone, and if that is casual professional, then use casual professional.

That said, you might want to include a bit more context than just a "Sure!". Depending upon how the communication actually works, it's possible that when they read your message, they no longer recalled what it was about or mistook it for something else.

[1] An overly verbose response:

Sir, my calendar is free at that time, so I have no personal or business conflicts that would prevent me from attending a 4PM meeting with you. That being the case, I am willing to schedule a meeting with you at the specified date and time. I look forward to our meeting, and optimistically expect a mutually beneficial outcome.

Sincerely yours ....