5

I went for an interview September 8, I thought it went really well. I forgot to ask what the next steps of the hiring process are; I usually ask this so I get a timeline. When I got home that day, I sent a thank you email and also a follow up answer regarding a question they asked on the interview. They didn't reply to that.

How long should wait before I follow up on them? I was thinking tomorrow (Monday) but is that too early? On the job posting, they closed applications at Aug 28th. I'm guessing they're still not done interviewing a lot of candidates.

Improve this question
3
  • What country and industry?
    – Fattie
    Sep 17 at 22:54
  • @Fattie Australia, media industry
    – itsmaluma
    Sep 18 at 7:46
  • A good combo! Absolutely no problem following up mate - as others have said - indeed just phon ethem
    – Fattie
    Sep 18 at 10:55

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
8

There's no harm in asking or follow up. You can definitely shoot an email on Monday, to see if they have any update for you, however, if you have a phone number for a contact person, I'd advise to call them directly and politely request for an update or a timeline for response. An email, over and above, does not hurt.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    And the obligatory "An interview works both ways, it also allows you to interview them". Not saying their communication is a red flag, but it's worthy of a raised eyebrow
    – Martijn
    Sep 18 at 8:12
4

A phone call is a much better approach than sending an email, hands down. Your application might have been swept into a large pile of applications for the position you applied for, PLUS other open positions all happening at the same time. People take time off, or get sidetracked. There are myriad reasons that could have nothing to do with you personally.

Rather than end up in a list of emails that someone will get to "eventually", move yourself to the top of the list and make a phone call to get more immediate attention on your status and next steps.

Improve this answer
1

It's kind of too late now, but a week (5 days) is the absolute maximum I would wait if I was interested, and even less if I was keen. The longer you leave it, the less eager you will seem to be to them, even if they ignored emails. Also, ring them. email is too passive for something like this and also lacks any nuances of tone you get when speaking on the phone. Good luck!

Improve this answer
-1

I have hired people. I am not an HR person, I am the one who would be your manager if I hired you. I know other hirers who feel the same way as I do which is this: please stop emailing every few days to tell us you still want the job and ask if we have decided. Please.

There is just no universe in which I have decided who to hire, I have all my ducks in a row to make them an offer, but I can't be bothered to tell them. There is also no universe in which I was going to spend today catching up on some of the work I set aside while interviewing, but then an email asking if I had decided yet made me change my plan for the day and go back to deciding who to hire. This just isn't how most hirers work.

What there is, is some or all of this:

  • I can't put any time into the hiring thing today. I have to catch up on other stuff (this may go on for a few days depending on the size of the company and the reason they are hiring, it might happen that all the interviewing and deciding is happening in a lull, but that's the rare exception.)
  • What little time I have for the hiring thing today is going to interviews, or to meeting with my colleagues to talk about who we might hire. We haven't decided because deciding takes time and work.
  • I am waiting on something related to the hiring process (reference checking, an answer about visas or work permits for my top choice, a budget bump for my top choice, whatever) and nothing can move forward until I get that.
  • I have made someone an offer and am waiting to see if they accept it.

I am not going to tell my second choice that they are my second choice: if the top choice can't or won't accept the offer, or it turns out I can't make that offer, then I will be offering to the second choice (typically quite happily). So if I am blocked on any of these things, there's nothing I can tell you and nothing you can do to unblock me either.

Well, that's not true. If you phone me, after you already emailed me, and especially if you phone me twice, I'm not going to hire you. You are showing that your nervousness and desire to know if you're getting the job or not is more important than my time and the other things I need to do today. You're kind of low-key accusing me also of lying: "I know you said you'd get back to me when there was an update but I'm sure there must have been an update by now so I'm calling you, because I can't wait until whatever time you might choose to contact me." There may be firms that can hire people who will do that, but I can't. I know being patient is hard. But demonstrating your impatience with multiple emails a week or with multiple voice calls is a way to show me what you would be like to work with, and for me it is not a good preview of the experience.

I know, other people said you should call and you should show you're keen and you should remind them how great you are and all that. But I swear, I have never -- and no-one I chat to has ever -- been ready to make someone an offer but then said "well, I dunno, maybe not, I mean most people send 3 emails by now and call twice, this candidate is patiently waiting for our decision, maybe they don't want the job as much as some others?" Never.

Improve this answer
1
  • This really sounds like a rant.
    – Xavier J
    Sep 21 at 20:17

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .