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I have been thinking about switching careers from a junior role in academia to private sector, and got into contact with a senior guy at a tech company I really like. We had an information interview which went well; I think I convinced him that my backgrounds and relevant experiences are more than qualified. He prompted my CV to the company's internal recruiter, and asked the recruiter to put me into the standard interview pipeline. But the recruiter has not followed up so far in 3 days, so I wonder about several things: Is it because the recruiter think that I do not qualify? Should I follow up with either or both of them at all? When following up, what is the most appropriate thing to say in the message? I feel it is kind of odd when an internal recruiter does not respond to a qualified internal referral, so should I follow up with the senior guy or/and the recruiter at all to find out what happened? How can I maximize my chance of getting an interview with this company, in the most professional way?

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    You're in academia and think if something doesn't get done in 3 days it's time to hit the panick button?
    – user8365
    Jun 5, 2014 at 10:37
  • Yes, you have to realize that recruiters often are managing hundreds of contacts and don't always get back to you immediately. It is also possible the recruiter is on vacation or that the "standard interview pipeline" at the company in question takes a long time. Generally, the larger the company, the longer it takes for them to hire.
    – Christopher Barber
    Jun 9, 2014 at 4:10

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In addition to thank-you email ass suggested by @Wren you may consider also asking your contact person in the company about customary timeline for hiring in that company. Quite likely it is weeks not days.

Did your contact person suggested to apply for a particular position (which should progress faster), or just apply in general? Quite often newly opened positions are visible on company intranet for first few weeks to internal candidates only, so you may ask your contact person to do that, if you feel comfortable asking for such favor.

Also, if such 'soon-to-be-public" position does exist, and you are comfortable asking for it, you may ask your contact person more info about the position, department and hiring manager. Your goal should be to update and customize your resume, to highlight skills/experience relevant to the target position. No lies or cheating, just put your best foot forward, so people reading it do not have to guess, and your resume uses language/terminology they use internally.

The more customized is your resume for the position, the better chance you have. But again, no lies or cheating.

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I would say a thank you e-mail would be in order for the person you met with, if you haven't already done so. If you have, then only the last line of this answer relates to you.

Thank him for the meeting, perhaps reiterate your strengths in relation to the company's work in a way that shows that you would be a good fit, without saying it (show it, don't tell it). I'm not wholly sure how things work with recruiters (I have never worked with one), but perhaps a line about looking forward to hearing from said recruiter is also appropriate.

Then move on and look at other potential companies. If this company is truly interested, they will be in touch.

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I would suggest waiting out for at least a week before you follow up with the recruiter directly!

I am in the process of applying to jobs too and through experience I learned that if I tried following up with someone too early, they started considering me to be a pest. So I changed my strategies and now they are nicer!

Hope that help pal!

Cheers and goodluck, may both of us get what we are looking for!

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