In a recent exchange of comments on How to Tell If a Job Interview Went Well, the subject of how soon and how often to call an employer after an interview came up. One of my wonderful readers, CE (who recently got a job herself), was helping comfort someone anxiously waiting to hear whether she got the job.
Speaking specifically to the question of how often to call an interviewer or hiring manager post interview, CE wrote:
I once got a job because the hiring manager said they would hire me if I quit calling them all the time. They said I was persistent, and they hired me! While I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone, I would recommend that you call the prospective employer back to check on the status. Anyone else agree with this or do you have another opinion?
Glad you asked, CE. I covered this a while back in After an Interview: Can Weekly Follow Up Calls and Emails Help Get You the Job? But since this question comes up so often, I figured it was worth discussing post-interview follow-ups again in a new post.
About post-interview follow ups
Here’s a quick summary of salient points. I hope they will help ease at least some of the waiting pain. Whether you decide to write or call an employer after an interview, good to know what the hiring manager might be thinking:
- Thank you notes are a great first follow-up step. While I have hired folks who never sent one, it is a good positive initial follow-up contact and leaves a nice impression. (Although it can also leave a bad impression, so be polite and professional.)
- Show you have patience and professionalism by waiting at least a week — or better yet two (depending on the type of job) — before you follow-up after the thank you note.
- When you do follow up, make it short and sweet, unless you have something new and relevant to add. And keep that short too.
- Folks you are waiting to hear back from may get over a hundred e-mails a day — many requiring immediate action. So if they don’t respond to you right away (or at all) … it’s NOT about you.
- Companies can take weeks just to interview the first round of candidates — plus there are internal decision-making processes that take lots of time.
- Some companies have policies about not responding at all to follow-up contacts. There are legal implications such as when responses are misconstrued by the candidate. And so these companies wait instead until an offer was made and accepted. Again this is not about YOU.
- After the thank you and additional follow-up, wait at least 2 weeks before checking your status again. Unless they tell you to call on a specific date. Or to just wait until they get back to you.
- If there is even a chance you might get the job, the employer remembers you – really! If there’s no chance … no amount of calling will help. And it may hurt your chances next time there’s an opening. So please resist trying to remind them every few days. There’s a fine line between persistence and stalking!
A few more thoughts
Hope that helps. Feel free to add your own thoughts about follow-up frequency. And thanks again CE and all my other readers who so kindly pitch in to help those with the post-interview OCD blues.
And last but definitely not least … congratulations on your new job CE! I’m happy to report she’s not the only reader who has recently gotten a job. There is indeed light at the end of the long interview tunnel!
[Post updated in 2020]
Posts to help you
15 Job Search Tips To Help You Get a Job
Please Help Me With My Phone Interview!
How to Tell If a Job Interview Went Well
18 Practical Tips to Help You Ace Your Job Interview
15 Things I Look for When I Interview People
After the Job Interview: Why Haven’t They Called Me Yet?
Stuck in the Waiting Game After 2nd Interview
What Is Being Overqualified for a Job?
Job Interview Nerves? Tips for Before, During & After
12 Ways to Stay Sane After a Job Interview
I Got the Post-Interview Temporary OCD Blues
What Is a Phone Screener?
About the author…
Ronnie Ann, founder of Work To The Wise and Work Coach Cafe, bases her real-world advice on her many years as an organizational consultant where she helped interview and hire people, added to a certificate from NYU in Career Planning & Development and her own adventures as a serial job seeker.
Hi Ronnie,
I interviewed with a company around the first week of June. A school friend, who was just hired there, had referred me to the recruiter and hiring manager because they were looking for more employees with our degree. I had a phone interview at the beginning of June and was called back a week later by the recruiter. He said that the hiring manager was impressed with my qualifications and saw a lot of potential in me so they want to continue forward. I have been told by the recruiter I should hear back with more information by the end of next week a few times now. Last time, I received an email saying that he was hoping to have better news for me by now and apologize for the delay but the hiring manager was out of the office and should hear something by Friday the week he returns. The date he stated I should hear something back was the Friday before last. I am confused on how to approach the situation because I do not want to be a pest but it has been over a month and a half since they said they wanted to continue forward. How should I follow up? I do not know what to say. Should I be worried about not getting the job? The friend that works there had received his offer after 3-4 weeks. Could it be because its summer vacation season so things are just moving slower this time of year?
Hi Krissy,
Yes, it could be summer vacation season, and it could also just a bunch of things going on — related or, more likely, unrelated — that are getting in the way. So, don’t give up on this opportunity. Being referred is an ENORMOUS advantage!
Ask your friend if he or she has any idea what is going on. Could be a re-organization is happening or, simply, as you suggest vacations are getting in the way.
But, also don’t wait for this to work out. Keep looking for a job, and continue to network. Referrals are an inside track to a new job.
Good luck with your job search!
Susan
Hi Susan,
Thank you for the advise! I am also pursuing other options but really want this position. I am a recent graduate so I do not have much experience with the hiring process. I have previously called to check on it and the last time was the July 16 and he said he should have information for me by july 24 but i did not hear anything and now it is aug 4. How should I approach contacting the recruiter to find out what is going on without sounding too desperate or bug him?
-Krissy
Hi Krissy,
Continue to chill. They know you are interested, but they are probably slogging through their process with vacations happening, etc. Today will be two weeks since their last deadline and just over three weeks since your last contact with them.
At this point, once a month is often enough to reach out, so I’d wait until next week. Let them worry — a bit! — that another employer may have hired you.
Good luck with your job search!
Susan
I contacted the recruiter in an email asking if there was an update for the position I applied for in June. He emailed me back saying that the hiring manager was reluctant to hire another entry level employee until they have more mid-senior in place, which was about a month ago now since I heard this information. I now noticed that the same position has been posted again 1 day ago and there are 3 positions in diff. locations. I’m confused because when I had interviewed I heard back that they were impressed with me but now I’m not sure what is going on. Should I reach out to the recruiter about it? and How? or should I just give up on it.
If you are interested in the job and employer, don’t give up. They may have assumed that you accepted a job somewhere else by now.
Call the recruiter. Remind him/her of your name, the job you applied for, when you interviewed for it, who interviewed you, and when you last spoke with them. Then, ask about the new postings vs. the one you had interviewed for.
Good luck with your job search!
Susan