Following Up After an Interview is Key – Use it Wisely

Many job seekers mistakenly think that after an interview, they should just sit back and wait. Unfortunately, your work is not done yet! You should always follow up with thank you notes after an interview. Hiring managers have reported that they have eliminated candidates who failed to follow up with a thank you because it demonstrated a lack of professional maturity and often struck interviewers as just plain rude.  It is considered standard practice in the United States, so always try to send an email within 48 hours of your interview.

You can also follow up after you have sent your thank you emails. If you haven’t heard from the employer, you can write and express that you are still very interested in the position and would like to check in on their hiring timeline. Sometimes this is a nice reminder of what a great candidate you are. After this initial follow-up, you will want to follow their lead. If they say they will be taking another couple of weeks, then set a calendar alert to check in a bit after this timeframe.

If you follow up and don’t hear back, give it a week or so and then check in again. If you still don’t hear back, then let it go and hope for the best. We usually only recommend following up 2-3 times max. We often hear from hiring managers that hiring takes time, so don’t take initial silence as a rejection. There could be variables at play that are outside of their control like fiscal year budgets, etc.