Guest Author - Kristen Welcome

Picture this: you’ve created the perfect resume and cover letter. You followed up with a phone call and landed an interview with the hiring manager. You showed up on time for your interview, dressed to kill, and gave perfect answers to every question asked. You even remembered to write an individual thank you letter to each person who interviewed you, and mailed it within hours of the interview. So now you have nothing left to do but wait…right?

Not exactly. In a perfect world, the hiring manager would remember your name in spite of the numerous other qualified candidates who were interviewed before and after you, will ruminate on your superior job skills and winning personality, and will phone you after the interviews have been concluded to inform you that they wish to offer you the desired position. Since the world is not perfect, however, it is often necessary to take additional steps after the interview is over to make certain that you remain fresh in the hiring manager’s mind.

Sending a thank you letter immediately after the interview is a great start to remind a hiring manager who you are and which unique skills you can offer the employer. However, when competition is stiff, additional following up may be necessary to increase your chances of landing the position you want.

Often, hiring managers are extremely busy people and may not select an applicant as quickly as anticipated. By the time they do begin to narrow down the list of qualified candidates, time will have passed since the interviews and they may not recall all of the qualifications that help you to stand out from the crowd. Therefore, those candidates who make follow up phone calls will have an immediate advantage, because they will remain fresh in the mind of the hiring manager, and their continued expression of interest in the position makes them preferable candidates right out of the gate. If a great deal of time passes between the interviews and the decision to hire, often only the candidates who continue to follow up will receive consideration.

Your follow up should consist of a telephone call to the hiring manager to politely ask whether any decisions have been made about the position. Be sure not to criticized the hiring manager for not making a decision sooner. Instead, demonstrate your understanding that the hiring manager is busy, and make it clear that you are following up as a result of your great interest and passion for the position and the company.

Make certain that an appropriate amount of time has passed before making a follow up phone call to the hiring manager. Usually, an acceptable amount of time is two or three weeks. However, if the hiring manager mentioned during the interview that decisions would be made within a different time frame, use this information to time your phone call. If no decision is made after your follow up phone call, another call can be made within a few more weeks, but be sure not to call too frequently, or you will seem more like a pest than a keenly interested applicant.

Although interviews are nerve-wracking and the waiting period afterward can set you on edge, a polite and well-timed telephone call to the hiring manager after the interview can set you apart from the competition. By following up appropriately, you can set yourself apart from the competition and increase your chances of landing the job you deserve.



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