Don't feel intimidated to follow up
May 23rd 2008 01:49
I've been accepted into Flight Centre for three weeks now. The HR representative said she would send an email with all the contract and employment paper work for me to look through before my first day. The first day is approaching and still, no email came. I phoned up to enquire about the process and as it turns out, the HR representative had been really busy and was grateful to me for reminding her to add this to her urgent to-do list.
Quite often, just like the rest of us, employers also forget. They forget to send an email, they forget to call. This does not necessary mean they didn't like you at the interview, but rather, they are too busy themselves to keep up with their own to-do list.
So. You've submitted your application and you are just waiting. It's been two weeks and you haven't heard from anyone regarding whether or not you are to proceed to an interview or the application has been rejected.
Or, perhaps you've had your interview and they said they would get back to you in a week's time. A week and a half has gone past and no one has called or emailed.
It doesn't hurt to follow up.
Generally, employers do get back to you pretty quick if they have decided it is you whom they will employ. However sometimes, the larger the company is, the longer the process and often they will forget or have put a note aside but everything else gets in the way. Give them a call. Unless you have been instructed to do so, do not directly contact the person but contact the company and ask for the right person to talk to instead. Give them a bit of information about when you submitted the application or attended the interview, what position you were applying for and mention that you have not yet received any confirmation or rejection and was hoping to get an update.
Don't be intimidated by this. It is likely they simply have not had the time, and may be thankful that you called to ask. This is not only showing you really care about the job, it's also showing that you can take initiative in getting things done.
Be polite, don't be forceful. Say thank you at the end of the conversation. Even if you didn't get the job it's always good to exit the nice way because you never know when you might bump into this same person again. As I said in previous posts - people move around and you might find the same person might be at your next job sometime down the years too.
Useful resources:
Job Central: Follow Up
Careers@VirginiaTech: Interview Follow-up tips
About.com: Did you get the job?
Quite often, just like the rest of us, employers also forget. They forget to send an email, they forget to call. This does not necessary mean they didn't like you at the interview, but rather, they are too busy themselves to keep up with their own to-do list.
So. You've submitted your application and you are just waiting. It's been two weeks and you haven't heard from anyone regarding whether or not you are to proceed to an interview or the application has been rejected.
Or, perhaps you've had your interview and they said they would get back to you in a week's time. A week and a half has gone past and no one has called or emailed.
It doesn't hurt to follow up.
Generally, employers do get back to you pretty quick if they have decided it is you whom they will employ. However sometimes, the larger the company is, the longer the process and often they will forget or have put a note aside but everything else gets in the way. Give them a call. Unless you have been instructed to do so, do not directly contact the person but contact the company and ask for the right person to talk to instead. Give them a bit of information about when you submitted the application or attended the interview, what position you were applying for and mention that you have not yet received any confirmation or rejection and was hoping to get an update.
Don't be intimidated by this. It is likely they simply have not had the time, and may be thankful that you called to ask. This is not only showing you really care about the job, it's also showing that you can take initiative in getting things done.
Be polite, don't be forceful. Say thank you at the end of the conversation. Even if you didn't get the job it's always good to exit the nice way because you never know when you might bump into this same person again. As I said in previous posts - people move around and you might find the same person might be at your next job sometime down the years too.
Useful resources:
Job Central: Follow Up
Careers@VirginiaTech: Interview Follow-up tips
About.com: Did you get the job?
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