Two weeks ago I drove south to have dinner with some friends from college and while we supped, the issue of applying for jobs came up. I silently observed as one of my friends, who is one comprehensive examination away from a graduate degree in thermodynamics and mechanical engineering, explained how he recently partook in a phone interview, which he thought went quite well. Though he expected a call back, he never received one, in light of which, he decided to e-mail the employer with whom he interviewed to find out if the vacancy had been filled. After two or three well-crafted follow-up e-mails, he decided to cease his campaign with the hope that the hiring manager to whom he spoke is simply dragging his or her feet. Although there is nothing wrong with the way my friend handled the situation, I have had discussions with other friends whose follow-up campaigns, either after an interview or after they have submitted an application for a job for which they were certain they were qualified, have been nothing short of relentless and completely unproductive. Even though persistence is indeed a positive quality, obsessive e-mailing can turn off or even frighten recruiters.
There is a right and a wrong way to follow-up with an employer once you have applied for a position. First, as Lindsay Olson describes in a recent article on the art of following-up after sending in your resume, it is important to realize that most midsize to large companies have software which decides whose resume makes it to a hiring manager’s desk and whose doesn’t. I advised my friend to pick out key words from the vacancy announcement, include them at the bottom of his resume, and then color the text white, making the text invisible to the naked eye. A less cunning way to make it past the software is to pick out key words from the vacancy announcement and incorporate them into the body of your resume (it might be easy, for example, to revise your Summary of Qualifications section such that it includes buzz words from the announcement).
Second, it is essential that after submitting your resume, you follow-up with poise and grace, in a way which won’t drive the recipient of your follow-up e-mails to consider filing a restraining order. Olson advises job seekers not to “re-send the same resume and cover letter multiple times for the same position” insofar as such can make job seekers seem “desperate and disorganized.” Rather, Olson suggests that in all follow-up e-mails you should “[m]ake it obvious that you are following up on a specific position for your application sent on a specific date.”
Fourth, like my friend, make sure that the tone of your follow-up e-mail is positive, and that the e-mail is laced with cordial language. Olson warns, “A negative or an accusatory tone will kill your chance of getting a response as well as any future opportunities with the company.”
Lastly? Again, like my friend, realize when it’s time to move on. Although Olson recommends that job seekers stop following-up after three e-mails or phone calls have gone unanswered, I would recommend two. Your first follow-up should simply be to inquire about the position and your application, while your second follow-up is a follow-up to a follow-up, ensuring that your initial e-mail or phone message was indeed received. Once you are assured your message was received (it is highly unlikely that two messages could get lost, forgotten about, or misplaced), any additional messages could be construed as excessive. As Olson puts it, “it’s time to move on. Don’t take it personally.”
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