Following Up

Whether or not you promised to in your original correspondence, you should follow up with each contact using the same method of original delivery and by phone to increase your level of success. This is likely the 2nd most important ingredient to an effective job search besides an effective résumé. Scores of people with poorly prepared résumés still find jobs by following up and making a personal impression. This takes hard work and motivation but it can pay a generous reward.

The concept of following up is very simple. Your objective is to find out whether or not you are in the running for an interview or not. Automated résumé collection and storage methods often render a résumé unseen until it is manually looked for within the company database. If you have ever been a Recruiter, Human Resource employee or a hiring manager with a company utilizing this technology you may know first hand, that almost nobody checks the internal database on a daily basis because it is boring and/or because of negative reinforcement of looking often and finding nothing of interest too often. As you may have guessed, finding out if you are in the running for an interview should begin with determining whether or not someone has actually seen your résumé.

Once you know your résumé has been reviewed you should expect an invitation for an interview, a decline or a planned delay in their decision once you can confirm receipt. For starters, your following up will illustrate that you are adamant about learning of their decision and that you didn’t just “Spam” their mailbox because it was quick and easy.

Make follow up calls with your résumé and the advertisement (if available) in hand. If you are at a loss for words you can try the phone scripts from the following section. If you have to make another follow up call next week, ask them if you may contact them next week to see how their selection process is going if there has been no decision made at that time. You should continue process until you have an answer, interview or rejection letter. Befriend the person you are calling, call them by their first name after the first call and keep your résumé copies handy at all times during the process so that you are better prepared if they should call you unexpectedly.

In cases where you are unable to call a company or specific person, the follow up letter in the following section can be used in some form to make this second contact. If you hesitate to call because of a “No Phone Calls Please” clause in the ad or on their website, the method of sending a letter (the same way you delivered your résumé) will serve as your second contact with them. If you modify the letter, I don’t recommend changing the line that states when and how you will follow up. If the letter is taken seriously, they will be expecting your call or will proactively contact you. Make note of the promised date and time of your pre-warned follow up call and make sure you do it.