Too Much Follow Up - How To Avoid It

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So, you have probably heard that as a part of giving your all to a possible job opening, you should always follow up with a hiring manager or employer, after the interview has been conducted. You do this to thank them for their time, and refresh them of your career applicability for the position, and hopefully, to show them that you are the one for the job; but is there such a thing as too much follow up? Standard career advice has never considered this, but there is certainly a fine line between being a pest and getting the result you had hoped for by following up. Let’s review why and how to avoid overdoing it.

Yes, it is true that employers want to know that you are thinking about their job opening and their company, and that you are enthusiastic to begin working for them; but you need to get this message across to them without seeming desperate or just plain disrespectful. Here’s how:

1. Follow up Thank You: Ok, so yes; make sure to keep to the required follow up thank you letter. Draft a short and respectful letter thanking the hiring manager for their time and consideration, and letting them know that you will forward anything else-as requested-to help them with their hiring process. You should even make a reference to the interview and perhaps, a short one sentence sell on why you are the best candidate. This way, they can put an interview with a candidate. Often, there are a number of interviews that happen for one job, and remembering which interview went with which thank you letter can be tricky. Take the questions out of their mind, and remind them.

2. Listen to Them: If they say in response to your thank you letter or at the end of the interview that you will be notified if they are interested; take note and do not press them with weekly check in emails or phone calls. This means, send me a thank you follow up to remind who you are, but beyond that…let me contact you if I am interested. Not respecting a company’s need to contact you might very well put a wrench in the works to your application status. Often, the hiring manager also has a variety of other responsibilities and tasks to perform on a daily basis, and a daily check in with you will only make their main job more difficult.

3. Best Contact: Make sure that when you are interviewing that you listen for what might be the best means of contact for them, and only do so once or twice over the course of two weeks. While you may think that the more direct the better for checking in to see if you were given the job, it is often not the case. Email is usually better for busy hiring managers and business executives. This said, perhaps phone is easier for them; but make sure that you know which is preferred and which one to stay clear from; prior to contacting them.