People who are actively engaged in a job search typically have three questions about following up on their application: "Should I follow up?", "When should I follow up?", and "How often should I follow up?"
Should You Follow Up?
Have a question? First, see if you can answer the question yourself. Recheck the job post. Having worked in recruitment, I know that a huge irritation is having someone call with a question that was clearly addressed on the job post – it's taken as a sign that the person doesn't pay attention to detail. If it's a question about the employer or facility, try checking their website first. Similarly, if it's about the community, because you're interested in relocating, do a search for information online before calling. If it's a question about benefits or salary – remember, it's not good form to ask this at such an early stage. Try checking the employer's website to see if it gives benefit information. You can also check salary survey sites (e.g., general sites like PayScale.com or Salary.com), government labor sites (e.g., the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook and/or their Overview of BLS Statistics on Wages, Earnings, and Benefits), and you can see if your professional association has salary statistics available. If a position is unionized, salary and benefit information is typically available online. If it's a question about whether you're qualified, you should be able to tell from the job post.
If it's a special case (e.g., a vague job post), or you have an important unanswered preliminary question – call. Also, if you are well qualified for the job and haven't heard back – even if the ad says not to call – make a brief call to confirm that your application has been received.
Email follow-ups are also acceptable, but consider: If you anticipate that the answer will not be brief, for efficiency, it's usually best to phone, rather than email, and if you think that your résumé disappeared in cyberspace, perhaps a phone call would be better than a second attempt at cyberspace.
When Should You Follow Up?
The key is to show your interest and eagerness without appearing needy or annoying. Don't call the moment you send your résumé – give them a chance to receive it and read it; don't call several times in one day (unless, of course, it's a phone tag scenario); don't call day after day. Different recruiters have different preferences, but the majority suggest the best follow-up window is between a couple of days to two weeks after submitting a résumé.
How Often Should You Follow Up?
One size definitely doesn't fit all. Here are three typical scenarios:
- If you've called to confirm that they have your résumé and they said yes, and that they would contact individuals of interest to them, don't call again. If you don't hear, they aren't interested. In this case, more than one call is too many.
- If you've called to confirm that they have your résumé and they said yes, and they said that they would be spending an unspecified amount of time collecting résumés before they contact anyone, do a follow-up in a week. When you call, ask for an update about whether they have started calling, and if not, when will they start calling applicants. After that, unless they request that you call back, don't call again. Two calls is the limit.
- If you've called and left a message, and after a few days haven't heard anything (taking note of any delays that may result from intervening weekends or public holidays), there could be several reasons for this: the recruiters are swamped, the message was lost, or they're not interested. Call again. After this, the recruiters I spoke with said don't call again – they're not interested.