Following Up on Your Applications, Part 2 Print E-mail


Make Follow-Up Calls

After you've sent two copies of your materialsthe original and the second-submission versions make a note on your calendar to call in three business days to follow up. This will allow you to

Confirm that your materials were received successfully (sometimes they don't make it to the intended recipient, especially if they were submitted electronically).

Find out what will happen next in the hiring process.

Make a personal connection with a screener. Use these steps to follow up effectively:

1. Follow up three business days after you've sent your second submission.

2. Call the company and ask to speak to the hiring manager in charge of the position ('whose name you should already know).

3. Communicate the following information, either directly to the individual, or on his or her voice mail:

"Hello, this is YOUR NAME. I am calling regarding the POSITION TITLE currently open within your organization. I want to confirm that my application material were received successfully, and also to find out more about what will happen next in your hiring process."

4. Include your phone number if you're leaving a voice-mail message, and mention that you sent a second set of materials, with a handwritten "Second Submission" message.

If you want to take your follow-up even further, call one week later, leaving a message like this:

Hello, NAME OF HIRING MANAGER. It's YOUR NAME, calling back to say that I'm still very interested in your opening, and I'm hopeful that I'll be called in for an interview. If it turns out that I'm not chosen, I wish you the best in finding the right person for the job, and please keep me in mind for future opportunities.

This leaves the hiring manager with a good impression of your interest and professionalism, as well as gives you peace of mind to know that you did a thorough job of following through.

Does the thought of following up on your application terrify you? Would you rather have your fingernails pulled out one by one? If so, you're not alone! Most Job seekers dread the thought of making a follow-up call after submitting an application, fearing that they'll be verbally rejected on the spot, as in, "Don't bug me! I'm not hiring you!" However, in my many years of assisting thousands of job searchers, this kind of humiliating rejection has never happened. Still, I know the fear is real. So to help you sidestep this worry, I recommend that you make your phone call either before 7 a.m., or after 7 p.m., when you're most likely to reach voice mail rather than a real person, and simply leave a message.


 
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