I’ve written about what you should do after a job interview a few times. You can find those posts here, here and here. Today’s reader question has a little bit of a twist.
Hi. A friend referred me to a patent law office, where he works. I had what IMHO was a very upbeat and frank interview with the CEO. The next day, I emailed my references and a writing sample. A week later, I received an email stating, “We have not forgotten you. We are thinking about whether and how we could fit you into our practice. I will let you know when we have decided what we want to do.” It’s been 8 days since I received that email. Should I attempt a follow-up? Should I ask my friend if he knows anything about my candidacy? Thanks.
To help provide some insight, I reached out to a couple colleagues of mine. Chris Fields is an expert resume writer and human resources consultant who assists job seekers with their resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles and job search over on ResumeCrusade.com. Lars Schmidt is the founder of Amplify Talent, an employer branding and recruiting optimization consultancy based in Washington DC. Prior to launching Amplify Talent, Lars was the senior director of talent acquisition at NPR where he was responsible for providing leadership and advocacy for talent acquisition strategies that align with NPR’s strategic mission and core values.
Should candidates interpret sending over their references as a sign the interview went well? Why or why not?
[Chris] If asked for your references, you should absolutely take that as a good sign. You’re probably a finalist. However you should not assume you have the job. I often tell my resume clients, ‘You don’t have job until you have an official offer.’ That means until they call and negotiate salary and benefits, there is no deal!
[Lars] Generally a request for references is a good sign. Most organization only ask if you’ve passed the initial interview vetting, and they view your candidacy positively. It’s not a guarantee of offer, but it’s an indication they’re feeling favorable enough about your potential to get more insight.
Let’s be honest, some companies don’t follow-up with candidates. What should a candidate do if they haven’t heard from a company?
[Lars] This is not an absolute rule, but in general, if a company is really interested in a candidate they will follow up. Some are slow. Sometimes there are other internal factors that may prolong the feedback process (additional interviews, shifting priorities, bandwidth). Good recruiters will keep candidates in the loop throughout this period, but you could be working with a mediocre one or a hiring manager without much awareness around why candidate experience is so important. I generally recommend to follow up once if you don’t hear back after a week. If no response after a few days of your inquiry, chances are you may not be under consideration.
[Chris] Waiting is the hardest part. And every situation is different. On one hand you don’t want to seem disinterested but on the other hand, you don’t want to be bothersome.
I’ll present 2 situations. If you were referred for the position and no one contacts you, follow up through your referral. If the referral has no information, then contact the hiring manager and ask for a status update. Now, if no one contacts you back, just let it go. If they want you, they will contact you. I had a client apply for a job with a Fortune 100 company, didn’t hear a word back for 3 months, then all of a sudden, an interview and an offer.
2nd scenario: If you apply for a position and get absolutely no contact, not even an email stating that they have received your application, then I’d send one follow up email. But after that, I’d let it go. Many of the recruiters that I talk to do not like to be hounded about a position. You must remember, they get plenty of resumes, calls and contacts per job opening. Also, there are always other influences in the workplace which could interrupt the process.
How long should a candidate wait before assuming that they aren’t being considered any longer for the job?
[Chris] It’s interesting; many times a candidate is advised that the process will take a certain amount of time. So be sure to listen to the recruiter or hiring manager when they mention time frames. If they don’t give you a time frame, ask for one. There’s nothing wrong with asking, ‘How long does the selection process take?’ Now if the process extends past that time frame, it’s okay to contact them for a status update.
I’d say that, after a month or two, you should consider that either something has changed internally at the company or that you are no longer a candidate.
You should never put all your eggs in one basket anyway, so your search should be ongoing until you find the job you want. As I mentioned earlier, regarding the client who got a call after 3 months of no contact, he did not wait for them. He continued to look and actually had started another job.
[Lars] It’s generally a good idea to ask about the interview timeline and next steps in the interview. If you don’t hear back after a week, follow up with the recruiter (unless they set expectations for a longer feedback timeline). If you don’t hear back from your inquiry, chances are you may no longer be in the running.
In this note, the candidate mentions being referred by a friend. Should the candidate tell their friend what’s going on? And if so, when?
[Lars] Yes – they may not have the insight, but it can’t hurt to ask. Just be sure to thank them for referring you in the first place and don’t be pushy.
[Chris] Yes they should. If you have a friend or connection you definitely should ask them for help. Sometimes referrals have influence, sometimes they don’t. You have to consider the referral’s position and their relationship to the hiring manager as well. But yes, use your connections to your advantage. You have to network to get work.
My thanks to Lars and Chris for sharing their experience and expertise. You can read more from Lars on his blog and follow him on Twitter. Chris writes for SmartRecruiters.com and PerformanceICreate.com. You can connect with him on Twitter at @new_resource.
DA Hooligan says
I would just like to add something concerning the friend (referral) that works at the organization. Sometimes they can get a bit pushy with the process. We get a good amount of new employees through current employee referrals. Most employees who refer friends, are great, and never press us for any information in the hiring process if a friend is involved. I have found however, that some, stick their nose in a bit too far. And they are usually the employees that should know better. They are consistently asking where in the process we are, how their friend is looking in the process, when the friend will hear something from us, when we will make a decision, etc. We have had to tell employees to back off at times. So I think the same advice that Lars and Chris mentioned about job candidates not being too pushy should also hold for the referring friends.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve seen some over-enthusiastic employees as well.
Terry Portillo says
The best way to get in touch, post-interview, is to send the interviewer a brief Thank You note or Thank You e-mail for taking the time to interview you. You could include a positive (but not gushing!) comment about their organization in your note. This may prompt a followup response (out of courtesy) letting you know if they’ve hired someone else. Even more important, some employers, when they have a lot of strong candidates, will weed out any who do not formally thank them after the interview and only give their final consideration to those who did.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comment Terry!
I received a note offline that I wanted to share. It seems that in certain industries (like government), the recruiting process is so long that some organizations will ask for references during the first interview so there is not a delay. That way, if they like the candidate, the reference checking starts right away. Something to consider.
Confused says
Hi!
I had my second interview on the spot (unplanned) and they asked the recruiter to contact my references the next day. (I did send a thank you email to one of the interviewers and had my recruiter forward one on to the second interviewer since I never received her contact information.) During the interview they said they would get back to me in one to two days, “no matter what because they know it can be stressful.” All of the references were contacted and my recruiter told me they all said really great things and she told one of them that I am “tailored for the position. ” That was on Thursday. I have not heard anything and my recruiter told me they would contact her for my phone number (even though I provided it on my resume) if they were going to make an offer. I’m concerned because they did specifically say ‘one to two days” and the recruiter said she doesn’t know where they are at in the process because none of her candidates have gotten this far. It will be one week since the interview date tomorrow; should I assume they’ve moved on? Or who should I follow up with since the recruiter knows nothing?