5 Welcomed Ways to Follow Up With the Recruiter
Congratulations, you scored an interview! For many job seekers, this is no easy feat. And waiting for the results of that interview can prove just as nerve wracking as the interview itself.
You might think that following up with the recruiter after the interview is a good way to demonstrate your interest in the job and show your readiness to accept. But when should you follow up, and how? How often should you check in? What should you say?
In fact, some recruiters would prefer you didn’t follow up at all, opting for a more “we’ll call you” approach. This is understandable, as recruiters who truly see an interest in you will somehow cue you in and not make you wonder.
But if you feel the itch to follow-up on your formal Q&A, here are five safe ways to do so without completely wrecking your chances:
#1 – Ask the recruiter how they prefer you follow up about the job.
Some recruiters will tell you they will call you if interested. Others might tell you to wait a couple weeks. Whatever their answer, make sure you respect their personal boundaries. Following up outside of their recommendations demonstrates your inability to listen, which won’t bode well for your future employment chances.
#2 – Send a Thank You email the day of your interview at the end of the work day.
Chances are, you were not the only person the recruiter interviewed that day. Sending a Thank You email on the same day serves two purposes:
It makes another impression associated with your name
It shows you are still interested in the job
Make sure you include something of significance from your interview in the email to help them remember you. It could be something unique you talked about, like an accomplishment or goal, or anything that will help them recall their interview with you.
#3 – Email, don’t call.
If a recruiter isn’t interested in you, it puts them in an awkward position to tell you directly why they haven’t reached out after the interview. Instead, you can save yourself and interviewer some embarrassment by keeping your follow-up in email format only.
#4 – Keep the follow-up casual, yet professional.
You want to seem warm, friendly, and approachable, but getting overly excited or too personal with the interviewer isn’t the way to do it. Remember, you haven’t been hired yet, so you still have to maintain a level of professionalism. However, you might avoid highly formal language in your follow-up, depending on the position.
In addition, you don’t want to come across as desperate or overly eager. These signals could send the wrong message to the recruiter and hurt your chances.
#5 – Keep the follow-up brief.
You don’t need to rehash your entire interview, nor do you need to resell your reasoning on why you’d make the perfect candidate. This was all covered in the interview, and trying to reiterate your already-known skills could make you seem desperate. Instead, keep your follow-up simple and to the point.
All you need is a greeting, the notice that you are following up on your interview, a thanks for their consideration, and your name.
Summary
Checking in after an interview can make you sound ambitious, but following up after an interview in the wrong ways can also make you seem pushy and overzealous, neither of which will help your chances in landing the job.
It’s best to hear straight from the recruiter how they prefer you to follow up, if at all. But if you can follow up, then, by all means, you should.