How Long Should I Wait To Follow Up After A Job Interview?

How Long Should I Wait To Follow Up After A Job Interview?

This depends on a number of factors, including the format of the interview, how the interviewer signed off, the size and structure of the Company and the number of applicants involved, just to name a few. However, the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY after you have completed an interview is to follow-up with a letter thanking the interviewer for their time and assuring them of your interest in and qualification for the job, e.g.

Hi, Tayla.

Thank you again for your time on Tuesday.  I want to reaffirm my interest in being considered for the role, and confidence in my ability to bring value to your team.  I look forward to the next step – is there any additional information I can provide on my end to help move the process forward?

Thank You,

Ivan Interest

Ending the outreach with a question gives them an extra push to respond to you, versus a "checking in" letter.

With respect to the original question, “How Long Should I Wait To Follow Up After A Job Interview?”,

there’s usually a couple of scenarios to consider.

• You complete the interview and the hiring manager gives you a fairly definitive timeline of when you could expect to hear from them. 

If you do get a time line, be sure to respect it. Jumping in early could be interpreted as being impatient and an unwillingness to conform to expectations. If the set time passes and you still haven't heard back, give them a 1 to 2 day buffer before making your approach. During application processing, plenty of hurdles can come up, like administrative hold-ups, unexpected absences, or a higher than expected response to the advertised position

• You receive a vague “cliff-hanger” along the lines of “It was great meeting you – we’ll be in touch shortly” or I’ll shoot you an email after I’ve shown your resume to the team”.

If they don't give you a time or sense of the next steps on exiting the interview, allow at least a week before following up. Over-eagerness can again be seen as impatience and that won't do anything positive for your chances. Additionally if the hiring manager is knee-deep in applications, your earlier-than-necessary contact could be viewed as an interruption and not well received. 

No matter which scenario applies, be aware, HR managers and employers don't always have answers straight away, as they are subject to approval by upper-level decision-makers.

Having said all of this it is unrealistic for anyone to think that you have no expectations of a timely response to your application. Give yourself a timeline of when you expect to pull the pin on the job application in the interest of not missing out on other potential interviews or offers. 

WHAT NEXT?

The information offered here is to provide some basic guidance. If you need more advice or coaching, get in touch with us!