Posts Tagged ‘contacting HR’

Q & A: After the Interview

March 16th, 2010

By Joe Redshaw

How long should you wait after a phone screen and/or an in-person interview to follow up with the company – 1 week, 2 weeks, before calling or emailing again?

No more than 24 hours!

If I get off the phone with a candidate after screening them and I don’t get at least a quick e-mail saying thank you, it is a Red Flag. And this is even more important with an interview. I would say no later than the following day.

But that is the easy part. What is a more difficult question is… “After I sent my thank you letter, how long should I wait to follow up?”. This one is trickier.

I would say that in the phone screen or interview, you should be asking about the hiring process. Depending on what they say should answer how long after the thank you letter you should follow up. The general rule is if you haven’t heard back after about 3-5 days I would follow up. This would be a time to write how interested you are and why you are such a fit. And ask if you could get an update regarding the process. You could call or e-mail. Or you can e-mail and say you will be following up with a call in the next day or so. You have to walk the fine line of being a pest and seeming like you don’t care, or don’t want the job.

But most importantly ask the hiring manager what the hiring process looks like, when they want to fill the job, how many » Read more: Q & A: After the Interview

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Posted in Interviews

Tags: contacting HR feedback Hiring practices hiring process interview Phone screen

Q & A: Contacting The Right Person

February 3rd, 2010

By Joe Redshaw

Is it better to email or phone when contacting a person in the company?

It often depends on your role. I would always tell a salesperson to just pick up the phone and call. That is what they are supposed to do. Most others I would say start with an e-mail, but state in the e-mail that if you don’t hear from them in a few days, you will reach out by phone (that way the person may be more inclined to reply).

How do you identify who the right contact person is when you are applying?

You may not be able to. Often in the job description it states who the position reports to (their title). Go to LinkedIn and search for that company and that title to try to determine who it is. If it doesn’t work and you get the wrong person they will almost always forward it along to the correct person, but you may never know that. So then if you don’t get feedback, you can call the person you sent the resume to and say you sent it a “few days ago”. If they are not the right person they will tell you (and if they don’t tell you who the correct person is voluntarily, ask them). Then once you have the correct person you can follow up with them and/or send your resume.

About Joe Redshaw

Joe Redshaw is the Corporate Recruiter for Gomez, the Web Performance Division of Compuware. He has been a recruiter for almost 10 years and has experience on the agency and corporate side. Joe has screened thousands of candidates and has agreed to provide NEJS his perspective on HR/Recruiter practices.

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Posted in Job search tips

Tags: contacting HR Joe Redshaw LinkedIn

Q & A: When to Contact HR

December 22nd, 2009

NEJS encourages you to start a dialogue with Joe by submitting your questions via the comments section at the end of the blog article. Keep an eye out for more Q & A with Joe.

What is an appropriate time to contact HR after an interview or when you have submitted a resume?

I would follow up with the hiring manager when possible. When interviewing always try to get the business cards of the people you interview with, don’t be afraid to ask for it. At least get their name and correct spelling. That way you can determine their e-mail address (to at the very least send a thank you letter).

Depending on what is told to you in the interview about the process and timing (assuming nothing is told) I often feel it is best to write in the thank you letter to the hiring manager that if you have not heard from them in a week you will follow up. At that time, when you do follow up, reiterate your interest, why you still feel like you are a fit, and then ask if there is any other information you can provide (like references). If your only contact is HR, then contact them after about a week and reiterate your interest.