No response after interview

Thursday, June 25th, 2009 - Job Advert, Professional CV, job interview, job search, professionalism

No response after initial interview, now what?

Jason, an MBA student, asks: I interviewed for a position with a company I really want to work for. However, I have had no response from the HR recruiter or hiring manager since my initial interview. I have called and emailed more than 4 times in the past month but no response. I understand I probably didn’t get the job but I’d like to keep in contact for future opportunities. What shall I do now?

In answer:
Much like sending a Cover Letter when applying for a job, the act of sending a Thank You letter after the initial physical interview is also an essential art of Job Search etiquette

Send a physical letter on good paper to the hiring manager who interviewed you – not the HR person, or the recruiter, that:

• Thanks them for their time
• Expresses your continued interest in working for their company
• Close out like a Cover Letter with a call to action, which says something along the lines of: “As discussed at the interview, I look forward to hearing from within the next X days/before X.” If nothing was agreed, then insert 10days from the date of the interview

Only if you made a complete hash of a question, do you need to address any such issues in your Thank You letter. Stumbling is OK, as is feeling the pressure in an interview. Only if you made a complete failure at the interview on one question, should you even think about addressing such issues in your thank you letter. If you do, then insert the question and developed answer on a separate sheet titled “Follow Up Issues from Interview.”

The main reason for sending the thank you letter is that it then gives you the opportunity in the timescale stated in the call to action to follow through with a telephone call. If you don’t send the letter, then you look desperate – sending the letter means you just look professional, and greatly reduce your chances of the employer not responding after the interview.

Interview no response

If you find that you don’t get a response by any form of communication, then you are licensed by their lack of response to take more direct action – if that is where you really want to work.

Write a second letter – or email with a read receipt -stating that you assume they have filled the position, but that you would like that they keep your CV on file for any suitable positions that might open up in the future. Copy this correspondence to the HR person, and if you were referred through to the recruiter as well.

If you can identify an in house recruiter, give them a call – physical effort counts over eMail every time for getting a response. Tell them how great a company they have and ask what the general hiring outlook is? Their role is to swiftly propose good candidates when someone in the company says we need to hire someone. Hence, if the recruiter knows you, you will be on the list of people they mention.

Lastly, if all else fails, use Social Networking tools like LinkedIn to find people who work for that company. Make a connection and ask them to send an internal note to HR about you. If nothing else, you will get a note or an email with Thanks, but we have found someone else, but at least then you will have closure.

If you are really truly set on working for that target company, I’d be chatting up that internal recruiter and watching their website like a hawk for posted openings.

Good Luck!

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One Response to “No response after interview”

1. So why don’t some recruiters/employers respond! Says:
   February 16th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

   [...] Another interesting blog – No Response after Interview [...]

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