June 18, 2010

E-mail vs. phone: How should I follow up after sending my resume?

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Editor’s Note: Today we introduce local employment expert Kristen Fife, who will answer your career and job-hunt questions in our new column, Recruiter's Inbox. Ask her a question at recruiters_inbox@nwjobs.com.

Q: Most of the information I've been reading about applying for a job suggests following up with the company to make sure they received my resume. I try calling the companies, but never seem to get a live person. Why won't anyone answer the phone?

A: Part of this has to do with Seattle being such a technology-focused town. A lot of the recruiters in the area have spent a major portion of their professional careers at Microsoft, Amazon, T-Mobile, WaMu or Boeing or at the agencies that place workers at these large area employers. When you live in such a tech-savvy area, it pervades the local employment culture and that means e-mail is more convenient -- and even preferred.

Another factor is workflow management. It is a lot easier for recruiters to keep track of e-mails than voicemail messages, and much simpler to respond to them. (They just hit the “return” button and start typing: The questions they are answering are right in front of them.) Also, keep in mind that a lot of employment professionals are on the phone a good portion of the day, conducting phone screens of qualified candidates or trying to reach out to people they have identified as top candidates, so it can be tough to get through.

If you're one of the many job seekers out there today over the age of 40, you may remember that in years gone by, job-seeking advice was always to call and follow up or send a hand-written thank you note. These days, much of this information can be outdated. For example, at Microsoft and Amazon, most people don’t even check their “snail mail” box anymore; e-mail is ingrained into the corporate culture. Make sure that the communication you are using is applicable to the company you are pursuing. A rule of thumb to follow is if you had to apply online, you probably want to follow up electronically. If you stopped by and filled out a paper application, a phone call is probably the better way to check in on your status.

What if you don’t know the e-mail address to contact someone? Almost every company has a “generic” recruiting address; usually either jobs@company.com, resumes@company.com or careers@company.com. Try running a Google search on one of these terms with the company’s domain name to find out what the address is for your target organization. You can also call the main operator/switchboard to find out what that particular generic e-mail address is. Unless you have the actual name of the person who is doing the recruiting (and the operator is willing to give it out), you would be better served using the generic address and referencing the job number/position title.

Remember that right now, for most general job openings, it will take at least a couple of weeks or more before recruiters start contacting candidates, so wait a reasonable amount of time to check up on the job. It isn’t realistic to apply on Monday and expect to have any sort of follow-up the same week. Give it at least two weeks or until the job closes, before you follow up. A polite e-mail inquiry will go much further a couple of weeks later than an abrupt phone call two days after you apply.

Kristen Fife is a recruiter, resume consultant, and employment expert based in the greater Seattle area. She has worked with clients all over North America to help organizations and individuals find a mutual fit in the workplace. Ask her a question at recruiters_inbox@nwjobs.com. Sorry, no personal replies.

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Recruiter's Inbox, resumes

4 Comments

Jon Bach on June 21, 2010 12:45 PM | Reply

I'm an employer interviewing candidiates several times a week and find follow-ups annoying.

I know who they are and I know what they can do for us. But if people insist in sending them, here's my dream follow-up.

I would want to get something like this three or four days later, and it should say something like this:

Hi, Jon,

Really liked the audition the other day. I thought it was a fair test of my skills and value, but it also got me thinking about how I can represent myself better on future interviews as I look for work.

I'm still on the market, but I took your advice and started a new testing blog with my first post (here). Feel free to comment as I think you might add some value there.

I also started my Twitter account and followed the handful of people you recommended, and found (this tweet) particularly useful because (why). I'm also up on LinkedIn (here).

Anyway, I'd like to ping you every now and then to let you know if and when I land a new job somewhere, but obviously it's my hope that you guys have something cool there first. If not, let's find an excuse to have some testing conversations online!

Thanks again,

XYZ

Kristen Fife on June 21, 2010 5:23 PM | Reply

Jon, thanks for the detailed feedback. It really helps our readers to have hiring managers feedback.

Chris Jacobs on June 22, 2010 2:00 PM | Reply

Jon's response is somewhat helpful, but it would have been more helpful if he had let us known what sector he's in as well as his company size. Also, it's pretty obvious he expects (and wants) informal responses, but many (I'd even say most) companies expect correspondence to be more formal. To be honest, I've never been in an interview where my prospective boss has recommended that I start a Twitter account or preferred that I use the term "something cool" instead of a specific job that I was applying for.

I know several small companies are into casual, laid back atmospheres, but if you tried applying to Boeing or Microsoft looking for "something cool" rather than applying for Software Engineer III, your odds of getting hired aren't very good.

Kristen Fife on June 22, 2010 3:43 PM | Reply

Chris, you'd be amazed at how employers are starting to cater their recruiting and hiring policies toward GenY, and Jon's response is very much in tune with many of the responses you would see across the country in any company with a website that understands current recruiting trends.

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all tools that Recruiters and hiring managers use to manage communication with employees, candidates, and consumers/customers. As a recruiter I always offer candidates the choice to send me a LI invite during their job search.

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