To Follow Up or Not - That is The Question

 

Should you really follow up on every job you apply for?

 

Once you've found the job that you think could be the perfect fit for your skills, you have to do everything you can to stand out. That means writing a great cover letter and tailoring your resume to the job. Once you've sent everything in, what do you do next? Should you follow up?
 

There are two different opinions on this. Some feel that a follow up call or email is pushy. They say that following up can make you look desperate and only annoys the hiring manager who might be dealing with hundreds of calls a day. These people say that it is better to only follow up on the jobs that you have interviewed for rather than they ones you applied to and didn't hear anything back.

 

If you ask most career advisers, they would recommend following up every job application or resume sent.
 

So, what should you do?

First, you have to realize that the job market definitely reached the digital age. We don't fill out an application, hand it to a manager, shake hands these days. Just that little bit of personal contact makes it a whole lot easier, and a lot more comfortable to give them a call to follow up.

 

When you email your resume, there is no chance to introduce yourself. It makes it much less personal and more difficult to give a follow up call.

 

Recent surveys of employers say that they expect applicants to follow up within two weeks of applying for the job. What surprised me was that they were just as happy with a follow up email as they were with a call.

 

This means that if you aren't comfortable following up with a call and worry that you might be annoying, try sending them an email. It's more important than you would think. Following up makes you stand out and build a little bit of rapport before an interview.

To maximize your chances, I still say, follow up on ALL job leads. If you are worried about calling people and interrupting, send the email. Your uncertainty will come across in your voice and you don't want to make a bad impression at this stage.

 

Make your email short, to the point and don't use a form letter. Take the couple of minutes to make sure that the hiring manager knows you are following up on that specific job.

 

Following up in a professional manner won't cost you the job, and it could just help you land it.

 

Do you follow up after every application? Has it helped you at all? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

 

 

 

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for Administrativejobsblog and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.