In general, you should follow up five to eight business days after an interview. When exactly you should follow up after an interview depends on how far along in the process you are. If you’re in the first round of interviews, then it’s okay to check in on the status of your application more quickly than if you’re in the later round of interviews.
A follow up should never be aggressive – in messaging or in frequency. The dynamic also requires a lawyer to read the tea leaves and move on if an employer’s silence becomes deafening.
In this article, we address how long to wait after an interview before reaching out to an employer. How long should I wait after an interview? Typically, it's best to give interviewers five business days to contact you. That means if you interview on a Thursday, you would wait until the following Thursday to reach out.
You don't want to pester anyone; that's a big turn off. If a few days have passed since the company said you'd hear back, then you can reach out again. In this follow-up note, you'll want to mention that you're still excited about this potential opportunity. This is just a gentle nudge.
“In general, the earlier you are in the process, the more quickly you should check in. An initial phone interview with no response may require follow-up within the week. However, you may want to wait 7-10 days after a second or third interview.”
Even though most companies will say the interview-to-offer timeline is somewhere between two to four weeks, one thing the average applicant can tell you is that it almost always takes much longer.
Some companies might consistently get offers out within a few days while others will typically take one to two weeks to provide feedback after an interview. For a candidate dangling in suspense, one day alone could feel like an eternity, but it shouldn't be a cause for despair.
The average time from interview to job offer is 2-4 weeks, depending on the company. If they have completed the interview phase, they may be having trouble making a final decision. Perhaps there were two well-qualified candidates and the interview team is torn as to who the job should be offered to.
Wait a few days and then contact them. If you don’t have a clear answer on when to contact them for a follow-up, then wait between five to eight business days to contact them. A follow-up can be a phone call or an email, but a phone call might be a better route to show dedicated interest.
If the employer fails to respond to your follow-up email after another five business days , then you’re in the clear to send a second email to check-in. That might look something like this:
If you haven’t heard anything back about the position and it’s been weeks, then it’s time to begin the alternative plan of action for contacting the company. Remember, persistence doesn’t always equal higher chances of success with getting the job.
The important thing is to continue sending out job applications — you may end up with multiple job offers, but that’s hardly a bad thing. It can be frustrating to not hear back anything after putting in a lot of time and effort into the applications, but that is all part of the job search process. Don’t give up!
We understand. Applying for jobs can be incredibly stressful, but it is a great opportunity to practice interview skills and showcase your talents. It is important to note that some companies will let you know if you didn’t get the job, but many may never contact you again after the interview.
Regardless of what method you choose, you'll want to send this thank you within 24 hours of your interview.
Here's what to include in your thank-you note: 1 Thank your interviewer (or interviewers) for his or her time. 2 Reiterate your interest in the position and why you're qualified based on what you learned during your interview. For example, if you really connected with the company's culture, mention it and explain why. 3 Personalize your thank-you notes for each person you chatted with. Perhaps you went to the same school or have a similar professional background. You can say something like “It was great comparing our adventures in magazine writing.” 4 If you didn't get a chance to ask about the next steps in your interview, you can ask that now. This can be done simply: “What will the next steps look like?” You should get a response that offers up a tentative timeline.
Here’s an actual example of a back-and-forth email thread between “Richard,” a lawyer I coach, and “Janice,” the representative of an industry organization with which he was trying to secure a speaking gig. In the end, he asks me if he pushed too hard.
Based on our concept of making sure to follow-up and get decisions (and not letting things fall through the cracks), I’ve stayed on top of the opportunity below. However, I get the feeling I may have turned her off by pushing too much. I would have allowed more time and taken a softer approach in the past, but that might have its own downsides.
As you see from this timeline, the pacing of Richard’s emails wasn’t a problem. With the exception of his June 5th email, Janice replied to him every other time, either the same day or the next. It’s hard to interpret this as anything other than a very welcome exchange.
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