Bill writes:
I’ve sent out 175 resumes. Some I’ve received an email acknowledgments and others I received snail mail acknowledgments, but the rest I’ve received neither. How should I handle the no replies? Should I send another resume — or email or phone them?
Bill, okay … I am assuming you sent out cover letters with your resumes, and I am further assuming you followed the proper cover letter techniques — specifically, writing to a named individual, requesting an interview, and promising action — I would strongly suggest that you put all those recipients into a spreadsheet and start contacting them right away. You should never expect employers to respond to your inquiries, and as you have discovered, very few do so.
Not knowing how much time has elapsed, you may need to send out another cover letter and resume once you’ve spoken with the people. If that’s the case, then send those people your resume and cover letter and follow-up about a week to 10 days later with a phone call.
If you did not write a cover letter, or you did not follow the cover-letter rules — and the biggest no-no is not addressing each letter to a named individual — then you might as well start all over again because the likelihood that your cover letter and resume are still somewhere in the employers’ offices is pretty darn slim.
You can read more about cover letters and job-hunting at Quintessential Careers: Cover Letter Resources, which includes a link to the cover letter tutorial.
Follow-up is crucial in all aspects of job-hunting.
Margaret writes:
I had a flyback interview at Bristol, CT, and the inteviewer said that I would get the notice in 2-3 weeks. But it is almost three weeks now, and they have not sent me any notice. I called and found out that they have not interviewed other candidates so far. How can I follow up on it? Shall I call the decision-maker? I really feel that I am the match for the position and am enthusiastic about the position. Please advise.
You are at a critical junction in your job search, and you must take action immediately.
First, have you sent a thank-you letter to all involved from your flyback interview of a few weeks ago? Thank-you letters are extremely undervalued by job-seekers. If you have, then move to the next paragraph. If you have not, then you will need to do some fancy footwork and send out letters immediately — thanking them again for their time and considerations, making it sound as though you are simply following up again.
Assuming you have sent the first thank-you letters, now is time to certainly take action — don’t wait another minute. I want you to call the decision-maker immediately. Call this person with the simple reason that you are following-up on the position and wanted to know where things stand. To a certain extent, the old saying about the squeaky wheel is true here: be persistent about calling and getting the status, but don’t call every day. At best, you’ll get an answer; maybe there is a temporary hiring freeze. At worst, you’ll get strung along some more, but at least you are showing your interest in the position and the company.
I hope things work out for you… now go make some phone calls!
Read this article from Quintessential Careers: The Art of the Follow-Up After Job Interviews.
Sonja writes:
Is it all right to take notes to an interview? I have an interview coming up. I have prepared by taking notes to express my highlights/attributes. They’re simply key words/phrases to help me focus/ remember situations. Is this appropriate? Plus, I need to find examples of a follow-up or thank you for your interview letter.
The Career Doctor responds:
Most experts discourage taking notes to an interview. While they do show you are prepared for the interview, they also show that you are not prepared enough — otherwise you would have the information in your head.
I recommend that you try not to take any notes to the interview; instead, use a copy of your resume to help trigger your key points. But if you feel as though you really must have notes, I suggest you do so in a manner as unobtrusive as possible — perhaps using a small notepad.
And don’t fret about not saying all your key phrases and comments. You can always include some follow-up in your thank you letter. By the way, you can find several sample interview thank you letters in this section of Quintessential Careers: Sample Job Interview Thank-You Letters.
Good luck.
Sherrie writes:
I moved to Sacramento two weeks ago and in that time I have submitted more than 40 resumes but have only received one response back. I understand that I lack professional experience because I have been college for the past four years and have only held student employment jobs. Do you have any suggestion of what I should do?
Without seeing your cover letter or resume — which both may contain problems — I can still say that I think you’ve fallen into the classic mistake of many job-seekers: not being proactive. It is a rare situation where the employer is going to contact you.
Instead, you need to get the phone numbers to those 39 employers (which you should already have since you should have called these companies already to get a specific name of an individual to address your cover letters to) you have not heard from, put on your best speaking voice, and call these people up and suggest setting up an interview. For many job-seekers, this aspect of job-hunting is the hardest thing to do. I’m not sure why that is, but perhaps we feel as though we are like the telemarketers who always call our houses — and in a way, you are: You are calling with the intent of doing enough selling over the phone to get an interview.
Making these telephone calls is not magical. While you will get more responses, keep in mind that the rejection rate is still going to be high — depending on your field and the demand for the type of job you are seeking. But, even if you only get three job interviews from these 39 phone calls, you are better off than where you are now.
Here’s another tip: If the employer you call says that they have no current openings, you should still push for an interview, but instead of a job interview, ask for an informational interview to learn more about the field. Quintessential Careers has a whole tutorial on informational interviewing. Informational interviewing may not land you a job, but it is a way of building your network — especially when you have just moved to a new area — and a way to possibly get referrals to other job openings in your field.
Finally, if you have any concerns about your resume or cover letter — or if one of the people you contact mentions a problem with one of them — then you should go back to fix those problems immediately! Quintessential Careers has plenty of cover letter and resume resources that could help you.
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