So you just got back from a career fair, networking event or interview and are buzzing with excitement regarding all of the opportunities you learned about and the connections you made. So now what? How can you keep the ball rolling? I get this question quite often, and trust me, it can seem overwhelming trying to pinpoint what your next step should be. Therefore, here are my tips on how you can bridge the gaps from introduction to interview and beyond!

Follow Up with an Email Right Away: While you are fresh in your connection’s mind, make sure you shoot them an email. For example, if you met during the day, email them that evening. Or if you met at an evening event, email them first thing in the morning. In the email, mention something you discussed or had in common. This will help them to remember who you are and will also let them know you took the time to send them a personalized message and not some canned email you send everyone. Furthermore, make sure you suggest a next step. If they are a recruiter you just met, the next step could be asking them for a formal interview and attaching your resume to the email. If they are a recruiter that you just had a phone interview with, the next step could be a formal on-site interview or simply that you look forward to hearing back from them by X date that they indicated. Finally, if they are an industry connection, often a next step is to invite them to meet for coffee to get to know one another better.

The “And Then Some” In an age filled with e-mails, texts and social networking, following up with a hand written thank you note on professional, personalized stationary can make you stand out. A thank you email is a requirement, but the written card really shows you are interested and willing to go above and beyond.

Be politely persistent not pesty! There is a thin line between impressing the recruiter with your persistence and annoying them. Future correspondence with a recruiter beyond the thank you email and letter will depend on the expectations set by them. Politely ask when you can expect to hear back from them regarding next steps and follow up accordingly.  For example, if they say they will get back to you on Monday, and you don’t hear back from them by then, give them a 2 day grace period before you send them a follow up email on Wednesday. Often times you don’t hear back from recruiters because they are traveling or waiting on approvals from other parties, not  because they forgot about you. If you don’t hear back after your first follow up email, then I would recommend waiting one more week and then sending another email.  If they don’t respond after this email I would guess the response is not favorable and move on. If you want to be super thorough you could always wait one month and send one last email but the more time that passes the more likely you will never get a response.  

To Call or not to Call? Whether to follow up with a phone call depends on the culture of the company and the rapport you have with they recruiter.  Often smaller companies are more informal and willing to accept and appreciate a follow up phone call. Larger, more bureaucratic companies with many more applicants for each position might not be as appreciative. Furthermore younger professionals prefer communicating via email while the Baby Boomers more often appreciate a phone call. Adapt your follow up technique to fit your audience.

Track your Follow Up: Be sure to keep track of your communication with your contacts so you don’t accidentally follow up with someone too often, duplicate messages or neglect to follow up at all. I recommend keeping a chart with the name of each connection, the date and subject of each correspondence and the expected response timeline. This way you can keep all of your correspondence straight and not let any opportunities fall between the cracks.

In conclusion, your follow up skills can honestly make or break your professional relationships. They communicate your level of professionalism, dependability, confidence, maturity and more.  Take the time to hone your skills in this area and I promise you will see an improvement in your job search success.

Still need more help?  Setup a free 30 minute coaching session with me to discuss your situation in detail!

Happy Job Hunting!

Kelly Olin, MHRLR, CPC

Certified Career Coach and Trainer

(Blog contributions by Gabi Jaye)