The pandemic has hit many of us very hard – some harder than others. It has turned out regular mundane lives on their head and in extreme cases pushed us back a few years in terms of our careers and our savings.
With unemployment levels at the highest, they have ever been in most countries many are trying to compete with each other for the few jobs that are appearing on the aggregators – LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed.
Recruitment consultants are been inundated by thousands of resumes for a single position. It’s hard to review each application let alone get back to them. Feedback on an application is now a thing of the past. Instead, if you’re lucky you will receive a carefully templated rejection letter part of the HR software being used by the company – I know life’s tough.
So, once you applied for that position what should you do next? Research has shown that in the past recruiters appreciate a candidate who followed up on his application – assuming that things have not changed – you should If you can (of course you can!)
How can I follow-up
Engage through Email
Email is probably the most preferred way to communicate with recruiters. Most hiring managers and recruiters I’ve engaged with have always preferred to follow up via email (probably also because they can ignore it) on my application.
Include
- Thank you for taking the time to review the application
- Ask for any clarifications that you can provide
- Ask for any feedback they can provide
- [optional] Ask for a time they see this happening in
From experience, most recruiters/hiring manager will not get back to you but the email show enthusiasm and your drive to get that position. It can help set you apart from the others and at a time like these anything helps
A final point here doing use your high school email Iloveponies@trot.com to send this email make sure that it’s an address that looks professional with a clear subject line
Engage on a call
The direct approach, well what can I say about that – I avoid it like the plague but that’s just me.
Calling a Recruiters/hiring manager for feedback on your application might seem like an intrusive approach but it has its merits
You don’t need to keep guessing what they think
If they’ve forgotten or been busy it brings it to the top of their minds
It shows that you do not shy away from trying to get what you want
In customer engagement roles like sales, this is probably the best approach as it always gives you the opportunity to wow with your commutation skills and show a lack of fear.
Make sure to ask
- If they received your application
- for a timeline on when you can expect feedback
- [optional] feedback on your application
Engage through Social Media
LinkedIn is fast becoming the social media of choice for most aspiring candidates. You can find most hiring managers, and recruiters on LinkedIn, and can also connect directly with them. You might find this strange but it’s the reason people signup for social media accounts – engagement.
It’s an excellent way to showcase your network, your activities, your successes, and media mentions. Professional social profiles are so much more engaging and interesting than a regular resume that I expect to replace my resume in the future.
It’s also an excellent way to keep in touch with recruitment consultants throughout your career. Make sure to keep it professional – some of the posts on LinkedIn these days are blurring the lines between LinkedIn and Facebook.
Send them a letter
Don’t do that. By the time it gets to their desk the position will be closed.
How long should I wait
The wait after sending an application is pure agony. It’s one of the hardest things to do but you must endure this pain.
Remember the recruiter is receiving 100’s if not thousands of resumes for each role they advertise – (Kcal role with 15K applications) so it’s important to give them time to revert. Don’t start emailing or calling them a few days after the application as it will not go down well.
Patience over persistence here is the key. I recommend waiting for about 2 weeks and then sending in an email or making a call. If you are aware that the role is a more immediate requirement then 1 week should be adequate time before the call.
This is very situational and some managers take persistence as a positive and others don’t.
So, try and I wish you the very best of luck.
