Blog Post: Uh Oh! Is it too late to follow up?

Nothing? Don’t worry, it is not too late to follow up.

Chances are, the contacts that you made at the Career Fair have not made any hiring decisions, yet. They have regular job tasks to attend to, they may still be reviewing the resumes submitted, or they may not have the ability to hire just now.  In fact, it may just be the prefect time for you to remind them of who you are and why you would be a valuable addition to their group.

 Here are some tips:

1. Get out a piece of paper or use an Excel spreadsheet to list and track all of your follow up activity. While this may seem laborious, it will be essential to ensure that you are persistent but not pushy with each company. List company name, contact person, contact phone, date contacted, follow up strategy, etc.
2. Review all of the companies that you visited and make notes about any conversations that you had. This will be useful to mention when you contact the company again, because it may jog their memory and make you stand out.
3. Plan a different follow up strategy for each company. Depending on your conversation or contact or the impression that you got with each individual company, you will have a different method for follow up.  You may have been instructed to follow up in a specific manner – don’t stray from this! Phone call, email, hand written note, submission of a portfolio or additional information, etc.
4. Be creative, but stay professional. When I was applying for jobs around the holidays, I sent handwritten Holiday cards. When I was applying for jobs as a copywriter, I sent follow up postcards with a clever poem about why the company should hire me. Differentiate yourself from other candidates.
5. Schedule your follow ups appropriately. This is a tricky one because you may have to be intuitive or you may have been told directly. Again, if you have been instructed to wait for a few weeks, or told that the company will contact you,  follow their lead- - they have told you this for a reason. If you have had no contact since the Job Fair or your initial contact, definitely contact them within the first 2 weeks. Beyond that, unless you are given specific instructions regarding when to follow up next, I would put in another effort in 2-3 more weeks. Beyond that, about 6 weeks from the initial contact. Beyond that, 10 weeks from the initial contact. And beyond that, I hope you have some other irons in the fire. If it is your dream job, and you are waiting for that perfect position to open up when someone retires then certainly continue to contact the company every 6 months, and make sure to be creative and make yourself stand out.
6. What to say- get to the point. Thank them for their time and for the opportunity. Ask what the next step is. Ask if, when, and how you should continue to follow up. Ask for a formal interview if appropriate. Don’t try to sell yourself in the follow up- the goal is to get the next appointment. The approach that you should take is persistent but not pushy. And when following up by phone, make friends with the “Gatekeeper” – this person can be your biggest ally or biggest obstacle.
7. Be confidant in your abilities- you are a worthy person and any company deserves to have an employee like you. You add value and you bring your unique experiences to the team. So, don’t grovel or make yourself seem desperate. Learn how to develop your sense of posture – posture is that fine line between wimp and jerk; walk your own line.
8.  Develop yourself – job searching often involves a lot of waiting. Don’t let this time go to waste! Educate yourself on your particular field, or even better, read books on success principles, personality types and leadership development- these are all soft skills that you can take with you from job to job. Employers will be happy to know that you are on a constant path of self-improvement, because that will naturally translate into improvement within your job itself.

Stay tuned to learn more about those soft skills that can follow you in your career, prepare you for success, be the determining factor between hiring you versus another candidate, and set you up for a promotion over the drones who simply clock in and clock out.

Here’s to your success!

Hollis Moore is Founding Owner of Moore From Life, LLC which specializes in education and business development in the areas of entrepreneurship, leadership, financial literacy, and real estate investment. As "Experts in Education" their goal is to lead you to the resources that will empower you for success. www.MooreFromLife.com