GLOBAL IMPACT STAFFING - Articles & Insights

If you are not in sales, the concept of following up may not make much sense to you. Recently I was teaching a class on how to find a job and how to find a better job in a tough market, when I mentioned this concept of following up. A gentleman in the class spoke up and said, “I wanted to know how to find a network administrator job, not a sales job.” I understood his concern, but to find the position you covet, you will need to be somewhat of a salesman first. And your success in this area will be one of the factors that determines what type of job you end up with.

In the article SEARCHING FOR A JOB, we covered ways to search for jobs. So now, assuming that there is a job and that you are qualified for it, we will examine how to put you in the best possible position to obtain it.

Consider this scenario to understand why it is important to always follow up: Let’s imagine your resume is one resume in a stack of thousands that is sitting on a recruiter’s desk. When you call the recruiter or prospective employer, you may only get his or her voicemail. When you leave a voicemail message, two things will happen: one, your resume comes back to the top of the pile; and two, the recruiter gets to know a little bit of your personality as well as the type of person you ‘could be’ because of your voice inflection in the message.

So here’s something to think about: Do you leave a concise and pleasant message, or do you leave a message that makes the recruiter feel like they need to get a suitcase because you are sending them on a guilt trip since they aren’t sitting by their phone waiting for you to call?

The whole point of following up is to bring your resume back to the top of the pile so that you are in front of that recruiter. I’m sure you’re thinking, “Won’t I upset the recruiter by calling them all the time?” You will if you are not courteous and polite, but the good recruiters like people who follow up.

If you really want to set yourself apart, here are some great ways to accomplish that:

Write a thank you follow up - a short sentence with a thank you at the end. You can use a nice note card or crisp sheet of paper, or there are plenty of free e-card sites that can help you accomplish this task.

Always follow up by phone with the HR department or a recruiter when you send them your resume.
Always follow up and send a thank you email after you do any type of interviewing with anybody. You might have to send your thank you to the recruiter so they can send it on to the manager; but do it because when you send a thank you, this gives the good recruiter something to tell the manager about.
Always send a thank you to the recruiter who helped you get your job. In a corporate setting, this could help you get a promotion that you didn’t know was available.
Always send a note to the manager who hired you. You may work directly for that person, but it still means something.