You had an interview two weeks ago. The company representative said she was impressed with your credentials. You were told you should hear from her in a week. You haven’t heard anything. What should you do?

This is a case that occurs very frequently. Before discussing what you might do, it’s helpful to look at this case through the eyes of the recruiter. There are several possible reasons you haven’t heard back.

• The person who you talked to has been on the road a lot and just hasn’t been able to follow up.
• The people who need to decide on your possible employment have not been available.
• The company has ranked all candidates. You are in the middle group. The top group are those who received a positive follow up. The lower group received a negative follow up. The company is waiting to correspond with you until they hear from the top group.
• The company is reassessing its staffing needs.
• The person is just not that good about follow up.

As you can see, the lack of a follow up is generally not a negative. But the wait can be a problem especially if you have other possibilities.

Here’s what you can do to generate a positive response:

1. Send an email to your contact a week after the promised response date. Here’s some language you can use: “I would like to follow up on a possible position with (company name). You indicated I might hear from you by (date). I don’t want to be pesky but I really am excited about the work I could do at (company name).”
2. If you don’t receive a response within a week of the email described above, send a follow up email. Here’s what you can say: “I’m not sure if you received my previous email (see attached), but I just wanted to follow up on my prospects.”
3.  If you don’t get a response to the second email, then you should move on to other prospects. An offer may still come through but it’s probably unlikely.

As you read this, you are probably thinking this is being very pushy. In reality, companies interpret the follow up a sincere expression of interest. Being assertive about following up can actually work in your favor.

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