I’m Following Up After an Interview and Am Bring Ghosted! | JobSearchTV.com
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I’m trying to follow up after an interview and am being ghosted. No one is getting back to me. What do I do?
Using A Surrogate to Follow Up
I did an interview recently, and they’re not getting back to me. What do I do? I’m being ghosted! And the answer is really pretty simple. There’s multiple steps that you can engage in to help you and there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever get back to you. I just want to say that right away.
But at the end of your interview, you have to ask them, ‘So what’s your timeline for next steps?’ Or ‘When might expect to hear back from you?’ And they’ll give you some vague answer. And you’ll follow up by saying, ‘So if I haven’t heard from you by (pick a couple of days after that), is it okay if I follow up? And they’ll say, Sure, or wait.
And I’ll just simply say, follow up at that time, because it’s important for you to take action at the time that they tell you to. Too often people go on interviews, they don’t ask that question. They have an up to ambitious sense of when they should hear back. And firms are ghosting, because they don’t want to constantly say, ‘we don’t have a decision yet. We’re still interviewing,’ because you didn’t ask when you might hear back from them.
The other thing is an attitude thing. You never put your eggs in one basket. What you try to do is continue to interview. It’s like dating until you’re ready to get married until you’re ready to get engaged. You know, you’re not committed to one person. As a result, you continue dating. Hopefully you find the right person. Job search is the same way. You get out there, you keep talking to firms until you’re ready to accept the marriage proposal.
Now, let’s assume you are following up and they’re not getting back to you. Try reaching out to someone else. If you’ve been trying to reach HR, try reaching the hiring manager. ‘I don’t know how to do that.’ Well contact them through LinkedIn, and simply say, ‘I’ve been trying to reach so and so in HR, and they’re not getting back to me. I know I interviewed with you and I’m curious. Have you made a decision? Are there going to be any next steps involving me? Could you give me a sense about when I might hear back.
Now, the hiring manager, if they’re interested, s/he’s going to respond right away. And I’ll also say, if they don’t right or respond right away, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not interested because the dirty little secret of LinkedIn is unless someone’s job hunting, they’re not always sitting on the platform, waiting for you to message them. So give them a little bit of time to respond– like a couple of days. And you should know through their action or inaction, whether or not they’re interested.
Lastly, let’s assume you’re trying everything and nothing is working. Go to Glassdoor. Go to indeed, and leave a polite piece of feedback that says ‘you know, I interviewed with this firm. Seemed like nice people. Seemed like it went well, but I’m being ghosted. frustrated. Just keep it simple, to the point don’t go off on this lengthy tirade that says ‘I hate these people, they’re so unprofessional.’ Fewer words are better. It keeps it succinct, to the point, and if you do it, see if you can tag the firm itself, so that they get the message that they screwed up.
If you post it on LinkedIn, you know, send a message to the HR person. And, again, try and reach out to them that way. But the long the short of it is leave some feedback that lets people, other people know what your experience was. Don’t go off on a lengthy tantrum. Just provide facts.
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ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2400 episodes.
Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice about networking more effectively, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coaching? People hire me to provide No BS career advice whether that is about a job search, hiring better, leadership, management or support with a workplace issue. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
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