The Mistake People Make at the End of Interviews
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
The mistake people make is at the end of an interview, never asking when they can expect to hear about next steps. That will tell them when to follow up. Now the probability is you’ll hear one of three answers from them:
- I have several more people to speak with, and I’ll be back in touch if I’m interested.
- I expect to hear from this early part of next week.
- To me, it’s clear that you’re in a cattle call.
The second response is: “I expect to hear from this early part of next week,” to which you might respond, “If I haven’t heard from you by Wednesday or Thursday, is it okay if I follow up?”
That gives you permission to follow up, assuming they say yes. If they say, “WAIT,” then it’s not so good.
The third option is if they say, “I expect you’ll hear from us early part of next week. We want to have you back to meet this person, this person, and this person and they start describing their roles clearly. You did well.” Again you can follow up by saying, “If I haven’t heard from you by the early part of next week, is it okay if I follow up with you by Wednesday or Thursday?”
Now following a scenario where a person hasn’t gotten feedback or a decision after two outreaches, to me, who worked in search for a long time before transitioning to coaching, the best advice I can give is to take a hint.
If they were interested, they would have followed up by now. If they aren’t sure, they would have communicated to you that they still had a person or two to talk to and they would be back to you around the particular time.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2026
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