Is less more?

[Lerxst]

Maybe I'm over-thinking this or maybe I've hit a string of bad luck... I don't know. Anytime I send follow-ups to potential employers after an interview, I seem to either eat my own words, ramble on to a person that could care less, or fall victim to bad luck.

One recent occasion, I sent multiple follow-ups after they said they would call back. I was tactful, but wonder after-the-fact if I didn't come off as sounding desperate. The nail in the coffin was their rejection letter the following week. So after all of the effort, I was still rejected and most likely sent all of that information to a person that didn't care one way or another about reading it.

Another interview went well, but they got flooded out by the hurricane that hit the East Coast. They were also a part of the power outage that meant about 2 weeks without any form of communication from them. I must have left 2 messages and sent a couple more emails during that period of dead silence from them, only to get a response that they chose someone else afterwards.

Just recently I ate my own words when I sent a follow-up question/thank you letter in which I asked about emergency preparedness for the site (in a remote location) and they just got hit with 2 feet of snow the following day. Still haven't heard anything back. Wondering if that e-mail would either help or hinder my chances there now.

I know proper etiquette says you're supposed to send these "thank you's" and follow-up with the employer after the fact, but I'm seriously questioning if they can hurt you as much as they can help you in some situations.

 

[edie]

if you had an interview with the employer, I would most certainly send a "thank you" note.

That said, I think it's important to take into consideration the type of business. Are you calling the person who makes the employment decisions or a general line? I know from working administration jobs at Universities and the like that often we, the office admins, would get calls from individuals who had applied and while they did call and we did talk to them, their efforts may have been lost because they didn't call the person doing the hiring directly?

I probably wouldn't call multiple times. Maybe they've received your message but simply haven't had the time to call you back? IMHO, less might be more.

--edie

 

[Ryo]

You have to send something but I tend to think of post interview thank you's as checking a required step off the list. It's etiquette to do it but at that point it's usually too late to positively influence your chances. So I would just shoot them an email if you can or ask to leave a voicemail message.

It's really tough out there. I doubt your follow-ups are hurting you too much. Keep at it.