Inappropriate Follow-up Can Hurt, Not Help, Your Chances of Landing an Interview
By
Lindsey Plewa-Schottland, Graduate Career Management Center Advisor
We all know that following up can sometimes make the difference between landing an interview and having your application be overlooked. But what about inappropriate follow-up? You’re probably wondering, “Wait, is there such a thing?” The answer is, “Absolutely.”
We all know that following up can sometimes make the difference between landing an interview and having your application be overlooked. But what about inappropriate follow-up? You’re probably wondering, “Wait, is there such a thing?” The answer is, “Absolutely.”
Here’s an example. A
colleague recently received an email from a Human Resources Senior Associate
looking to hire an intern.
The message read, “We
have received a large volume of resumes of students expressing an interest in
our Winter Intern position… One of the candidates recently sent an email to our
firm wide Managing Director of Human Resources in our San Francisco office. If
there is any way to advise the students not to send unsolicited emails to other
employees of the firm that would be greatly appreciated.”
There are a
couple of reasons why this is an example of inappropriate follow-up:
~The HR Associate described the email as “unsolicited” meaning the candidate didn’t know the Managing Director or wasn’t introduced by a connection.
~The Managing Director is located in San Francisco. This posting is for the New York office which means the Managing Director is not part of the hiring process.
~There doesn’t appear to be a reason why the candidate followed up.
This last point is
critical. If you have applied to a
position and not heard back from the company, you should only try to contact HR
if you experienced obvious technical trouble submitting your application or if
contacting HR directly was part of the application process. Otherwise, wait to
hear back from HR for any first steps in the communications process. Employers
receive an average of 100 applications per job posting. An email to follow-up
“just because” will only irritate them and perhaps, ultimately prevent you from
landing an interview.
Knowing when and how to
follow up in different instances is so important. For example, if you met
someone at a networking event and don’t know how to follow up with them, you
may find my post on “How to Follow-Up Without Sounding Pushy” at http://gcmcweekly.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-to-follow-up-without-sounding-pushy.html to give you some helpful direction.
If you are a Zicklin MBA or MS
student or alum, and have questions on which follow-up is appropriate for your circumstance,
schedule an appointment with me or any GCMC Career Advisor by calling
646-312-1330.
Lindsey Plewa-SchottlandIn her role at the Graduate Career Management Center, Lindsey Plewa-Schottland, provides individual career coaching to MBA and MS students, delivers workshops on career-related topics and manages the center’s Graduate Assistants. Previously, she was a Career Coach for part-time MBAs and alumni of the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University where she managed a professional development program for 200 students annually. Prior to joining NYU Stern in the Fall of 2008, Lindsey served as an Education Advisor at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies for two years. Lindsey holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and holds a MA and two professional certificates, one in Adult Career Planning and one in Leadership Skills, from NYU.
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