​So you applied to a job that you REALLY want for a company you REALLY want to work for… you revamped your CV, you used all the keywords you could find from the job description, your cover letter was ace… but it’s been 2 weeks and you haven’t heard anything back.

What to do?

DO write a follow-up email

As recruiters, we totally get the feeling of wanting to show you care, whilst trying not to come on too strong. If you’ve applied through an online application portal, we would recommend writing a follow-up email to a specific person rather than resubmitting again through the portal-of-no-return. It is no secret that online job applications can be somewhat of a black hole, and often you are up against hundreds, if not thousands of other applicants.

If you don’t know anyone directly at the company, do a little research. Check out the job advertisement again and try to figure out who the hiring manager is; often this can be found in a ‘Reporting to’ section. If that information is unavailable, check out LinkedIn and see if there is an internal recruiter or potential team member and email them directly. If no email address is available, there is an excellent Chrome extension called Prophet, which reveals people’s contact details when on their LinkedIn page.
You can check it out here.

Keep your message short, polite but to the point. Mention how you’ve applied already and then try to add a punchy line or two to make it clear how good of a fit you are or how you think you could help solve a potential challenge they face. Phrasing your email is more about how you can help the organisation, rather than checking in on your existing application. If you’re stuck for email-inspo, here are some great templates from Hubspot - https://www.hubspot.com/sales/follow-up-email-after-interview.

DON’T work against yourself

Looking interested in a company is good but looking too interested is off putting. You may think emailing your future company three times in a week after the application is showing the company that you are ready and eager, but no-one wants to hire a ‘Tom-Cruise-jumping-on-Oprah’s-sofa’ type of person.You’ll come off as a
candidate that is desperate to leave their current role, as opposed to someone that they’d be lucky to have on board… A little further down the road, being over-eager can also kill any negotiating stance you originally once had.

DO move on graciously

Ok, so you’ve applied for the role via the preferred route, you’ve sent a follow-up email to the recruiter AND the hiring manager, two weeks go by and you haven’t heard anything.

It may be that that all applications are going through an HR-driven process, which often means if your CV doesn’t match the job description exactly, you’re out. It could be that on this occasion the job just wasn’t the right one for you. In any case, don’t beat yourself up over milk that is not yet spilt and get back on the job-hunting horse. There are plenty of companies that are looking for top-notch employees with skills like yours, you just have to find them.

If you need a little extra help finding the perfect company and role for you, contact the FJ team here or hello@finlayjames.co.uk | 0161 438 1930