You had a great job interview. Your answers were spot-on, you have the skills needed to perform the work, you connected with the interviewer but you haven’t heard back from them. As frustrating as it might be, not getting a response after an interview happens quite often and it doesn't necessarily mean that you didn’t get the job - as we already covered in this blog post about the main reasons why you haven't heard back from a recruiter yet.
The thing is: you can’t know for sure what’s going on unless you ask. It’s absolutely fine to check in once when you’re past the point when you expected to hear something. But how can you politely ask for an interview result?
How long should you wait after a job interview to follow up?
We'd recommend waiting for five business days before reaching out to the recruiter. If they provided an expected date to get back to you after the interview, follow up one business day after that date has passed.
How to write a follow up email after a job interview?
- If the recruiter sent you an email confirming the job interview, hit reply and that's where you should type your message. Keeping the same subject line will help the recruiter because it's clear what your email is about and they'll easily have enough context to take any action about it.
- If they didn't send you an email confirmation for your job interview, make sure to give the recruiter some context before asking anything: your name, date and time you were interviewed.
- When starting your message, address the person by their first name
- Your message should be short and simple, saying you're still very interested in the position and wondering if the recruiter would have an update on the timeline for next steps.
- If you'd like to check out some templates, Indeed and Glassdoor have really good ones to inspire you!
What if they say they have no feedback yet?
First, thank the recruiter for getting back to you. Let them know you understand these things take time and that you're really interested in this position, which is the perfect lead to your next question: "When would be the best time for me to check back in?"
What if you don't get any reply at all?
If you followed up and got no response, maybe the recruiter got really busy or things have changed. The best thing you can do for your own peace of mind is to assume you didn’t get the job and move on. If they do contact you at some point, it can be a pleasant surprise, rather than the thing that you have been stressing and nudging people about.
And if you're looking for a new opportunity, Shiftfillers has plenty to offer! Check out our available jobs and apply today!