After completing an interview, your next step should always be to send a thank-you email to the interviewer or hiring manager. Since hiring managers are very busy people, sometimes it can take them a few days or even a week to respond to your email. But what happens when the hiring manager isn’t responding at all? How do you know when to stop reaching out?
In honor of baseball being back, I’m going to share the Three Strike Rule for following up with hiring managers. This simple rule is an easy way to remember how many times you should follow up with a hiring manager before you should call it quits. Following up too many times with a hiring manager can actually hurt your chances more than it helps, so it’s important to stick to only three reach outs.
Strike One
Your first follow-up phone call should come 7 days after you send your thank-you email if you haven’t received a response yet. Preferably, this follow-up should be a phone call directly to the hiring manager, instead of an email. If you get their voicemail, leave a pleasant and professional message asking for feedback and for them to return you call. If you don’t get a response in 48 hours, that’s strike one.
Strike Two
Your second reach out should come 48 hours after your initial phone call. If you call and reach their voicemail again, leave another message. But this time, send them an email afterwards letting them know you left them a voicemail and were hoping to connect sometime soon. If you still don’t get a response after 48 hours, then that’s strike two.
Strike Three
When yet another 48 hours go by and you still don’t receive a response from your second reach out, then try one more time to call or email the hiring manager. In your final message, very politely state that you still haven’t received any feedback after your interview, and that if you don’t hear back from them, you’ll assume the position has been closed and won’t call again. If after your third follow up you still don’t receive a response, then that’s strike three, and you should do as you said in your message and refrain from reaching out again.
Although it may seem like reaching out to a hiring manager until you get a response will show them your persistence and how much you want the job, it will actually do the opposite. It’s important to stick to the 3 strike rule when reaching out to hiring managers so you don’t ruin your chances of landing the position or second interview.
For more advice on proper etiquette for during and after your interview, then download our Free Interview Toolbox.
