Strategic hunting: Timely follow-up with recruiters critical to a successful job search
Strategic hunting: Timely follow-up with recruiters critical to a successful job search
Professionally dressed? Check. Copies of resume, proofed and ready to pass out? Check. Firm handshake as you meet recruiters from companies at the job fair? Check. Landing a job is almost a certainty now, right?
Wrong. Meeting company representatives at a job fair and passing out resumes is only the first step in finding that perfect job. The next steps are crucial to ensuring recruiters remember you.
"Make certain that you get the business cards of the person you’re talking to," says Jane Walter, president of Career Development Consultants in Greensboro. Business cards allow you to keep track of the many recruiters you meet so you can follow up later. Recruiters may meet 100 or more job candidates during the course of a job fair, so it’s imperative that job hunters take extra steps to be the candidate that a recruiter remembers back at the office. "One of the things I really push people to do is to stop by the booth again before you leave the career fair and thank the recruiters for coming to the fair," says Tony Abbruzzi, assistant director of UNCG’s Career Services Center. Abbruzzi has gotten good feedback from employers about this practice and says it reminds recruiters who you are and makes a good overall impression.
Once the job fair ends, however, the real work begins. It is imperative to follow up with recruiters to make your resume stand out from the stack they collect at job fairs. Many candidates are not sure how often to check in with recruiters. It is a delicate balance to keep in touch without becoming annoying. But career specialists agree it’s important to quickly check in with recruiters after the fair.
"Within 24 hours, I would send an e-mail as a follow-up thank you," Walter says. In the electronic age, e-mail is a perfectly acceptable format for the follow-up thank you note, but candidates should carefully proofread messages before hitting the "send" button. While resumes and cover letters are often prepared with help from career counselors, and are proofread several times before they are sent out, the same is not true of e-mails.
"I encourage candidates to be careful," says Tim Peck, chair of the recruiting committee for Smith Moore LLP in Greensboro. "E-mails are sometimes more memorable in a bad way than a good way."
Prepare your e-mail with the same care you would a letter. Do not use slang or abbreviations in your note and don’t reference a personal blog as a source of more information. Also make sure your e-mail address is professional and nondescript, saving cute e-mail addresses for personal correspondence.
"One of the things we’ve seen recently is that a lot of companies are using e-mail as a writing sample," Abbruzzi says. Waddell Sheppard, a recruiting consultant with Wachovia, recommends using the first e-mail to specifically ask the recruiter how often he or she would feel comfortable being contacted. By asking this question up-front, candidates have clear guidelines set out for them.
"Each company is very different and has a different hiring process," Sheppard says. The initial follow-up e-mail is also a good time to clarify the company’s hiring process and timeline. Sheppard recommends that candidates then "follow up every 10 days or so." By keeping in contact with the recruiter, candidates continue to reinforce their interest in the company.
Candidates have to be patient when expecting replies from recruiters, remembering that recruiters often have busy travel schedules.
"Wait for a response," Sheppard says. "Five to 10 days gives a recruiter a chance to see what jobs are available."
Job hunting can be a frustrating process, but frustration shouldn’t be expressed in an e-mail to the recruiter. "That can get you weeded out quickly," Sheppard says. Even after following up in the appropriate manner, candidates may not get the job for a variety of reasons. But a valuable contact has been made and shouldn’t be lost.
"Keep in contact with the recruiter," Sheppard says, "and keep your eyes on the company’s Web site to see what’s available."
You just never know where the next lead might turn up.
