Interview Tips: When & How To Make An Effective Job Interview Follow Up

By Tabitha Makumi,

You’ve succeeded in going through what most job seekers term as the hardest stage of their job search which is getting shortlisted. You’ve been invited for an interview. You attend and you are confident enough that you’ve aced it. The interview is over….now what? Anxiety is the feeling Mathew Kimathi* uses to describe the felling he gets after attending a job interview.

“I have attended three job interviews since I graduated last year and just a day or two after, I start to become anxious and wondering if I will get the job or lose it to someone else. After a day, I usually call the HR officer just to get rid of the anxiety .Unfortunately I have not landed a job yet and I would like to know how soon is too soon to make a follow up,” reads his email.

Speaking to Fridah Abuya, Human Resource Consultant with Virtual HR, she is of the essence that a day or two is too soon to make a follow up. “What most companies go for is two weeks at most,” she adds that, “Especially for recruitment firms which have to deal with clients, you have to give them some time because they have to wait for feedback from their clients on whom they have chosen from the names you forwarded to them.”

She asserts that after the client have chosen on whom to hire, the next step that such recruitment firms do is to immediately send out regret letters to those who had been shortlisted for an interview. “This way you spare job seekers the agony of waiting and raising their hopes while as you’ve already settled on a preferred candidate.”

But do job seekers really know when and how to make a follow up?

“I have had people follow up just 2 hours after the interview,” confesses Martin Githaiga, a HR Officer with Corporate Staffing Services. “I understand the anxiety that a job seeker might have and the eagerness to leave the jobless corner but still two hours is too short.”

His advice? “If it has to be short, let be one week but I would recommend two weeks after the interview.”

He adds that, “Even when you are making a follow up make sure you are official about it,” he confesses how people write thank you notes which read like prayers.

“They are those follow up emails that come in a prayerful mode, you know, full of gratitude and kind of begging you to hand them the job,” for such he says, “Don’t try to swing votes/ emotions to your end.”

So how should one go about it?

“An official email is appropriate,” says Ms Abuya who adds that, “it should be short, straight to the point email and brief as possible.”

She adds that the purpose of the letter is to remind the interviewer of what a strong candidate you are and why you are uniquely qualified for the job. “I do not mind receiving calls either, but they have to be made after the appropriate time and they too have to be official. Don’t get carried away when making your follow up”

And as far as follow ups do’s and don’ts’ go, Mr Githaiga adds that, “Don’t offer the HR any incentives in exchange of anything” What does he mean I probe, “Don’t say, “We can talk over tea or try to offer bribes of any kinds,” this he says makes you come across as a person who does not have integrity and will do anything to land a job.

Back to you as a job seeker, do you thinking following up plays any impact on whether you will get the job or not?

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