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To follow up or not to follow up post interview

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confusedguy
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To follow up or not to follow up post interview

Post by confusedguy » Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:10 am

Hi everybody,

I have got a concern here and would appreciate feedback.

I attended 2 separate telephone interviews with 2 different MNCs (Multi National Companies) on 2 different occasions. Both have said they will get back to me, with the first company stating that they will get me in for a second interview (but it may be weeks later) and the second stating that they will get back to me last Tuesday on whether I made it to the second stage or not.

The concern I have is that for the first company, 2 weeks have already come and gone and still no news from them. I called them last week to find out the status and was told that there was still no decision made on my profile.

As for the second company, I called them up after a week from the interview, and was told that the interviewer was difficult to get hold of but she would try and then give me a call to let me know.

My question is that should I keep following up with these 2 companies on the interview status or should I leave it alone (as I have experiences in the past where interviewers have stated they will call me to let me know the interview status but never did and normally I am never successful for these interviews that I had attended).

Secondly, what are your observations for these 2 companies? Are they playing a wait-and-see game or they have too many candidates whom they are seeing? Also if I should follow up how long should I wait out to follow up with these 2 companies?

Appreciate inputs very much.

Thanks.

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durain
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Post by durain » Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:12 am

no harm in contacting the company to get a status update. or maybe they are interviewing other people as well? or already hired someone else?

anything is possible. :wink:

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sat, 12 Jul 2008 7:08 am

confusedguy,

HR Departments in Singapore, MNC or not, are notoriously ignorant of decent protocol. For them it's out of sight, out of mind. You have to keep after them to find out what is happening as they never consider how much time that they are taking to fill a position. Also, if the position is a responsible (high) enough one, then they would expect that you are probably still employed so therefore not really in a hurry. However, they will also b.itch when you tell them, after they actually confirm something, you are required to give 3 months notice or salary in lieu. :roll:

There is nothing professional with "Local" HR and you will find that most MNC's use "Local" HR practitioners (I use the term loosely). So, keep after them until they either tell you to bugger off or set up something further.

sms
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

confusedguy
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Post by confusedguy » Mon, 14 Jul 2008 2:48 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:confusedguy,

HR Departments in Singapore, MNC or not, are notoriously ignorant of decent protocol. For them it's out of sight, out of mind. You have to keep after them to find out what is happening as they never consider how much time that they are taking to fill a position. Also, if the position is a responsible (high) enough one, then they would expect that you are probably still employed so therefore not really in a hurry. However, they will also b.itch when you tell them, after they actually confirm something, you are required to give 3 months notice or salary in lieu. :roll:

There is nothing professional with "Local" HR and you will find that most MNC's use "Local" HR practitioners (I use the term loosely). So, keep after them until they either tell you to bugger off or set up something further.

sms
Hi SMS,

Thanks for the advice.

Was just thinking the other day that there's still no answer yet and so I should keep calling them for status until I got an answer.

Was wondering, should I call them once a week or once in 3 days or once a day for the status update? I know the latter will annoy them but I was also told that it may also look positive to HR, depending on who HR is.

Thanks.

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Saint
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Post by Saint » Mon, 14 Jul 2008 3:54 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:confusedguy,

HR Departments in Singapore, MNC or not, are notoriously ignorant of decent protocol. For them it's out of sight, out of mind. You have to keep after them to find out what is happening as they never consider how much time that they are taking to fill a position. Also, if the position is a responsible (high) enough one, then they would expect that you are probably still employed so therefore not really in a hurry. However, they will also b.itch when you tell them, after they actually confirm something, you are required to give 3 months notice or salary in lieu. :roll:

There is nothing professional with "Local" HR and you will find that most MNC's use "Local" HR practitioners (I use the term loosely). So, keep after them until they either tell you to bugger off or set up something further.

sms
Totally agree with SMS having experienced it first hand recently. Email/call them as often as you feel comfortable with but keep it very professional.

confusedguy
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To follow up or not to follow up post interview

Post by confusedguy » Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:26 pm

durain wrote:no harm in contacting the company to get a status update. or maybe they are interviewing other people as well? or already hired someone else?

anything is possible.
Saint wrote:
Totally agree with SMS having experienced it first hand recently. Email/call them as often as you feel comfortable with but keep it very professional.


Saint, durain, Thanks!

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RULDS
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Post by RULDS » Fri, 18 Jul 2008 4:12 pm

Not as experience in HR as SMS but I know of companies that woud only hire a person if they called back (followed up) at least 2 or 3 times for the job. Now this may apply to sales or entry level positions but it is always in the back of my mind so think of it like this....if they like you, they will be impressed that you follow up with them weekly. If they hate you, then it is always fun annoying the people that dis-like you :twisted:

Rule of Thumb: Interview and then send a thank you email the next day (be sure to ask for their busines card).

Call 1 week later to follow up and every week till they say yes or no. And as SMS said, HR people here operate on their own schedule.

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