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Subject:RE: Post-interview: "We'll call you" From:"Boudreaux, Madelyn (GE Healthcare, consultant)" <MadelynBoudreaux -at- ge -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:31:39 -0400
My pie-in-the-sky choice would be to drop an informal thank you note,
hand-written in my car, at the front desk very soon after my interview,
and to follow up with a more formal business-style thank you,
recapitulating the main points of the interview and any follow-ups
needed, via email the next day.
My reality has never been so ideal. I don't think I've ever actually
succeeded in getting a thank you note out the door before I either had a
job offer or a rejection. :|
As far as calling or emailing weekly, that seems like overkill. However,
hiring managers would be advised to be honest and straightforward in the
process, as well (as I'm sure all on this list are -- but some out there
are not). If I'm told, "We'll have a decision in a week," and I call in
a week, I'd like to get something other than a runaround or a "We still
don't have a decision; call back in another week." 2 or 3 of those and I
usually don't want to work for that person or company; what does it say
about their managing style? I realize that the hiring manager holds the
power*, and that the process is not always smooth, but it could be
handled better. And a phone call or email or letter rejection is a nice
touch; I hate when I never even hear back at all. It's a subtle dance,
right?
* I don't exactly believe that. I see an interview as a 2-way street.
I've rejected companies before, because the fit wasn't right or
something seemed wrong. Politely, of course, and with good grace, but it
takes two to tango, and as interviewees, we are not without power. After
all, they called US.
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