CalKen's picture Submitted by CalKen on
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Career Management

Hello everyone;

I have been recommended by my mentor (who is a Director-level) to another director in the UK who has stated his interest in hiring me. As such, I call him to follow-up and I was calling him weekly to ask him the current status of the position he wishes to offer me and he tells me that he is still trying to get the requisition out. I ask him if I could call him in another week and he always says yes. I called him every week for three weeks and he gives me the same answer: that he is very interested in me and that he is still working on the requisition.

My mentor told me (upon me telling him about this) that I should only call once every two weeks as he is probably very busy and it could be viewed negatively by him (as harassing).

Any inputs on this? Should I wait the two weeks as my mentor said or do you think that I should do the "one week" rule and follow-up each week until he gets the requisition out? I don't want to be harassing but I want to ensure that he still knows I am interested in his "offer". Any recommendations you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

HMac's picture
Submitted by HMac on Saturday April 26th, 2008 6:31 pm

As long as you're "asking permission" each time, I don't see the problem. Be open and candid: "I'll be happy to check in again in a week, unless you think I should do differently. What do you think?"

See - here's the trick: ask an open question, rather than a closed one that can be answered with a simple yes or no. It's important to stay in touch, but the real objective here is to start building a relationship, and you do that by engaging in conversations.

Cheers,

-Hugh

thaGUma's picture
Submitted by thaGUma on Sunday May 11th, 2008 5:24 pm

CalKen, I appreciate your concern, and it is unfounded. As Hugh said, you are asking permission. If the director wanted to put you off, he would extend the call back period to months.

You are doing the right thing. By staying in touch you increase the chance of your name being at the front of his mind when an opening is available. There are other candidates out there and I can’t think of a single job where tenacity is seen negatively.

And don’t get disheartened if the call back is extended to two weeks or even a month. You are probably a candidate he wants to place but has no real immediate opening.

Chris