Should I call a potential employer if I don't hear back from them after an interview?

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Karen Chopra
Licensed Professional Counselor
www.ChopraCareers.com  
 

Karen James Chopra, LPC, MCC, NCC, has been counseling career clients since 1999 and has helped hundreds of clients change careers, find new jobs and deal more effectively with workplace challenges.

In addition to her private practice, she has worked for two national corporate outplacement firms: Lee Hecht Harrison and Resource Careers. These are the organizations that help people who have experienced a layoff or downsizing to find new jobs, and their programs are usually considered the gold-standard of job search technique.

Ms Chopra is a regular presenter on career issues, having taught career theory at the graduate level, designed and delivered numerous workshops, and served as a regular guest commentator on WMAL’s career radio show “Your Career Life.”

She is a career-changer herself. Before entering the counseling field, she worked for nearly a decade as a trade negotiator for the United States Government, first at the Department of Commerce and then at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Ms. Chopra holds a number of relevant licenses and certifications: licensed professional counselor (LPC) in the District of Columbia; Master Career Counselor (MCC), a designation of the National Career Development Association (NCDA); and National Certified Counselor (NCC), a designation of the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC).  She belongs to all of the relevant national and local associations involved in career counseling, including the American Counseling Association (ACA),  the National Employment Counselors Association (NECA), the National Career Development Association (NCDA) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Career-Life Planning Network (MAC-LPN).

Her B.A. is from the University of Virginia, and she received a masters of science in foreign service from Georgetown University, and a masters in community counseling from George Washington University.

Should I call a potential employer if I don't hear back from them after an interview?

 

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Host: Should I call a potential employer if I don't hear back from them after an interview?

Karen Chopra: In this day and age it is unfortunately all too common for companies not to call back after an interview. What you should do is give them a week, maybe ten days after the interview and then call back and say I just wanted to touch base. Have you filled the position? If not, is there anything that I can tell you that might help you select me as the candidate and clients are often surprised that I will say call and call and call again, every week to ten days until they tell you they have filled the position or indicate they are no longer interviewing for the position.

You are entitled to know whether the job has been filled, so feel free call on a regular basis. Don't stock them. You are not going to call every day but you can call every couple of weeks until you know what's going on with the position and don't be surprised, it can take sometimes weeks. I have seen it take months before a position has been filled and the candidate has been under consideration the entire time.

So sometimes you are touching base and calling back and saying I am still interested. I really like the company. I am interested in the opportunity that let's them know while they are waiting and dithering and making their decision that you are one of the candidate that they need to take seriously because you really want the job. So by all means follow up by phone as often it seems proven to you.

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