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Topic: What to do after sending cover letter & resume?
| Author | Message |
| flummoxed | Posted – 3/17/2008 6:12:06 PM | show profile | email poster I responded to an ad posted at the end of Feb. for editor of an alumni mag. (4-color, <30pp., 3 times a year) for a professional school. I meet all the qualifications the ad listed--and then some, plus I am knowledgeable and have experience in aspects of the school's profession. Initially I applied through HR, but knowing what a black hole HR can be, I also emailed, then snail-mailed my letter and res. to the director of publications (who the editor will be reporting to) at the university. It's been about 2 weeks since I first applied, and so far, I've heard nothing. I want to appear interested but not obnoxious or obsessed. I feel my next move should be either to call the dir. of pubs. directly, to send another email reiterating my interest etc., or (as a friend suggested) call the office secretary to get a sense of where they are in the interview process. If any of you have successfully dealt with a similar situation or have any suggestions about what my next move should be, I'd love to hear from you. I've always received great feedback and support whenever I've posted to this forum, so I'm eager to hear what all or any of you have to say. Thanks!! |
| foodlit | Posted – 3/18/2008 11:54:27 AM | show profile Call the person you sent the resume to and leave the following message, "I wanted to make sure you received my resume as I feel that I'm a perfect fit for this job. I have x number years of experience at xx. I sent the resume on Feb x . Please call me at xxxx" Wait two days, then leave the same message for the Director of Publications. I suggest starting with HR, because they are the ones managing the search and what often happens is they are bombarded with resumes, and start interviewing and let the others sit there once they have good pipeline going. By calling, and saying when you applied, it helps them find your resume, especially if you say why you're a good fit. Keep it short and sweet though. If you hear nothing after a few days, then leave the same message for the hiring manager. I suggest hr first, because often the hiring manager doesn't want to hear directly from candidates, and prefers to have hr be the buffer, so try that route first. I'm a recruiter and have also been internal hr, so this is based on what I've seen work. Good luck! Pam |
| dayjobluvah | Posted – 3/18/2008 12:02:13 PM | show profile you may be the candidate they're looking for but they're either still interviewing candidates or they think you command a salary higher than they can afford. i think thus far, you've done enough. these things really do take time. i'd say keep up hope for another month or so. i applied for a job back in january and got a call for an interview only this week. bizarre but i was still biting. i am a little wary that they waited until now - it tells me the company is not as eager to hire me as i was to go work for them two months ago... |
| libbylondon | Posted – 3/18/2008 2:35:34 PM | show profile Keep in mind that academia moves at a pace slower than molasses. My husband works for a college and I do freelance work for some of their departments. The recruitment process here regularly takes three or four months. I would be patient and give them a couple more weeks before you start calling. Good luck! |
| InsomniacNOT | Posted – 3/18/2008 2:50:13 PM | show profile Please follow Foodlit's advice and follow up now. There is no good reason for letting something like this sit for a month as the other posters suggest. Not phoning means you won't know what stage things are at or, worst case scenario, you'll miss out on the job because your info. was misfiled. |
| flummoxed | Posted – 3/18/2008 5:06:06 PM | show profile Thanks to all of you for the advice and support! I think I will wait a day or two, then call, as foodlit suggested. To dayjobluvah: I've found that when someone takes forever to respond to my resume it usually indicates that the person is either disorganized and/or inexperienced at job interviewing, but I've also heard that delays could mean issues with funding or job responsibilities, so try not to take it personally. It most likely has nothing to do with you. Good luck to you as well! |
| AWC | Posted – 3/18/2008 6:00:07 PM | show profile I've worked at two different schools (one public, one private), and I can tell you that the hiring process is extremely slow. As already stated above, the process can take anywhere from 4-5 months or longer. Schools and universities have many legal and self-imposed regulations governing the hiring process that you don't really encounter outside of the academic world. In my personal experience, neither of the schools I worked for contacted me right away. In both cases, 2-3 months passed between application and the initial call to schedule an interview. Two weeks is nothing. It probably couldn't hurt to call or email HR to inquire about the status of the search, but contacting the Director of Publications is probably a step too far at this point. Personally, I would give it a little more time. |
| observer | Posted – 3/18/2008 8:51:03 PM | show profile on a similar note, i just interviewed at a museum and it took them a month for them to call. the interview process took a month of which i made it to round 3. it turns out they offered the position to an internal candidate. crazy, huh? |
| AWC | Posted – 3/19/2008 12:37:39 PM | show profile My most drawn out application process was actually for an in-house marketing position at a very large company. I had 10 (!) separate interviews over a 2-1/2 month period. About halfway through the process I considered withdrawing my application. In the end, it came down to an internal candidate and me. Thankfully, after all that, I did land the job. |
| HyancinthGirl | Posted – 3/19/2008 1:33:17 PM | show profile AWC.... Did you say ten interviews? My goodness!! After that I would expect combat pay for putting you through such a ringer to prove yourself. Thank goodness that's the exception and not the norm! |
| jcpatterson | Posted – 3/19/2008 4:21:44 PM | show profile Ditto what has been said about higher education - it is on its own little time schedule. A call to HR at this point to check on receipt of your resume is not out of place. Just be aware that there are a number of things that can slow things down. At some universities, HR will not release the resumes for review until they are sure that they have made recruiting efforts that would be visible to a number of different populations (so not just recruiting through your local papers, but also through job listings in the magazines of professional organizations of different sorts). Obviously, this may mean that they are sitting on the resumes for a month or two until anyone even reviews them. Then, it is not uncommon for the department to form a committee to review the resumes, which can easily eat up another week or four. Figure in a couple of rounds of interviews, then another committee meeting to get folks' impressions of the candidates. Then, back to HR. There may be several hoops they have to jump through to get final approval to actually fill the position, even though they posted it three months ago and actively sought candidates. Long story short, if a university is recruiting at this time of year (March), they are probably hoping to have someone on board between the start of the fiscal year (July 1) and the start of the fall term. |
| foodlit | Posted – 3/20/2008 10:43:16 AM | show profile Honestly, I wouldn't make any assumptions as to an interviewer being disorganized or inexperienced or anything else based on how long it takes them to contact you after you apply. There are so many factors that it could be...often the hr person is on the ball, but is waiting for the hiring manager to respond...and very often its' a catch 22, because the hiring manager really needs to hire someone...but is too busy to deal with it! Keep in mind that the hiring manager still has to do their job, and likely the job of the person to be hired, and the job duties always come first, before interviewing. Then, it could be a million other things, there could be an internal referral that is being run through the process first, before they look at outside resumes or internal employees hoping for a promotion. The job could be on hold. or pending additional approvals before interviewing can begin. There could be an offer out to someone already...and they're waiting to see if it's accepted. If not, back to square one and reviewing the resumes. You really never know exactly what is going on, so much is due to timing, so all you can do is be diligent about keeping in touch and following up, and never put all your eggs in one basket, keep networking, and interviewing until you have a confirmed start date. Good luck, Pam |
| AWC | Posted – 3/20/2008 11:37:56 AM | show profile One of the two schools I worked for was a state university. When a position opened up, they were legally required to advertise the the job in newspapers and other publications around the entire state for a minimum of three weeks. Once resumes came in, they were reviewed by HR to determine if there were enough candidates who self-identified as a member of an "under-represented population" -- meaning women, racial and ethnic minorities, and veterans. There was a specific percentage of the total applications that needed to be met. If HR determined that the percentage was not met, the job had to be advertised for another three weeks. When this lengthy process was completed, resumes were then forwarded onto the department that was actually hiring. The crazy thing was that this whole process had to happen even if they knew in advance that someone was going to be promoted internally, and that outsiders were not really under consideration. |
