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Topic: When is it ok to become a job stalker
| Author | Message |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 5/8/2008 2:24:08 PM | show profile | email poster Thanks to everyone who commented on my '5 interviews then nothing' thread. Just to follow up: I sent an email to the three managers I phone interviewed with asking if I was still being considered. Five days later I got an email from their HR person saying that I did not get the job. Now I'm looking into another job. I happen to inquire at a publication... if they happen to have openings. I recently had to email their chief editor about something else. Well it turns out they do. I performed a similar role at my old pub, so I mentioned that in my reply expressing interest in the job. I am in a different city, which they already know, but I have a good reason to move there; the pub is near my home town. That was last weekend. No reply. I sent a polite follow up email on Wednesday asking if they needed me to resend my cover letter or clips. Nothing. If I don't hear anything by early next week I'd like to call, but I don't want to come off like some needy job stalker. I hate when people call me over and over without me having called them back. Should I sit tight and assume that the time timeline (once rushed) has slowed? I don't want to let this great opportunity slip away because I was too stupid to call. |
| reporterwriter | Posted – 5/8/2008 3:20:40 PM | show profile I think you're saying you sent a cover letter and clips last weekend. If so, they received them Monday, and today is Thursday. Give them time to look at what you sent, pass it around for critiques and compare it with other applications. Editorial jobs are not the type where you put in your application and they ask you to show up for work the next day. |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 5/8/2008 8:12:57 PM | show profile Thanks. I'm just a little concerned because when I first inquired if there were openings, the editor said that he's already started interviewing people. I have to remind myself that in unemployed times 6 days feels like 2 weeks, but only feels like three days to and employed person. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 5/8/2008 9:52:45 PM | show profile keep in mind it's bad out there. A bunch of people just got laid off at NY Times and Hachette. Employers even if they have posted job listings hear about this and take time to see what they get in the mail from those places, as well as think about how it will affect who they can hire and how much (or little) to offer as salary. \ Assuming of course that you are in NY. Though it's bad all over. |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 5/9/2008 7:02:16 PM | show profile This isn't New York. But thanks for your insight. |
| InsomniacNOT | Posted – 5/9/2008 7:10:01 PM | show profile I think with jobs that what you want to make sure of is that your application gets into the hands of the right person and that means the hiring manager. I would do everything to ensure that it arrived and the editor saw it -- and, yes, that means phoning and following up. As well, if I had any contacts, who could put in a good word for me with the hiring manager, I would ask them to do so. Beyond that, however, it is beyond your control. It isn't stalking if you're just being careful that your application gets to the right place and doesn't fall through the cracks. It's being smart. Anyone who's worked in an office knows applications go AWOL all the time and that getting hired can depend on your CV being on the right desk at the right time. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 5/9/2008 9:26:17 PM | show profile You might also think about getting a job in the meantime that could lead to a story somewhere down the line (at Animal Control, or at a hospital, or at a parks and Rec office, I don't know what your interests are). Or with a non profit, in the press or PR department at PLanned parenthood, or with the government. That way, you can write a big story, pay your bills, then once the story is published go on to get the job you really want. |
