How to Follow Up After a Job Interview (With Example Emails)

We get it. Applying for a job is no easy task. It can take hours to find a job that looks like a good fit, fill out an application, edit your resume, rewrite your cover letter, and send it all to the employer. If you’re going to apply for a job well, you’re going to have to tailor your resume for just about every job you apply to.

And then the beautiful day of validation comes when you finally receive that email or phone call asking you to come in for an interview. Your hard work has paid off and apparently, you did something right to stand out from the crowd and land yourself an interview.

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So it can be frustrating when you take the time to find a job that seems like a great fit, put in the work for applying and interviewing, and then wait and wait only to hear complete radio silence from the company. Why is that?

Well, there are many reasons, actually.

• It may be that your interviewer loved you, but they need to convince their team to love you too. It’s often the case that several people need to approve the hire in order to move forward, and it can be difficult to get answers from every person on the team. One person may be swamped with meetings while another may be on vacation.

• Sorry to say it, but you may be the company’s second choice to fill the position. There might still be a chance for you, but only if they can’t have their #1 choice, so they may be stringing you along until they know for sure whether or not you’ll be needed.

• HR and salary negotiations are tying up the works. You may have set a salary expectation that was above what the company was initially prepared to offer. This may not mean you’re getting a “No,” but it will mean that your hiring manager will have to pull some strings.

• Even if the hiring managers view you as a strong candidate, there will be other interviews. That being the case, it may be out of the manager’s control as to when the interviews take place and how fast they’re able to be completed.

• The hiring team is dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s. It can take a lot of time to contact each of a candidate’s references, perform background checks, and wait for results to come back before making any final decisions. They may be just as eager to make a decision as you are to start your new job, but until these things are done, they may refrain from leading you on just in case it doesn’t work out.

Of course, every candidate, hiring team, and company will be different, which can lead to countless scenarios for why you haven’t heard back yet. That being the case, there are a few things you can do to use this time to your advantage — to reassure the hiring team of your interest in the position and your potential as a candidate.

Send an initial thank-you note after your interview

First of all, immediately following your interview, you should always send a thank-you note. Not only is it polite and will help you stand out to your interviewer, it’s sometimes even expected as a regular part of the process by some hiring managers.

If you haven’t sent one yet, do it now — within 24 hours is ideal. Keep it short, genuine, and specific to what you discussed in the interview. A well-written thank-you note can be the difference-maker when a hiring manager is deciding between two strong candidates.

Connect with your interviewers on LinkedIn

You might worry that reaching out on LinkedIn will come across as overly eager. To be honest, it probably depends on how your interview went and the rapport you built during your time together. Go with your gut — but remember that stepping out of your comfort zone is often part of a successful job search.

With your connection request, send a short and friendly note. Something like this works well:

Send this soon after your interview to reinforce name recognition while the conversation is still fresh. It’s also a great way to give your interviewers a fuller picture of your background — skills and experience that may not have come up during the interview itself.

Worth noting: hiring managers do check social media, so make sure your LinkedIn profile is polished and up to date before you make that connection.

Send a follow-up email if you haven’t heard back after a week

If it’s been at least a week since your interview and you still haven’t heard anything, it’s completely appropriate to send a brief follow-up. You don’t need to worry about seeming annoying — hiring managers understand that candidates are waiting on a decision, and many will actually appreciate the nudge.

Your follow-up email doesn’t need to be long. After all, if they haven’t gotten back to you yet, chances are they’re busy — so keep it short and to the point.

Feel free to personalize this — mention a specific part of the conversation, offer to share work samples, or reference a project you discussed. Just keep it simple. A few genuine lines are all you need to signal that you’re still interested and eager to hear an update.

Don’t stop your job search

This is the most important reminder of all: don’t put your job search on hold just because one interview went well. Even if the hiring manager seemed enthusiastic and made it clear they liked you, a job offer isn’t real until it’s in writing.

Sometimes a single reference call, a last-minute budget change, or an internal hire can derail an offer that seemed like a sure thing — and often it has nothing to do with you at all. It happens more than you’d think, and the candidates who handle it best are the ones who never stopped looking in the first place.

Pursue the opportunities you’re most excited about, but keep your job search active in the meantime. Don’t let all your eggs end up in one basket.

And if you did get the interview but didn’t get the job, don’t be too hard on yourself — read our guide on what to do when you had a great interview but didn’t get the job.