Ask A Recruiter: I was told to follow up once a week

There’s a lot of bad career advice out there and unfortunately this job seeker was on the receiving end of some –

I was at a career fair they told me that I should follow up with recruiters at least once a week to make sure that I’m “top of mind”. That seems a little excessive to me, am I crazy? Should I be following up at least once a week?

 

We asked Georgia Harper, our recruitment specialist for Office Personnel and Human Resources in Vancouver, to explain why we consider the above ‘bad advice’.

 

So… “Should I be following up at least once a week?”

 

Yes. No. Wait! Following up on your application is great, absolutely. Once.

 

Following up is a good step, but calling a second or third (or fourth or fifth) time doesn’t add any value to your candidacy. In fact, as a recruiter, it can actually inhibit my ability to source new job opportunities for you.

 

Let me explain. One of the things that is really important to my role is time management.  I need time to communicate with my clients and bring these great roles to the table. If I’m working on 5 roles I will get, on average, at least 100 applications per role per week.  That’s 500 applications a week!  I read and consider each resume that comes my way and that is a huge volume. And if each candidate calls 3 times in a week, that’s 1,500 phone calls to either answer or return. How would I find time to call my clients and find new opportunities for all those candidates?

As I said, I read and consider each resume that comes my way and would love for each candidate to be in the running for each role, but I also need to consider my clients’ parameters in my shortlisting.  If you aren’t on that shortlist, calling me once a week (or more) isn’t going to change that.  But shooting me an email or leaving me a voicemail to let me know you’re interested?  Great! I truly appreciate that and definitely want to hear from you.

 

Another way to stay in touch with us is to drop us a quick email to let us know what you’ve been up to.  As in, “Hey Georgia, Just a quick note to let you know that my job title has changed!” or “Hey Georgia, Looks like my contract will be up in November and I will be available then.” or even, “Hey Georgia, I’m keen to apply to this company but don’t know much about them.  Do you have any market intelligence that you can share to help me understand if this will be the right fit?”

 

We want to provide as much consultative help that we can to the great people that we work with.  I look forward to hearing from you!

 

ABOUT GEORGIA HARPER

As a specialized recruiter in the office personnel and human resources space, Georgia is truly committed finding the best candidates for the clients she works with. A strong relationship builder, Georgia is dedicated to earning the trust of those she works with by being reliable, honest, and hardworking. If you’re looking to explore new career opportunities in senior office support or human resources, contact Georgia at 604-682-9999 or email gharper@theheadhunters.ca