When someone invites you for a job interview how do you reply?

This is often a question asked by fresh graduates who just started looking for a job. Replying to invitations is easy but the way you reply could generally change the company’s impression on you. Your reply should be in a timely and professional manner.

Anything beyond or below that is considered a no-no as overdoing your reply could mean desperation (companies don’t want desperate employees) and oversimplifying the reply is just not professional at all.

The Hierarchy of Communication Forms

There are two ways on how you can reply to your employer.

The first and the easiest way to inform your employer about your agreement to the invitation is to reply in the same fashion. If the invitation is over the phone, then you can call them back for an agreement or agree to the scheduled invitation right away. That will save the company time and resources in calling you back and just make additional schedules. You can also call them back as soon as possible to set up an interview date.

But the problem with this form of reply comes when the communication through email. There are companies (especially the smaller ones) that have a dedicated email accounts so you can reply without any problem because they can immediately see your confirmation.

The problem comes when you deal with large corporations. Oftentimes, they use the email account for sending invitations and other communications only. Hitting the reply button just won’t work.

They will usually add an e-mail address where you want to confirm your scheduled interview. Although this increases your chances of actually confirming your schedule, you might not be remembered after all. In the end, you might not be confirmed after all because no one remembers you.

That brings us to the second form of replying to invitation. Instead of relying on the reply button on email, follow the hierarchical form of confirming your interview.

The simplest form of confirming your interview is through your email. This is very easy since all you need to do is to reply to the email confirming your schedule. But that might not work. As indicated, no one will easily remember you through the email or your email might not be read at all.

Because there is a chance that no one could remember your email, you have to move on to the higher form of confirmation – over the phone. Get in touch with the company as soon as possible about the schedule. Talk to the person in charge of scheduling and identify yourself as someone who has just been invited.

By talking to a person in charge, you will know if your reply to the invitation was received and the schedule you agreed on has been confirmed. Make sure you take care of every information you need such as the location of the office and the person you are talking to. Calling them everyday for new information will just create a desperate impression on your end.