Is it advisable to follow up on your resume submission?

After submitting your resume to a company you may start feeling uneasy after a number of days when there is still no response to your communication from them. Should you follow them up with a phone call?

You should, if only to show them that you are interested in the job they are offering and would want to know if they are also amenable to taking you in into their organization. There is nothing wrong with that follow up phone call – you are sincere in your desire to work with them so you are just showing your enthusiasm to know whether you can work with them or not.

A company can even appreciate your follow-up phone call – it shows you can be a reliable person when they already have you on their rooster of personnel. They will know that you can be relied on to do a job assigned and see it through to its completion.

Maybe a call or two is what is needed – beyond that might be unnecessary. If they do not respond, that can only show that they are not taking you in as an employee, or they are a bit uncivil by not having a little courtesy of honoring you with an answer.

Your insisting on making a third phone call might be annoying to them too and they will take it that you have no other means of looking for a job in other firms. When this happens, move on to the next company in your job search; there is no use sulking in the rejection of your job application.

If you have an inside contact in the company there is no harm asking him to inquire about your resume submission. It will also be a good thing to contact HR department of the firm and check with on the status of your application.

If you submitted your resume electronically, there could be some difficulty following up even if you open your email everyday, as the computer can be as impersonal as it can be. Online submission of resumes is good only if the recipient of electronic mail in the company’s office is diligent enough to give out email replies within a reasonable period. You just have to make that phone call to check whether your resume submitted by email was received or not by the hiring manager.

There are contrary opinions that it is not good to follow up an application by phone; for what reason, it is not clearly stated. But how will you know if you do not make a follow up call at all? After all, the follow-up phase is normal in any business transaction, so why prohibit a job applicant from doing his own checking on what they think of his job application? Being enthusiastic about joining the company can be considered as a good characteristic of an employee. Enthusiasm is a virtue of an employee that can help the company attain its overall goals as an organization.

If an applicant shows his enthusiasm at a time of applying for the job you cannot blame him for it. As a hirer, you should even appreciate him for having such a positive attitude in life – this will be an asset you can take advantage of later when he is already working with you. For your part as a prospective employer, give him a categorical answer next time he calls, so he can go on with his job search elsewhere.