So you hopped on one of the finance job posting boards and found the perfect job available.
You tailored your resume specifically for the job posting, and your cover letter is perfect. You click ‘submit’, and you wait.
You’re doing it wrong.
Don’t wait for the company to come to you. Follow-up a week later. Find out where they are in the process, be persistent.
What to do when you followup on a job application
This is the important stuff, when you call you’ll likely hit the receptionist, tell her you just applied for a position on their site, and you weren’t sure it went through. Ask who is in charge of the hiring. They’ll transfer you to the HR person. Write this persons name down.
When you get on the phone with the HR rep, explain to her that you weren’t sure if the application went in. While shes on the phone checking for you, ask her who the hiring manager is (so you can “check out his background online”). If you’re lucky, she’ll give you his name. Now you’re equipped with some ammo.
Wait a few more days, call back, and ask the receptionist to chat with the hiring manager who’s name you got the previous week. When she connects you, now is the time to shine. You need to express your interest in the position, and reiterate your positive strengths. Hopefully you have your finance story nailed down. Here’s something I would say:
“Hi Eric, my name is Kyle Dilger and I applied for the Analyst position at your firm, I know you’re busy but I just wanted to quickly reiterate my interest in the position. I’m a Finance graduate from the University of Alabama with a 3.6 GPA and I’ve held an internship at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management which is a perfect background for this position. I just called to mention that when you come across my resume, if you have ANY questions about my background, please reach out to me, I am a great match for this firm.”
Boom. Done and done. When he comes across your resume, he’ll remember your audacity.
What if you don’t get through to a hiring manager (stuck at HR)?
Keep following up asking her if they’ve made their selections, yet. If you’re persistent enough, they’ll usually take it the right way and hopefully mention it to their colleagues that you’re really interested.
Keeping track of the jobs you’re applying for
I had a pretty simple excel spreadsheet that I made back in my job hunting days that I think you would find useful. Click below to download.
There are two files in the zip file, one called “Job Application Followup- Completed” and the other called “Job Application Followup- Template.” Open up the Completed one to see how I filled it out with a sample job postings.
The key is to keep track of EVERY job you applied for, and followup with EVERY ONE OF THEM.
