How Not to Follow Up After a Job Interview

How Not to Follow Up After a Job InterviewHow Not to Follow Up After a Job InterviewAngry e-mail? Check. Thank-you messages read from scripts? Check. Heres a rogues gallery of what else not to do.If you can craft an mit niveau letter or e-mail to follow up after a job interview, it could be the tipping point that pushes you into the job candidate finalist category.The thank-you note remains one of the most overlooked marketing tools of the job search, said Stephanie Daniel, vice president and group program manager at Keystone Associates, a career-management and transition services consultancy.And then theres the not-so-well-crafted message, which can put you, the job seeker, in the loser category. A number of professionals on the receiving end of follow-up e-mail, snailmail, FedEx packages, singing telegrams and other communications shared with us this rogues gallery of infamously inappropriate follow-ups. They caution readers Do not to try this at home.The monologistHeather Krasna, an expert in public-sector executive jobs, tells of a client who left a long-winded thank-you message on an executives voicemail, directly reading from the thank-you letter she welches going to send.This was just weird from the employers perspective and came across as too intense or desperate as well as an inappropriate use of voicemail, Krasna said. She would have been better off had she just mailed a thank-you note.The unprofessional e-mailerCarl Gould, Chief Discovery Officer at geschftsleben mentoring firm CMT Mentors, told us about one job applicant who used a personal e-mail address that referenced a side job as a part-time clown. Needless to say, we filtered that one into the garbage rather quickly, Gould said.The aggressive onesScott R. Gingold, CEO of Powerfeedback, has had follow-ups come via Twitter, LinkedIn, FedEx, snailmail, fax, Web site and at business events. They can get creepy regardless of the medium. His personal rogues gallery featuresBeing invited to a sportin g event by an applicant who doesnt know himHaving female candidates be sexually suggestiveMultiple phone calls after hes told the job seeker not to callDaily e-mail after hes told applicants to stopBeing told in a letter that he reminds an applicant of a deceased relativeThe angry guyKrasna had a horrific experience years ago in which a job candidate, still in school, sent an angry e-mail to a recruiter because he didnt get the job. The job seeker said he was glad he didnt get the job because he wouldnt have wanted to work for the company anyway, Krasna said, and then complimented the recruiter on her figure.Needless to say, this e-mail was forwarded along to the college career center, and the student was informed that he would no longer be allowed to use our career services, she said. It was a while before the colleges reputation would be recovered at that companyThe cranky guyThomas Tuft, an attorney with Tuft Arnold Law Offices, in Maplewood, Minn., once had a law student send a very cranky letter after the firm hadnt responded to his resume submission within a week. Mind you, this was at a time when the firm wasnt hiring. It is not our practice to respond to the dozens of resumes we receive unsolicited, Tuft said. That student will never be hired here.The casually sloppyWhile the preceding are all somewhat spectacularly bad follow-ups, Krasna pointed out that people often hurt their chances simply by not using good grammar and spelling in their communications. Taking the time to write a careful thank-you note that touches on all the reasons you want to work for the organization, as well as how you would be a perfect fit for them, will make you stand apart in a more positive way, she noted.