A Simple Follow-Up Letter Can Change Your Life

And more than anything else, follow-up correspondence is a matter of habit. It is so much a part of everyday work, and so much drilled into us by office tasks, that unconsciously, many of us come to associate follow-up-correspondence as an official task. We neglect to cultivate the habit of follow-up-correspondence in every sphere of our lives, whether official or personal. We often neglect follow-up correspondence when not required in formal or office workspace, but with our personal endeavors. It does cost dearly.
 

Should You Follow Up After Sending A Resume?

May be, may be not. But, you need to apply your mind to the matter of follow up correspondence and take a reasoned decision according to the case. You cannot afford to disregard correspondence to follow-up a resume simply as a matter of convention. There is no convention or rule as to that. Sure, in given situations, closely following up a resume with correspondence can seem pushy, or that you are in dire need, but there are techniques of course.

In case, you do not receive an acknowledgement from the place where you sent the resume, it opens up a possibility for follow-up correspondence just to find out whether the resume has been received or not. This is usually safe enough and projects positive outlook.

In many cases you might receive curt and impolite answers from HR employees that might put you off and you might feel insulted. That is no reason to give up where you require to pursue correspondence. The person who replied impolitely to your query is not going to be your employer, usually. If in case, the person who replies impolitely to you is also going to be your employer, it is better to avoid such a place. An employer who fails to check personal emotions, and has enough time on hand to answer every query personally, may not be worth your time.

A good technique is to miss out on one or two unimportant annexing documents like extra-curricular courses which are not relevant to the position you are seeking. Send the main resume first without the unimportant and irrelevant annexures. Then after some time, follow up with a letter attaching the extra annexure and a request to add them to your resume application. Do not miss to mention that you did not attach the annexures because they were not relevant to the offered employment, however, in face of delayed response, you are sending them if in case they help. Never, give the impression that the extra documents were missed out as an oversight.

Should You Follow Up After An Interview?

Absolutely. It does not matter how the interview went. Nobody knows what the future holds, but if you have spent time on an interview and interacted with socially important people, try to make something of that time. You may or may not get the job, but definitely, once you have met another person in an interview, you do have the opportunity to cultivate a social relationship. And in the field of law, every relationship can count.

Send a ''Thank You'' note at least, even if you have nothing else to convey at the moment. Try to avoid asking for the results and pushing or trying to influence your interviewer. However, a polite wish to work for the organization, if not overdone, is no harm.

See 6 Things Attorneys and Law Students Need to Remove from Their Resumes ASAP If They Want to Get Jobs with the Most Prestigious Law Firms for more information.

Conclusion

Follow-up correspondence is as much of an art as it is science. Neglecting to follow-up can cost you potential offers and jobs. Making a mistake in a follow-up letter can also cost you offers and jobs that otherwise could have been secured. So the decision whether to send a follow-up letter differs from case to case upon reasoned decision. What to write in a follow-up letter is also extremely important, and it is good to be as brief as possible. However, follow-up correspondence is something that you have to consider each time you interact socially for possible or future gain.