A sneak peek at the slidedeck from Crash Course on Careers, presented by UBC Career Services on May 11 and 18. Register now at careers.ubc.ca.

1. crash course
on careers
a sneak peek
careers.ubc.ca

2. FOLLOWING UP:
PERSISTENCE OR PETULANCE?

3. Common Challenge # 1
Situation Strategy
• Employers send out an • Wait 5 business days after
auto-response after you submitting your application
submit your application to hear back
AND/OR • Follow up with a phone call
• Days go by and you haven’t or email to restate your
been called by “Dream interest in the job
Company” for an interview

4. Common Challenge # 2
Situation Strategy
• Employers ask you to • Find someone to follow up
submit your application to a with at the company.
generic address: • When you speak with them,
careers@dreamcompany.com or send an email, ask if
they’ve decided yet who
will be interviewed.
• If not, be prepared to share
your top 3 reasons why you
should be.

5. The rules of follow-up
• It can take people up to 5 business days to
respond to voice mail or email. Be patient.
• Be consistent. Follow up again if you have yet
to hear back.
• Try to mix up your method of following up.
Phone calls or emails are appropriate.
• *** If the employer has said “NO PHONE
CALLS PLEASE” consider that a warning – try
an email instead.

6. Finding someone to follow up with
• Call the general line and ask who is responsible for hiring this
particular role
• Ask for their email address and phone number. You can also
ask if that person has a preference for phone calls or emails
• Try using sites like LinkedIn to search through a company
profile for the Human Resources staff
• Some of these staff will openly post their email addresses on
this site, or on the company’s website
• Avoid following up to general inboxes, e.g. jobs@company.ca.
They are often filled with applicants and spam.

7. Sample follow-up email

8. The realities of job search
• Most candidates do not follow up
• Even more are concerned that following-up is
being “too aggressive”

9. From the employers point of view…
• They have a large stack of unknown people
• Hiring is time consuming and can be risky
• There is less risk and less time if a company
already knows about a potential candidate

10. crash course
May 11 – for Science students
May 18 – for Arts students
Tickets:
$10 before May 2
$15 after May 2
Get more information and
buy your ticket at
careers.ubc.ca