With Halloween being tomorrow, it only feels appropriate that I’m writing about ghosting today, right?

‘I interviewed for a role and haven’t heard back. When should I follow up?’

As I’ve been building my business over the past several months, I’ve been networking a lot. I’m connecting with people who I haven’t spoken to in years and have felt very fortunate that many have referred me to prospective clients or projects. Perhaps I’m naive, but I’ve also been shocked by some of the behaviors I’ve encountered. I’ve had:

• 2 CEOs who have disappeared into thin air after emailing me with specific dates and times to meet. One of them even accepted my calendar invite and then didn’t show up to the Zoom call and was never heard from again.

• Upwards of 5 people who I would consider to be close friends or former colleagues who have ‘promised to send that intro’ and then never done it.

• Multiple connections whom I have introduced to others in an attempt to fill a role or support an urgent need for them - this was me offering my time and network to help - and then I heard radio silence back.

Huh? Is this an acceptable way to operate now? Nope, not to me.

While the above may not immediately give you confidence in my advice about how and when to appropriately follow up after an interview or business meeting, fear not. These examples have luckily been the exceptions, not the norm.

Think of all business communication this way: you have to trust your gut and do what feels appropriate to you. If you do that and the other person still doesn’t respond, why would you even want to work with them? I look at the above examples and think ‘Phew! I dodged a bullet.’

My go-to best practices for professional follow ups are as follows:

1. Immediate Thank You: Send a thank you note within 1 business day. Wait at least 2 hours after the meeting ends before hitting send or it’s obvious that you wrote it in advance. Include any follow up actions and personalize it. Did they ask you to resend your resume? Did you talk about a podcast that you want to share the link to? Did you think more about something after you got off the call and want to share another tidbit with them? Also please please please make sure you spell the person’s name right. “Hi Jackie” = delete.

2. First Follow Up: At the 4-5 business day mark, send a polite note to express your continued interest, solicit any feedback that may be available, and to ask if there’s an expected time frame on when you should hear about next steps.

3. Last Follow Up: After 10 business days, send a note that has some open-ended closure (oxy moron, right?). Something like “I continue to be very interested in XYZ role and would love to be part of the team. I don’t want to continue to overwhelm your inbox with follow ups so I’ll wait to hear from you on next steps.” Include any contact information, marketing collateral, or links to your socials as appropriate.

The above timeline assumes you haven’t heard back with any sort of estimated timeline in between the follow ups. If you do get some clarity, then follow your gut on navigating the timing - avoid being pushy but don’t ever hesitate ask if there is an ETA. Your time should be respected.

And for those of you out there ghosting others, the pendulum will swing eventually 👻 

Interested in working with me? Visit my website.

If you find ‘Do You Have A Minute?’ helpful, your network might too. Encourage your friends, teammates, and family to subscribe.

What I’ll Answer Next Time:

‘I disagree with my performance review. What should I do?’

Want to ask a question for a future edition? Submit it here.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is purely opinion-based and nothing included should be interpreted or construed as legal or professional advice. If you want professional advice, I’d love to work with you. Please reach out.