when to follow up after an interview

A reader writes:

I saw your blog and was wondering about something. I interviewed for a job Monday of last week. They said they wanted to hire someone as soon as possible but that they would let me know. I emailed thank you letters immediately the same day when I got home from the interview. I never know how long is too long or too short for following up again.

It's been two weeks since your interview so it wouldn't be at all inappropriate to call or email your contact at the company and reiterate your interest in the position and ask if they have a timeline in mind for making an offer.

As far as general guidelines for following up after an interview:

- Send a thank-you within a day or two after the interview.

- If the company didn't give you a sense of the timeline in which they would be making a decision, follow up within a week or two to reinforce your interest and politely inquire as to what they expect their timeline for a decision to be.

- If the company gave you a sense of their timeline and you're past the time when they indicated you would hear something, politely follow up, explain you're very interested but understand that hiring can take time, and ask if they have an updated timeline.

Do keep in mind that no news doesn't necessarily mean bad news. It's not at all unusual for the hiring process to take longer than a candidate would like, for all sorts of reasons -- decision-makers are out of town, scheduling conflicts are delaying a final interview, the company bureaucracy needed to finalize an offer takes weeks to work through (not necessarily a great sign about the work environment, but that's a different topic), and so forth.

Good luck!