The best candidates communicate consistently with recruiters, hiring managers, and networking contacts.
If you’ve met three or four helpful networking contacts, and for some reason you did not make it to the final round, communicate with them as well, thanking them for the information they shared with you, even though your candidacy will not continue. Ask them if it’s OK that you continue to keep in touch, and wish them well with their careers. Individuals do shift positions and companies, and the world can be an amazingly small place. It’s quite possible that you will meet that person at another time, company, school, or organization, so include them in your LinkedIn contacts.
Poor communication can lead to poor decisions. If Donna didn’t explore full-time teaching opportunities at P.S. 55, she could have missed a full-time teaching position that opened up the next month. If Peter never sent the e-mail to Company A, and Company C gave Peter an offer with three days to accept, Company A may not have had the time to put together an offer by the deadline date set by Company C. Peter would have either gone with Company C (his second choice), or reneged on his acceptance to Company C by accepting the offer that finally came from Company A. Reneging is viewed negatively by some recruiters and by career services, so proceed with caution. At times, an employer will contact a student’s career services office to let them know that their offer was reneged on. Some career services offices deal harshly with students who breach such promises, so proceed with caution. Records of how many students renege on their offers aren’t kept, but one thing is certain: it’s never looked upon lightly.
Communication with career services can help to avoid this at all costs.
One last point: never misrepresent an offer from a company to a representative at another company. The truth does have a way of making itself known.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Whenever you have deadlines for offers, you must notify recruiters and hiring managers of these deadlines, giving them ample time to extend an offer themselves, or to let you know that they will not be able to do so. Either way, you achieve more clarity with more communication.
- Reneging is to be avoided at all costs. Through clear communication with the hiring manager, and with career services, this should and can be avoided.
- Never misrepresent anything about an offer from another company. It’s a small world after all, and recruiters often network with each other.
EXERCISES
- Create a playbook for your job search, listing ten targets in which you are most interested.
- If you do not have a contact at a particular company of interest, network until you get a contact.
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