Reddit reviews The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search: The Proven Program Used by the World’s Leading Career Services Company: The Proven Program Used by the World’s Leading Career Services Company

No, never follow up like that twice. Send a thank you for talking with me within 24 hours of the interview and if promised a response by a certain date and nothing happens a week later then just send a note saying you haven’t heard back but wanted to let them know you’re still available (without asking for a reply).

Company’s change or delay plans all the time. The recruiter will feel nagged if you ask twice which in a competitive field of applicants is enough to hurt your chances. If your feeling desperate I suggest using the Deniz Sazal’s interviewing techniques. I used LIG to job hunt last time and it worked well for me. Alternately, Orville Pierson’s Job search books are the same method but cheaper (if you’re a reader).

Remember these rules of thumb:
1- if your resume is a perfect fit for the job, you’ll get screened/interviewed 1/20 applications. If it’s poorly suited you’ll get 1/50 or less (and waste a bunch of people’s time in addition to your own);
2- from the screeners to the final interview is a numbers and practice game, but an average interviewer will need to talk to 25 decision makers before landing an offer.

If you assume a 50% interview passage rate, 5 final round candidates and a cold applications for one offer letter: 1 offer letter x 5 hiring manager interviews = 5 x 10 screener/other interviews= 50 interview level applications x 20 applications each = 1,000 applications that fit your resume. If you go the direction of applying for everything under the sun, this winds up around 5,000 and you’ll end up settling for a crap job out of desperation.

While it is a numbers game, networking and good honest self analysis can improve your odds dramatically! Figure out what makes you unique in the market by sending out 100 apps where your resume is totally honest but brags a little. (A language you can speak or code that’s rare in your field, or similar skill that other people don’t have). When you get responses note what’s unique about the positions, the companies, the hiring managers etc. Use that information to narrow your applications to more relevant jobs and highlight the (now proven) strengths in your resume.

For example, On my last job search I figured out I was really attractive to companies between 50 and 200 employees who were just beginning to hire HR because I have a legal background. I was also getting tons of recruiter calls for positions involving mandarin, which I speak at a cocktail party level as opposed to a business level. I decided the legal side fit me better, so I added to that by getting a certification in HR and focused on those companies. The job hunt took 3 weeks and I doubled my salary because I had two final round interviews the same week, which allowed me to pick the best place for me. I have a friend who had a rough year long job hunt after college but figured out he knew a language few people in his field knew and targeted positions that required it. Same result.

At the same time network like Orville and Sazal recommend and practice your interviewing. Make at least 10 targeted contacts and 10 targeted applications per day. At a rate of 20 QUALITY contacts per day, you should find yourself with 2-4 interviews per week within a couple of weeks. If not, go back and improve quality.

The mentality here is like dating for the best match as opposed to dating in a romantic win their heart frame of mind. You can do this but you’ve got to set the emotions to the side and focus on getting your daily numbers and quality.

Good luck!