Best Methods for Job Seekers to Interact with Companies

In the past, the job search was simple. You would physically visit the company you wanted to interview with, grab a job application, fill it out, and wait for them to get in touch with you.

Nowadays, however, there are a variety of ways for job seekers to get in touch with potential employers. From hiring sites and email to telephone, scheduled in-person interviews, walk-ins, staffing services, online job portals and more.

Express Employment Professionals surveyed readers of Refresh Leadership, our blog for business leaders, to discover the methods companies prefer to communicate with hiring candidates. We also asked readers of Job Journey, our job seeker focused blog, to see if their preferences were in line with those of employers.

Leaders

  • 29% chose scheduled in-person interviews
  • 17% prefer email
  • 14% chose telephone
  • 10% advocated for staffing services
  • 9% went to company websites/online job portals
  • 7% chose online job boards
  • 5% liked in-person walk-ins

Job Seekers

  • 23% of jobseekers preferred scheduled in-person interviews.
  • 18% opted for email
  • 16% advocated for telephone
  • 13% were favorable toward in-person walk-ins
  • 9% chose staffing services
  • 9% chose company website/online job portal.

Across both leaders and job seekers, the results were generally the same, with one major exception: 13 percent of job seekers like to walk into a business and immediately interview, while only 5 percent of leaders prefer walk-ins. This suggests that job seekers should seek other ways to interact with companies.

Here are some of the best ways to contact companies in varying circumstances:

Email

Email is a great way to contact your interviewer prior to and after your interview. Interviewers are usually very busy and don’t have time for phone calls—using email sparingly can be a great way to get more information and show how professional you are.

However, if your interviewer calls you and leaves a message or requests a phone interview, you should not reply via email. That can make it seem as if you see the phone call as a waste of time.

Telephone

Leaders preferred telephone calls 14 percent of the time, compared to 16 percent among job seekers. Phone calls are perfect for phone interviews. However, most other conversation should be kept to email. Interviewers and company staff don’t have much time to speak with candidates on the phone, so job seekers are better off emailing.

Staffing Services

Staffing services are a wonderful way to get in touch with companies. Many of these organizations have existing relationships with companies and it can be difficult for job seekers to reach these decision makers on their own.

Walk-Ins

Although 13 percent of job seekers prefer walk-in interviews, only 5 percent of leaders prefer them. This is due to the fact that many companies do not have time in their schedule for an unexpected interview or have established processes for how they hire individuals. There is nothing wrong with a job seeker walking into a business and leaving their resume. However, it is unrealistic to expect such a person to be granted an interview on the spot.

At the end of the day, the best method for contacting a company depends on where you are in the interview process, and the particularities of the company itself. Job seekers must remember to be professional in all of their interactions with a potential employer, and to keep things short and succinct.

 

 

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