How Long to Hear Back After Submitting a Resume?

According to the survey, 48% of job-seekers say that waiting to hear back from employers is a frustrating experience. And frustration happens for a reason, as often job-seekers are simply unsure of what to do next. How long should you wait for response and should you keep applying for other jobs in the meantime? Should you reach out to the company to find out the status of your application? Keep reading to have all these questions answered.

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How long should you wait for response after sending a resume?

As a rule, it takes companies from one to two weeks to respond to applications. The exact time frames will vary depending on the industry, company size, and other factors. If you apply to a small business where the processes are set up effectively, you may receive a response the next day! And if you've sent a resume to a large company that has a lot of bureaucracy, hearing back from them can take 3 weeks or more.

Two weeks is the most common time frame for employers. 44% of job-seekers say they heard back from the companies within two weeks on average. If you didn't receive any feedback, it's best to assume that the company won't be calling you for an interview. It's also important that you keep applying for jobs. Relying on the one employer can extend your job search for months which isn't an effective use of time.

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Should you follow up after submitting a resume?

Whether to follow up with the employer is up to you and your interest in the position. If you believe you're perfectly qualified for the position or this employer is your priority, sending a follow-up letter is definitely worth it. At the same time, it isn't worth it to follow up on each resume sent as it's too time-consuming. Here are the general guidelines if you want to follow up:

• Wait for 2 weeks. Following up earlier makes little sense as the busy hiring manager might not have seen your resume yet.  This time frame is standard to ask about the progress, so you won't look annoying.

• Structure the follow-up email properly. Write a short email, letting them know the name of the position you've applied to, describe your experience in 1-2 sentences, and express your interest in the role. Attach your resume in case they've overlooked it so that the hiring person could review it immediately.

• Follow up only once. Don't be overly annoying. No need to reach out to them multiple times. You might want to call the company instead of sending a letter, but in this case you should only call once as well. Otherwise, the employer might ditch your application because of your poor business etiquette.

Keep applying for more jobs

Continue searching for jobs and applying as you are waiting for the employer's response. If you are interested in getting hired faster, you need to apply to as many jobs as you like. Until you received an offer letter from the company, you remain a job-seeker, so it's perfectly ethical to keep searching and attending interviews. Not only this will make your job search more efficient but also reduce the anxiety and stress you would inevitably experience if you were waiting for a response from one or a few employers.

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The top reasons you didn't hear back from the company

• Your qualifications weren't sufficient. As stated by recruiters, 50% of job-seekers apply for jobs they aren't qualified for. If you apply for jobs you don't meet the qualifications minimum for, it's time to change your strategy. It's better to apply for fewer jobs, but be confident that your experience matches the company's needs.

• The position was put on hold, filled internally or through networking. The company might decide to postpone interviews for this role because of some internal reasons. Also, most employers prefer candidates who were referred by their employees. This is the main reason why you should expand your professional network, by the way.

• Your resume wasn't formatted well. People often fail to land interviews because of poor resumes. Maybe, your resume didn't show off your accomplishments or professional value and the hiring manager couldn't see your potential. Maybe, you didn't insert keywords and it didn't pass the ATS selection. Or, you've failed to avoid writing habits that turn off the hiring managers, such as typos, grammar issues or inconsistent punctuation.

Give your resume a boost

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Not sure if you need resume rewiring? Send your resume to us for a free evaluation. Our in-house resume writer will point out its strengths and weaknesses so that you could improve it on your own. Or, you can order professional help with a 20% discount.