Replying to Jobs

joe gracey

I've applied to a bunch of game companies recently and was wondering how long should I wait before I call them or email them to ask them about the position. Man it kinda feels like I'm dating again.

cholden

Once a week seems fair.

Vailias

If you can, let them know in the initial email when you'll contact them next. One week is a safe standard in most businesses, gives people time to look over your stuff in their busy schedule.

aesir

is that pretty much the norm, that you send out your portfolio, and the e-mail them once a week till you get a reply? Is that what everyone does? That seems like it would get really annoying. HR's inbox would be constantly flooded.

kwakkie

Why would you email them? You still wouldnt get any answer directly and might have to wait any longer. Just give them a call, so you know whats up directly. Its never offensive to call, it just shows you have interest(well, at least in my opinion).

Mark Dygert

Aren't most of the jobs@insertcompanyhere.com filtered? Wouldn't those random follow emails be ignored unless they have something specific in the subject or body? Some places say specifically that they don't want to you call or come down in person. Which actually means "we had some nut job who dressed up in storm trooper armor come in and apply in person, and since this isn't Epic we called the cops".

I think follow ups emails that are nothing more then "did you get my resume HELOLOWZ!?" are bad form and stink of desperation. Following up after an interview is perfectly ok. It gives you a chance to ask them is there anything I can do to improve?

My rule of thumb has been, If you don't hear back in 1 week, consider applying again. If you don't hear back in another week consider some place else.

joe gracey

Hmmmm... very good advice... not sure if I should call or just apply again. Ok so say I decide to call, should I ask for the Environment lead or ask for the person who hires people? I'm assuming the person who answers the phone will know what to do with me, but maybe if I know who to ask for it will help.

Vailias

Vig: generally speaking a follow-up email simply shows that you are actually interested in the company, and they weren't just one of 50 "Hi Hire ME!" emails sent out with no care as to what the studio has to offer.

I can't find it at the moment, but if I recall correctly I think I asked something like this to Jon Jones on his blog (the "your portfolio repels jobs" article writer"

oh wait.. here Smart people are dumb, failure is awesome
From the article text[ QUOTE ]

Week one: 40 emails. Zero responses.

Week two: 40 follow-up emails. 35 responses within three days.


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Brandon Newton Says:
November 25th, 2006 at 9:47 am

Jon,
Great articles here, but I do have a question on the follow ups.

If you’re applying to a company that uses an automated job board, how would you recommend going about following up? Would finding a general contact email address for the specific company be out of line, or recommended?

jonjones Says:
November 25th, 2006 at 4:25 pm

Recommended. Anytime I encountered an automated job application thinger that said not to email it back, I’d keep emailing it back. I’ve gotten favorable responses from people that way.

If they’re going to turn down a candidate that so obviously wants to work for them because they sent more than one email to the automated job board address, would you really want to work for them anyway?


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rooster

aye doesnt seem rude to me, i know at my place certainly the job at hand always tends to get presidence so someones portfolio might get set aside to do something for someone and then gets overlooked.. Don't think anyone here would begrudge a reminder email, shows theyre keen

aesir

Dont you think a call would be considered a bit pushy though? It'd annoy me if people were always calling me about the portfolio they'd sent me.

rooster

it only takes two seconds to say 'sorry I'm busy atm can you email me? cheers'. As an example, I got my current job though getting work experience and coming back every summer from uni and then ending up here after uni. To get that work experience gig, I called up, said I'd like to work for free for a bit. I got, yeah sounds good, we're a bit busy atm, can you call back later'
repeat that phonecall approximately 8 or 9 times, and eventually I got it and the rest is history.. The manager said he was impressed at the fact I was patient and kept at it. (they never said 'leave us alone' though)

Mark Dygert

I guess its ok to send a refresher, at the very least if it makes it past the filter, it might get them to look back over your stuff and get your name/work sitting on the top of the pile for a few min? Yea, I could see a carefully worded email doing some good, if you can make it past the spam bot. You just want to avoid being desperate, as that can seriously hamper your efforts to negotiate a good deal. If they think they are doing you a favor by hiring you and they think they can save a buck companies often do, even if most wouldn't admit to it.

I wouldn't want to be hired and treated as a charity case, so if you could word the email carefully I guess it could help. Especially in light of what Vailias and Rooster pointed out.

I've been on the hiring end of things and work does take priority and people are lost in the shuffle. But I have also seen people pester our AD to no end and ruin their chances. Its a careful balance. I guess follow your gut and be smart.

Even if you screw it up at least you learn something

If you're nervous in interviews and you have some spare time AND your adventurous enough, apply for a few unrelated jobs you know you can get an interview for but don't plan on actually taking. Interviews are like art the more you practice the more natural it becomes.


I talked to the person that monitors the jobs email account here where I work, and they said they get everything sent to that account nothing is kicked out or auto-deleted. BUT things with certain flags go to special folders and kick off alerts. So maybe the filters aren't that hard to get past?

RyRyB

Emails are probably the most convenient way to follow up. Most of the time, I am not at my desk and it would be pretty offputting to be called out of a meeting or discussion for a phone call. But like anything, it really comes down to personal preference and who you are dealing with. I know some folks here would rather do everything by phone. /shrug

I get a fair amount of applications (no real HR department here) and it's easier for me to track correspondence with someone through emails. Paper trails are great! It's also easier to forward stuff on to the appropriate parties for discussion.

Like I said, it's just my preference and it will change from company to company. I'd say an email would be the safest bet to start with.

Edit: And yes, the hiring/dating mechanic has been discussed here quite often. Eerily similar at times, those two.

hawken

if they don't contact you it means they don't want you.

joe gracey

What if they are busy and they don't reply... that doesn't mean they don't like my stuff. I would imagine that that idea applies to some companies but not all of them.

I'm gonna send a follow up email to the companies I've applied to, my gut feeling likes that idea. Thanks everyone for helping me out and anyone else with this dilemma.

TheWinterLord

If they dont contact you, it can be because the application was lost, or forgotten in all the buziness. Hey good luck!

AstroZombie

ALWAYS follow up. Once every week or two until they flat out tell you that they don't want you. You took the time to send them your shit, the absolute least they can do is be decent enough to give you a "no, thank-you" reply.

Armanguy

walk to there offices if possible in a storm troopers costume and hand there ceo a statue of bobba fett :P

Daz

follow up via e-mail, but don't follow up often, follow up every 2 weeks. There's usually only 3 reasons they haven't gotten back to you: 1) They're insanely busy 2) They're not interested and have been so inundated with applicants they haven't been able to personally respond to every one 3) You're on a short (but actually quite long) list of other applicants and they're being gradually whittled down from from the rough to the smooth.

There is a small chance of slipping through cracks, so it's worth doing the once every 2 weeks thing just to be sure that didn't happen to you. It's scary what opportunities you could miss out on. I was talking to Weta a year and a half ago and even got as far as a phone interview with a modeling supervisor. But it suddenly all went quiet from them. I had this notion that I didn't want to appear too pushy or desperate, so I didn't hassle them. Weeks went by and I took another job, and 2 months later they got back to me wanting to fly me out. It was just too late for me by then, I was too deep into other stuff. That actually happened to me with 2 companies. C'est la vie. So follow up, but don't hound 'em, use your judgement.

danr

[ QUOTE ]
use your judgement

[/ QUOTE ]

too bloody right. If people would use that shred of common sense they were born with, modern life would run so much smoother - i swear, some people see their whole existence as a list of instructions from others with tickboxes to check in order

use consideration and judgement on every stage of the application and the jobs will come.

Sage

They take time to respond back because they get thousands of applicants. Wait a week or two to follow up. Just relax until then. Just be aware that if you apply to several places they might all respond at once with an art test which can leave you in a bit of a dilemma.

Alex