Follow-up
I firmly believe there needs to be a new mandatory college course. All students, in all disciplines of study must take and pass this course in order to graduate. It would be called “Follow-up 101.”
Are you looking for a job? If so, when a potential employer, hiring manager, human resources contact, recruiter, staffing agency, headhunter or anyone who has the potential to help you actually get a job offer contacts you, you have one responsibility: Contact them back.
There are various means of communication in the business world: telephone calls, e-mails, social media and text messages, just to list the most common.
It is extremely rare that a job will land in your lap and you will have no responsibility in the process. (Better odds of winning the lottery). When a potential employer calls you, call them back. If they send you an email, email them back. If they email you and ask you to call them. CALL THEM BACK.
The only way you can fail at this process is if you do not respond at all.
Sadly, better than 50% of the job seekers who email a resume to me do not answer me when I email or call them and ask to speak with them.
Step two in the job search process is to actually speak with the person you sent your resume to in step one.
How to get to the top of the list
In the recruiting world, candidates who respond professionally and in a timely fashion immediately float to the very top of the candidate pool.