too pushy? not to pushy?
i have gotten 2 interviews the past 2 weeks which is a huge improvement for me instead of sending out at least 15 applications a week and getting nothing. i really really wanted my last interview(i've gotten to the point where i just apply for everything that i feel qualified for, that i think i can do within a pay range i would be okay with and not necessarily think i'd love to do) and so i started searching online for interview tips. i found this one: www.quintcareers.com/interviewing-dos-donts.html and started to go around their website and now i have it bookmarked and i'm taking a seat back from applying and reorganizing the ones i recently have.
for example i used to follow up after the interview but since my job search in oct. 2010 i guess i lost confidence and haven't done that at all. i learned about thank you notes and sent it to my last interview, i used their job template and learned that i need to follow up if i haven't heard from the HR people, i am reformatting my cover letter and all that jazz.
now with following up after applying it is saying to be assertive but not pushy. ask for when you can set up that interview and if they can't than ask for an informative interview. i'm not sure about doing that....do you guys suggest that? it also says ask for the hiring manager not just for anyone in HR. and if they don't give it to you find it on your own.
now i have a BA in psych, not business. outside of some secretary and bookkeeper like jobs i am applying for social services positions like counselor, volunteer coordinator, activities assistant etc. so it is not the business world. i have only had one paying job(my last one) in this field, the rest has been college and internship and volunteer work outside of this state(i have moved around a lot since graduation in 2009) so i do not know the market that well.
i say this because of what happened on one of the jobs i've applied to. i looked online for the HR phone number, nothing but a general 800. a lot of the ones i've applied to have this. i called the number and asked, and they said that it first goes to the regional program manager and once they see the applications they then will tell hr which ones they want to interview and it goes from there. once i asked if i could get the counties program manager info the operator said they cannot give this information out. i then emailed the HR contact that i had gotten when sending in my online application and she said due to the sheer number of applications they have and are getting that they do not and will not give that information out.
would it be construed as to pushy to try to google the information and then call? a good number of jobs i am applying to online are also similar to this. what is seem as pushy and what is seen as assertive? in these positions how would you proceed to get that interview?
thanks for your suggestions.
for example i used to follow up after the interview but since my job search in oct. 2010 i guess i lost confidence and haven't done that at all. i learned about thank you notes and sent it to my last interview, i used their job template and learned that i need to follow up if i haven't heard from the HR people, i am reformatting my cover letter and all that jazz.
now with following up after applying it is saying to be assertive but not pushy. ask for when you can set up that interview and if they can't than ask for an informative interview. i'm not sure about doing that....do you guys suggest that? it also says ask for the hiring manager not just for anyone in HR. and if they don't give it to you find it on your own.
now i have a BA in psych, not business. outside of some secretary and bookkeeper like jobs i am applying for social services positions like counselor, volunteer coordinator, activities assistant etc. so it is not the business world. i have only had one paying job(my last one) in this field, the rest has been college and internship and volunteer work outside of this state(i have moved around a lot since graduation in 2009) so i do not know the market that well.
i say this because of what happened on one of the jobs i've applied to. i looked online for the HR phone number, nothing but a general 800. a lot of the ones i've applied to have this. i called the number and asked, and they said that it first goes to the regional program manager and once they see the applications they then will tell hr which ones they want to interview and it goes from there. once i asked if i could get the counties program manager info the operator said they cannot give this information out. i then emailed the HR contact that i had gotten when sending in my online application and she said due to the sheer number of applications they have and are getting that they do not and will not give that information out.
would it be construed as to pushy to try to google the information and then call? a good number of jobs i am applying to online are also similar to this. what is seem as pushy and what is seen as assertive? in these positions how would you proceed to get that interview?
thanks for your suggestions.