Follow up advice

Hi there,

Being officially invited to first-round interviews means the screening decision has already been made, so I would not read 1 week of recruiter silence as information about your candidacy. What is stuck is a calendar, not your file, and the processes I have seen tend to bunch badly in September.

A few things I would do this week:

• Follow up again, but do not send the same message twice. A second note that only asks for an update gives the recruiter nothing to act on. I would restate that you were officially invited, offer 3 or 4 concrete windows over the next 2 weeks, and ask whether the schedule has firmed up.
• Raise the start date yourself instead of waiting for it to become a problem. End of September was a preference on a form, not a commitment, and it is very unlikely to survive if you have not interviewed yet. Asking whether a later start is possible removes the thing you are actually anxious about, and a start date the recruiter cannot meet is sometimes the reason a file sits still.
• Use your contact from the program, but ask them to check where the process stands rather than to advocate for you. Internal recruiting timelines are visible to them in a way they are not to you. A colleague asking a recruiter about a schedule is routine. A colleague vouching for someone who has not yet interviewed is not, and it puts them in an awkward position.
• Prepare as though the interview is next week, because delayed invitations tend to land with very short notice.

Candidates in your position rarely lose the process by following up too often. They lose it by spending the wait managing the recruiter and then getting 3 days of warning.

Hi there,

I would wait until next week to follow-up. Ideally try to call. Unfortunately recruiters are notoriously slow at responding.

You have already been invited to the first round, so one week without a reply does not tell you that the invitation has disappeared. I would send one final, short follow-up now.

Include three specific time windows when you are available over the next two weeks. Also ask whether the end-of-September start date is still relevant, given that the interviews have not been scheduled. That gives the recruiter two clear questions they can answer.

You can contact the person you met through the program, but ask for process guidance rather than asking them to push your application. For example: “Do you know whether first-round scheduling is still underway, or who the right recruiting contact is?”

Then stop following up and prepare as though the interview could be scheduled with little notice. Keep other applications moving until you have a confirmed timeline.

hey there :)

yes, I’d follow up once more, especially since you were explicitly told you’re invited to first round. Keep it short and mention that you’re still very interested and wanted to check whether there is an updated timeline.

I’d also absolutely reach out to your contact from the program. Just make it informal, rather than asking them to intervene: “Hey, I was wondering if you have any sense of the timeline for ACI interviews. I was invited to first round but haven’t heard about scheduling yet.”

And don’t worry too much about the September start date. Since they told you interviews would start from late August onwards, the delay is likely more about their recruiting timeline than anything negative about your application.

best,
Alessa :)