Should I follow-up again with the HR administrator? [duplicate]

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

EDIT: For those looking at whether to follow-up after an interview, this related quesiton may provide a good resource.

This particular question is unique, as it asks about an academic job, where I have been offered a position by a lab but the administrator who coordinates logistics has taken 3 months to get paperwork to me.

The answer I selected appropriately advises me that 3 months of waiting time for a university job is not atypical, and to politely continue to follow-up.

TL;DR: Got an informal internship offer (for July-December) 3 months ago. Have been following-up every two weeks or so, but have not gotten official paperwork yet. What should I do?

I'm an M.S. science student. The first week of January, I interviewed with an academic research lab (at a well-respected US university) for a 6-month internship for July-December. They emailed me back the next day saying they wanted to offer me a position, and that an administrator (CCed) would coordinate the paperwork.

The administrator gave me a call to tell me that she has been really busy and would get to my paperwork in another week or so. After two weeks, I sent her an email and she was busy with an April visa but would get to it soon. In mid-February, I followed up again, no response.

Three weeks ago (early March), I reached out to my contact with the laboratory. He confirmed that yeah she's been busy, but to send her an email. I did so, and she said that she was working on the paperwork behind the scenes and would get back to me 'next week'.

Now it's been about two weeks (13 days) and still nothing from her.

After sending emails every 2-3 weeks for the past few months, I feel like I might be pestering now and I don't want to anger the administrator, who does seem overwhelmed with paperwork.

Should I just chill and wait? Do you have any suggestions on dealing with a situation like this?

manpreet 2 years ago

This is pretty typical for universities and government agencies. The hiring process can take months.

Keep following up, and touching base with your contact. 2-3 weeks between followups is far from being a pest, it shows that you're interested. Just keep the tone light, and friendly.

You can write something like...

Hi, I know you're busy. Just following up about my paperwork for the internship in July. If you're still to busy, would you mind if I checked in with you in another 2 weeks or so?

Use your own words, but thank her for the time she's spent, acknowledge that she's helping you, and ask her if she minds you sending the follow ups.

Being a pest is more about tone than frequency. If you come across as demanding, that gets old REAL FAST, but if you keep it light and friendly, much less so.