Are you an employer or an applicant interested in how to make the most out of job inquiries? Read on to learn more about the response to job inquiry best practices.
There is a fine art when it comes to replying to job inquiries. You want to be considerate to the candidate, but you also may not have any open positions currently at your company. It can be hard to turn someone down who has all of the qualifications when you don’t have a position for them.
On the other hand, it can be hard to put yourself out there as an applicant while sending a job inquiry to a company. What if the company doesn’t respond to your job inquiry?
This is your guide to response to job inquiry.
Job Inquiry – For Employers
What is a job inquiry?
A job inquiry is a letter that a person seeking employment sends to a company when the company is not advertising its job openings, but may still have positions available. Job inquiries are also called inquiry cover letters, as they are similar to cover letters that individuals send when applying for jobs.
The main difference between a job inquiry and a job application is that a job inquiry is often unsolicited and is somewhat of a cold-call to an employer.
How to Write an Employer’s Response to a Job Inquiry?
Now that we’ve discussed what a job inquiry is, you’re probably able to identify a few job inquiries waiting in your email inbox. You don’t want to leave these candidates with no response to job inquiry. But where do you start?
Maybe you have an open position that this individual is an excellent fit for. Or maybe you don’t have any open positions for this candidate. However, they possess excellent qualities and you want to keep their resume on file in the case that a position opens for them in the future.
It’s really important to reply to job inquiries in order to build a strong candidate management strategy and to build and maintain healthy candidate pools with high-quality applicants.
Even if you don’t have an open position, do not leave a candidate with no response to job inquiry.
Sample Employer Response Letters to Job Inquiry
In order to maintain a good relationship with your potential candidate, you should try to respond to their job inquiry within 2-3 days. You can also set up an automated response telling the email recipient that you will review their qualifications and get back in touch.
Here are a few sample response letter templates to help you reply to candidates.
General Confirmation for Any Application or Response to Job Inquiry:
Hello [candidate’s name],
We’ve received your application for the position of [position title]. We are currently reviewing your qualifications and will be getting back to you. [Insert a description of your recruitment process here]. You can find more information on our company website [insert a link to website] or follow us on social media [insert links to social media accounts] to stay in touch and remain informed on company news.
If you have any further questions, you can contact us at [telephone number and/or email address].
Regards,
[Your company name]
Response to Job Inquiry When No Position Is Available
Hello [candidate’s name],
We’ve received your job inquiry for the position of [position title]. We have reviewed your qualifications and think you are an excellent candidate, unfortunately, the [position title] is currently filled. We will keep your resume on file for future vacancies and encourage you to periodically check our career page for future vacancies [insert a link to career page here].
You can find more information on our company website [insert a link to website] or follow us on social media [insert links to social media accounts] to stay in touch and remain informed on company news.
If you have any further questions, you can contact us at [telephone number and/or email address]. We appreciate your interest in our company.
Regards,
[Your company name]
Response to Job Inquiry Email Checklist
No matter how you choose to respond to a job inquiry, make sure you include the following information in your response to job inquiry:
- The name of the applicant and what position they’re inquiring about
- Confirm that the application has been received
- Outline the recruiting process
- If there are certain dates interviews will take place, include that information
- Provide a recruitment process timeline
- How and when you plan to communicate the stages of the recruitment process with the applicant
- Contact information for someone the applicant can direct their questions to
- Try to express the company’s brand, culture, and personality
- Always, always, always include links to social media
- Write in a way that accurately represents your company
Job Inquiry – For Applicants
How to Write a Job Inquiry?
So, you’re interested in working for a company but you notice they aren’t advertising any job openings. What should you do? You guessed it – send a job inquiry. But, how do you write and send a job inquiry?
- You’ll want to research the company extensively. This can tell you a lot about whether the company is a place where you’d want to work as well as what kind of tone you should use when conducting your email. Check their website and social media sites for more information.
- Find the correct person to contact within the company. You’ll want to make sure that you’re sending your job inquiry to someone in the company that either handles hiring, recruiting, or human resources. It’s also helpful to write your letter to a specific person rather than the generic “to whom it may concern.”
- Personalize your subject line. You want to make sure that the subject line of your email is specialized, but also not too long. You want it to stand out to the company.
- Offer your expertise or special skills. Rather than blankly asking for a job, you can frame your email to sound as though you have special skills that can help them, rather than the other way around.
- Make sure your letter is short and concise. You don’t want to bore or overwhelm the email recipient with too much information.
- Make sure you end your letter with a call to action. This can be in the form of providing your contact information or offering the opportunity to set up a meeting with you to discuss business opportunities.
Sample of a Job Inquiry Letter
Here is a sample of what a good job inquiry email letter looks like.
John Smith
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
(xxx) xxx-xxxx
johnsmith@gmail.com
July 12, 2021
Hiring Manager’s Name
Company Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear [Insert Hiring Manager’s Name],
I appreciate your time and consideration in reading this email. I have recently completed my [insert training or education background], and I am now looking for [insert specialized job title] in the [insert location] area.
I hope to be considered for [insert position title] with the [appropriate department name] department at [insert company name]. I can contribute to your operations by [insert your experience and skills here]. [Insert company name] has an excellent reputation and work culture and I am interested in becoming a part of this esteemed organization.
If you have further questions, you can reach me at [insert phone number and email address here]. You can also set up a meeting with me to discuss future business opportunities.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you once more for your time and consideration.
John Smith
No Response to Your Job Inquiry?
So, you’ve followed all of the best practices in sending a job inquiry but you haven’t heard back from the company. What should you do now?
It’s incredibly frustrating to put so much time and effort into writing a job inquiry and preparing your resume and cover letter, only to be left hanging by the company.
If you find that you’re not getting any response to job inquiries or applications, it may be time to consider getting a third party’s opinion. There are a lot of career coaches and companies out there that can provide you with personalized feedback.
They can review your resume, teach you how to send effective and professional emails, and how to interview to get the job.
If it’s been over a week since you’ve heard back from the company, you may also send a follow-up email. Just make sure you’re giving company’s ample time to respond before sending a follow-up email, you don’t want to come off as desperate.
A follow-up email or phone call, after the right amount of time has passed, is a great way to ensure that your email and application was in fact received. You may also receive more information regarding the next steps of their hiring process.
In Conclusion:
Whether you are the company or the applicant, job inquiries are excellent tools for building connections between companies and candidates within the field. If you are a company, you want to make sure that you are replying to all job inquiries and if you are an applicant, you want to make sure that you are sending efficient and effective job inquiries to land the job of your dreams.
Read our Ultimate Guide To Job Inquiry
