Follow up after interviews when I haven't heard back
Well-timed follow-up messages for silence, delays, or rejection, including how to ask for feedback.
The prompt
Help me follow up after my interviews. This is step 5 of my interview prep; it follows the thank-you notes from step 4.
Role and company: [DETAILS]
Last contact: [DATE, who, what they said about timing]
Current situation: [silence / delayed decision / rejected / I have another offer and need an answer]
Deadline I'm facing, if any: [e.g. "other offer expires Friday"]
Contacts available: [recruiter, hiring manager, internal referrer]
Give me:
1. A follow-up timeline: when to send each message and when to stop.
2. A polite first check-in to the recruiter (under 70 words).
3. A second check-in that adds value (a relevant idea, article, or update on my availability).
4. If I have a competing offer: a message that creates honest urgency without sounding like an ultimatum. Only use this if the offer is real.
5. If rejected: a gracious reply that asks for one or two pieces of feedback and keeps the door open for future roles.
6. A short note on reading the signals (what silence usually means and doesn't) and how to keep my search moving in parallel.
Tone: confident and patient, never needy or passive-aggressive.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Career & Job Search prompts
What to fill in
- DETAILS
- DATE, who, what they said about timing
- e.g. "other offer expires Friday"
- recruiter, hiring manager, internal referrer
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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