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What to Do With Your Job Search After Hearing ‘We’ll Get Back to You’

By U.S. News & World Report

As if a job search wasn’t already frustrating enough, we often get absolutely no response to many job applications. If you’re lucky enough to get an interview, you may be told, “We’ll get back to you.” Then you begin to wonder: How long do I have to wait to hear back? Is it OK if I follow up and when is it appropriate to do so?

Whether you’ve received no response or been told that you’ll hear back, there are some creative, non-intrusive ways to tackle the uncertainty.

[See: 8 Tacky Job Search Faux Pas.]

Reach out. If you’ve applied for a job and you do not have any direct or indirect contacts at the company through your networks, including on LinkedIn, it’s time to dig deeper. Ideally, you should do this before you apply for a job to address your cover letter to a real person. But if you’ve already applied, check out the company’s website. Can you find a page with leadership or staff and determine who might be the head of the department where you’ve applied? If not, is senior human resources staff listed?

You may be able to determine their email address as you research, but if you can’t, try contacting them through LinkedIn. In your note, don’t just ask for the status of your application. You should tell them you are following up on your application to learn the status, and briefly — in one or two sentences — summarize why you are a good match against the job requirements. Attach your resume. Ask if they have a colleague with whom you can get in touch to find out more about your pending application.

[See: How to Follow Up on a Job Application Without Being Annoying.]

Play the waiting game. Whether you’ve had an interview or not, you may have been told, “We’ll get back to you.” This may sound like an easy dismissal, but it isn’t necessarily. They may be waiting for a hiring manager to review all of the resumes or come back from a vacation to do so. There are a lot of variables at play that you know nothing about. Look at the bright side in this scenario: you have a contact, unlike in the example above. If you are just waiting to hear if you’ll be asked for an interview, sit tight for a week. Then get back in touch with the person. Emphasize that you are a good match against the job requirements and ask — politely — when you should expect to hear more about the status of your application.

At an interview, make sure you ask when you should expect to hear something. Hopefully the employer will give you a time frame and stick to it. But again, many unforeseen variables can be at play and it may be an inaccurate estimate. If you don’t hear back within the given amount of time, or if you’re only told, “We’ll get back to you,” how long should you wait to contact them?

[See: The 8 Stages of a Winning Job Search.]

Practice professional persistence. You need to have some degree of patience in this situation. Emailing and then calling immediately to find out if someone got your email is not a respectable approach, and neither is asking for a “read receipt” confirmation because let’s be honest: most people find those annoying. You should wait four to five days to follow up if you’ve been told that they’ll get in touch with you. Email the person. If you don’t hear back, follow up with a phone call two days later. If you decide to leave a message and don’t hear back, don’t push your luck. Wait to be contacted. If you decide not to leave a message, call again the next day. At that point, you might want to leave a brief message and then hope for the best.

Last but not least, if you’ve applied to a company and followed up directly asking if they’ve received your application and haven’t heard back, it is probably a dead lead. These are not worth your time. Do you want to work for people who are not getting back to you with a “yes” or “no” answer despite your best efforts? Your answer should be a resounding “no!” But make sure that you’ve done your homework and followed up before you give up because there could be other reasons you haven’t heard back that have nothing to do with you.

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What to Do With Your Job Search After Hearing ‘We’ll Get Back to You’ originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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