How to Ask for an Update on a Job Application [Email Template]

One of the most awkward parts of sending a follow up email is finding something worth talking about. That's why many of us end up sending a horrendous "just checking in" email.

But if we're actually looking for a response, we should want to say more than ...

Follow Up On My Application

Hey Sarah,

I just wanted to check-in on my job application. If there's anything else you need from me, feel free to let me know!

Thanks,
Brittany

This essentially translates into, "Hi, I'm trying to get you to notice me and give me an update that benefits me but have nothing actually interesting to say."

And if you're in sales, this can be even more awkward. What is meant to be an email to follow up about your product awkwardly goes from "Hey, how are you?" to "Hey, do you want to buy my product today? How about now? Now?"

How to Ask for an Update on a Job Application

When I'm typing my message, I first look at one of my favorite tools, HubSpot Sales, which shows me my desired contact's recent tweets.

I'll also run a quick Google search if the tweets aren't revealing enough.

Through either tool, I typically look for:

• A recent PR win for my contact's company
• A piece of news my contact might find interesting
• A blog post written by my contact or someone at their company

This approach landed me a response from every company I emailed during my job hunt.

Meanwhile many of my, at the time, classmates were applying for post-grad jobs by sending standard follow up emails like the one at the beginning of this post. Most of them never garnered a response, or waited months to hear back.

So instead of sending what seemed like a selfish email simply asking about a job update, I went with the following template -

Excited about [Company Name]'s future

Hey [First Name],

It looks like things are going well for you guys at [Company Name] right now. I saw the blog post from last month about the upcoming new features, and I can’t wait to try them out myself! I hold my breath a little every time I log into my account, hoping they’ve rolled out early.

I also liked the article [Industry Publication] wrote about the news. I think some of the ideas they came up with for using some of the new features were really unique. It definitely had me thinking about different ways I could set up my account.

I’m coming up on graduation in a few months, and would love the opportunity to be on a team that creates such great stuff. Do you know what the marketing department’s hiring situation may look like around June? I just submitted the application on the site, but wanted to reach out as well.

Thanks,
Brittany

Was this email "long" by typical standards? Yes.

But it also showed genuine interest in the actual company I was applying to work for, not just requesting an update for the sake of one. And as mentioned, I heard back from every hiring manager I sent a variation of this template to.

One of my desired company's no longer had any job openings, but we continued to chat back and forth over email in the same thread. Then a few months later when a new job opened up, the hiring manager emailed me again. She said I was the first person she thought of when the job opened - before it even got posted publicly!

Check out more follow up email samples for the job hunt here.