How to Follow Up on a Job Application (Timing + Script)
By City Jobs · Updated June 10, 2026
You applied a week ago and heard nothing. Following up feels pushy, not following up feels passive, and everyone you ask gives different advice. Here's the version that matches how hiring actually works: one follow-up, sent at the right time, worded so it helps you instead of hurting you.
First, the reassurance: silence is normal. Most companies take one to three weeks just to schedule first calls, and your application is probably sitting in a queue, not a trash folder.
When to follow up on a job application
Seven to ten business days after you apply. Earlier than that and you're interrupting a review that hasn't started. Later than three weeks and the shortlist is usually set, so a follow-up changes little.
Two exceptions. If the posting lists a closing date, wait until a few days after it passes, because nobody reviews applications while the window is still open. And if a recruiter gave you a timeline ('you'll hear from us within two weeks'), let that clock run out before you write.
Should you follow up at all?
Yes, when the company is small, the role is less than three weeks old, or you have a named human to write to. A short note to a real person at a 40-person company gets read, and sometimes it's the nudge that moves your resume from the queue to the screen pile.
Skip it when the ad says no calls or emails, when you're one of thousands applying to a high-volume hourly posting at a national chain, or when you applied an hour ago. And whatever happens, send one follow-up, not two. The first one signals interest. The second one signals that you'll be a lot of email to manage.
What to say when following up
Three sentences: which role you applied for and when, that you're still interested, and an offer to share more if it helps. That's the whole formula. It reads as organized rather than anxious, and it gives the recruiter an easy next step.
What to leave out: guilt ('I still haven't heard anything'), fake pressure ('I have other offers' when you don't), and a rerun of your resume. The recruiter has the resume. The follow-up's only job is to put your name on top of the stack for a second.
The follow-up email script
Copy it, fill the brackets, send it to the most specific person you can find. The posting's contact, the recruiter who confirmed receipt, or the hiring manager if their name was on the ad.
Subject: Following up - [Job Title] application Hi [Name], I applied for the [Job Title] role on [date] and wanted to ask if you're still reviewing candidates. I'm still interested, and I can share references or more detail on [your key skill] anytime. Thanks either way, [Your name] [Phone number]
Following up in person or by phone
For retail, restaurant, and other walk-in jobs, showing up beats email. Go at a slow hour, mid-afternoon on a weekday, ask for the manager, and keep it to one sentence: 'I applied for the cashier opening last week and wanted to introduce myself.' Neat clothes, thirty seconds, leave. Managers hire from those thirty seconds all the time.
Phone calls sit in between. Fine for small businesses that publish a number, wasted on any company big enough to route you to a call center.
After the follow-up, let it go
Silence after one follow-up is your answer for now, and it usually has nothing to do with you. Budgets freeze, internal candidates appear, hiring managers go on vacation. Keep the application alive in your tracker and put your energy into the next listing.
One more check worth doing: make sure the job is still open. On City Jobs, listings come down automatically when a job leaves the employer's own careers feed, so if the posting is gone here, the role closed and no follow-up was ever going to land. That's not a loss. That's a week of waiting you get back.