3 Day Rule

One of the most often overlooked and yet critically important parts of transition is and always will be what we @ Transition Compass® call the 3 Day Rule.

In every hiring situation there is always an implied 3 Day Rule. If you, as a candidate, fail to keep in contact with the “opportunity” mechanism, recruiter and or the hiring authority every 3 days you face an excellent chance of being forgotten. You will end up on the dust heap of unresolved business issues. It is not necessarily the hiring authority’s or recruiter’s (internal or external) fault. The business of business will always take precedence over other alleged priorities. You must initiate contact between you and the hiring authority regularly; the squeaky wheel does get noticed or at least acknowledged. I am not saying or suggesting that you become a pest, but I am telling every candidate that reads this page to at a minimum understand basic human nature. Focus today in the modern business environment, blackberrys, email and the pressure to “produce” is difficult at best, and the manager’s job is always more important that your potential job. As candidates; we all face fear of the unknown every day, sometimes we think it best to not know whether we have been hired or worse rejected outright, than to ask the truth. The alter of “good hope” always beats the harsh truth of denial. Managers, as we have said before, oft-times look at interviewing, hiring, and training new employees as a business distraction. All managers are paid to perform and the hiring process is one of delayed alleged “promised” reward.

The 3 Day Rule is probably the most forgotten and emotionally unsettling process in transition. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that just because you did very well in the interview session, telephonically or face-to-face that you candidacy will be acted upon if you ignore the necessary follow-up of making that contact again. No hiring manager can readily forget the real cost of a hire, his or her fear of embarrassment. They therefore delay decision until the last possible moment or they just do not make a decision.

The contact that I am discussing can be as insignificant as an email that just reminds the hiring authority of your interest to a full blown production of additional “sales” material about you, the job, the market or a full blown plan of attack after you begin the job. An example can best be described as a formal 30-60-90 day plan for the new job that you prepare and send to the hiring authority.

Just as going to an interview properly dressed and prepared; the 3 Day Rule’s use can best be described as the semaphore flag of notice that you still are there, it says to the hiring authority that he/she still has an action to attend to. It may not be acknowledged or spoken of with you but it will be NOTICED.

Until the “sale” is made, the offer is delivered and you sign the offer letter your job is to stay in front of the hiring authority. That final contact is similar to a sales person asking one more time for the order and in transition you are that sales person. Your contact can best be explained by discussing the biggest fear of any hiring authority. Will hiring you cause them embarrassment, both within and without the company? Do you complete the job? (Please see S.A.L.E.S. on this site.)

Hope this admonishment was constructive.

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