亲爱的安妮：今年五月底我就要从大学毕业了，到目前为止我已经参加了两家潜在雇主的面试，而三月中旬我还有另外两场（不同公司的）面试要参加。您和您的读者就面试结束后该如何跟进面试进展方面给予了许多宝贵的指导意见，而其中一些我也用到了求职的实践。例如，我向至今为止所有面试过我的招聘经理发送了感谢信，但是一位朋友称如果我寄给面试官一封手写信件，那么会给他们留下一个更加深刻的印象。下一次我应该这样做吗？

    另外，在面试之后多久可以询问面试的后续进展呢？如果面试之后就一直石沉大海，那么我多长时间联系一下招聘企业合适呢？我想要表现出自己对于这份工作的热情，但是又不想让面试官觉得我太过急切。能够请您给我一些建议吗？——来自纳什维尔的职场菜鸟

    亲爱的纳什维尔职场菜鸟 ：你提了一个好问题，许多经验丰富的求职者们都曾经苦苦思索过这个问题。丹•布莱克是安永会计师事务所（EY，原为Ernst & Young）的美洲区招聘主管，同时还担任着美国大学与雇主协会（National Association of Colleges and Employers，NACE）的现任主席。他对这个话题深有同感，坚持不懈能够向面试官展示你的主动性，涎皮赖脸就仅仅只会惹人厌烦，而这两者间的界限“非常微妙，很难精确地划出这条界线”。这个财政年度，安永会计师事务所计划聘请大约10,600名员工，其中包括大约6,300名和你一样的新一届毕业生。比起2013年，这家公司的校园招聘人数增加了5％。

    他说，获悉在多长时间内能够得到面试结果的时机是在面试进行的过程中。“我们总是会尽量告知应聘者他们什么时候能够收到面试反馈，同时告知他们电子邮件或者电话联系方式，如果应聘者有任何疑问都可以与我们取得联系，”他称。“但是如果面试官没有告知你这些信息，你应该在面试临近结束时的提问环节主动问一问。”

    社交招聘平台Jobvite的首席执行官丹•芬尼根对此表示赞同，他表示“遵从面试官的指示同样至关重要。举个例子来说，如果招聘人员或者面试官表示可以通过电子邮件与他们取得联系，那么就不要打电话给他们。”时机同样也非常重要，“如果面试官表示他们会在一个星期之内做出决定，那么你可以在那个星期之内联系招聘企业询问面试进展，”他称。“如果面试官没有提及，那么主动询问面试官自己是否可以在两个星期之内联系他们”询问面试的后续进展——然后就依约而行，否则“他们会记得你没有坚持到底”。布莱克补充说：及时跟进面试进展“从来不会被认为是讨厌的骚扰行为”。

    发送感谢信对于求职者而言是一种非常明智的行为。“人力资源人士和招聘经理都期待看到感谢信，认为它们是招聘礼仪的一部分，”布莱克指出。“你当然不希望自己成为唯一没有发送感谢信的候选人。”他建议感谢信应该“简短而亲切，重申你对于这份工作的兴趣。如果可能的话，还可以简短地回顾一下在面试过程中所发现的某些共鸣”。

    然而对于你在来信中所提及的问题——感谢信应该是手写还是通过电子邮件发送，这一点仍然众说纷纭。从其中一方面而言，一封手写信件“会让面试官对你留下更加深刻的印象，因为现今会寄手写信件的人少之又少”。菲尼根表示。然而从另一方面而言，电子邮件可能更具优势，因为缓慢的邮寄信件“并没有那么及时，而且有些人不会阅读寄给他们的信件”。此外，他说，手写信件还可能会让你显得非常过时，或者你似乎对于科技不够熟悉。在他看来，最重要的事情是迅速发送一封感谢信——最好在24小时之内，趁着面试官对你和你的简历还记忆犹新。

    Dear Annie:I'm graduating from college at the end of May and have already been interviewed by two companies that might want to hire me, with two more interviews (at different employers) scheduled in mid-March. I could really use some guidance from you and your readers on how to go forward after these meetings. For example, I sent thank-you notes by email to the hiring managers I've met so far, but a friend says a handwritten note would have made me stand out more. Should I do that next time?

    Also, how soon after the interview is it acceptable to ask whether I'm still being considered for the job, and how often should I get back in touch if I don't hear anything? I'm trying to seem enthusiastic but not desperate. Suggestions, please? — Newbie in Nashville

    Dear N.N.:Great question, and one that plenty of seasoned jobseekers puzzle over, too. Dan Black agrees with you that the line between being persistent, which shows initiative, and being pesky, which is just annoying, "is a very fine one. It can be hard to locate." Black is director of recruiting for the Americas at EY (formerly Ernst & Young), and current president of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). This fiscal year, EY plans to hire about 10,600 people, including some 6,300 new grads like you, a 5% increase over 2013 in campus hiring.

    The time to get a feel for how soon you should hear back from the employer, he says, is during the interview. "We always try to tell candidates when they can expect to hear from us, and how to contact us with questions, whether that's by email or by phone," he says. "But if the interviewer doesn't mention that to you, you should ask, at the end of the conversation when you have a chance to ask questions."

    Dan Finnigan, CEO of social recruiting platform Jobvite, agrees. "It's also critical to abide by whatever the answer is," he says. "If the recruiter or interviewer suggests contacting them by email, for instance, don't call on the phone." Timing matters, too. "If the employer mentions that they expect to make a decision in a week, then follow up within that week," he says. "Otherwise, ask if you can get back in touch within two weeks" about whether you're still in the running -- and then do it, or "they will remember that you didn't follow through." A timely follow-up "is never seen as pesky," Black adds.

    You did the smart thing by sending thank-you notes. "HR people and hiring managers expect them as part of the etiquette of the process," notes Black. "And you certainly don't want to be the only candidate who didn't send one." He recommends keeping it "short and sweet, reiterating your interest in the job and, if possible, referring back briefly to some area of common ground that came up during the interview."

    However, whether a thank-you should be handwritten or via email is, as you've noticed, a point of debate. On the one hand, a handwritten note "will get you noticed, because so few people send them anymore," says Finnigan. On the other hand, though, email is probably fine, because snail mail missives "aren't as timely, and some people don't read their mail." A handwritten note could also make you seem old-fashioned, or as if you aren't on top of technology, he says. The important thing, in his view, is to send a thank-you quickly -- preferably within 24 hours, while you and your resume are still fresh in the interviewer's mind.