How long to wait for email response before sending follow up?

[Anonymous]

Ugh. I am job searching (unemployed) and getting very frustrated. Have not had much luck this time around finding the right family. I get a lot of emails and always respond in a timely manner (usually within an hour or two but never more than say 12 hours - overnight). It just seems the families don't do the same. They email me sounding all excited about possibly working together, and then they take longer and longer to get back to me, and sometimes I have to send a second follow up email to even get a response! It's so annoying, they seem so interested and then become so flaky. I hate having to send a second email because I don't want to come off as pushy or anything but after 2 days I wonder what's going on. Is it wrong to expect an email reply within 24 hours? I mean most people have email on their smartphones so why is it so hard to reply in a timely manner? Thanks for letting me vent.

[Anonymous]

Most of these parents are scatterbrained. It's just how it is. So yeah, email them back. They forget.

[Anonymous]

There are also many more nannies than jobs in the DC area and they likely have several candidates to choose from and they don't want to lead you along if you are not their top choice.

[Anonymous]

I'd make sure my emails were clear, concise, appropriate/professional, and had proper grammar/spelling.

If they're interviewing a lot of people, I'd be inclined to give 24-48 hours for response time.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I think they do just forget because they usually apologize for not responding sooner. I am not in the DC area. And to the last PP, my emails are very clear and professional so that's not an issue.

[Anonymous]

Its frustrating but the fact is, they are looking into multiple candidates at once and don't want to commit to anything or rush the decision. I completely agree with PP who says there are many more nannies than jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its frustrating but the fact is, they are looking into multiple candidates at once and don't want to commit to anything or rush the decision. I completely agree with PP who says there are many more nannies than jobs.

I agree with this. Plus you add in their own jobs and taking care of the kids, I think it is best to allow 48 hours before getting annoyed. I think it is fine to send an email towards the end of the 3rd day. Any family who is off put by this is a family you don't want to work for anyways.

[Anonymous]

I agree that they are most likely speaking to many candidates and you are not exactly at the top of their priority list as you would like to think.

You can make yourself stand out more however by being more persuasive and putting yourself out there more. If they still are slow to respond, I wouldn't try too hard. This may make you look too desperate for work and may turn them off to you.

[Anonymous]

People who have jobs, kids and a life are going to take more time to respond back. If it's been a week than yes, I'd be a tad bit annoyed but 24 hours, no. However, it's fine to send out a follow up 2 or 3 days later. If you still don't hear back than move on.

[Anonymous]

I tell parents in my interviews that I'm interviewing with several other families and ask for their timeline - and share my own - before we part ways. That seems to help as I've always heard from them precisely when promised.