Ask Experienced Devs @programming.dev remotedev @lemmy.ca 9mo ago

what exactly does "keep in touch" mean?

I've been doing some interviews lately, and my most recent one seemed to be my most promising one so far, until he started doing what he called "light tech screening" and did some trivia questions to test my knowledge on what goes on under the hood. I do admit, I should have been better prepared on the topics, and didn't do as well as I could have. At the end, he said my experience was interesting but I needed a better grasp of the fundamentals, and that we should keep in touch. Afterwards, I messaged thanking him for his time, and that I needed to review my course material, asked if he thought I should review anything specific and if I could do that for a few weeks and revisit it like he said. He suggested I do a deep dive into JS/TS to really understand what goes on and why, and would be happy to revisit it in a few weeks, and again said to keep in touch.

Does that really mean keep in touch regularly or often? Or is it just a throw away yea reach out again in a few weeks when you're ready? I'm already pretty stoked to get a second chance at this, the company seems cool and I like that they aren't weighing everything on leetcode problems. If I should keep in touch regularly, what would that even be about? I also don't want to annoy him before meeting again.

Any advice would be appreciated!

9 comments

Keep in touch means "keep in touch".

It also means - "I need more skill than you're bringing for my immediate hire, but you're a good cultural fit. I've been at this hiring thing long enough to know you're not going to still be in the job market when my next role opens. But I'm hoping you think of me and reach out when you get fed up with your next job and start looking again."

Source: I hire developers.
- This one. It might feel huge at first but that world is small. Your paths will likely cross again.
- This is correct, but the context around OP's situation is really weird and doesn't fit the pattern, especially this part:
  
  and would be happy to revisit it in a few weeks
  
  Unless he has knowledge of a specific job opening that fits OP's current skill level, this makes no sense. Nobody levels up in a few weeks.
It sounds like he is suggesting you develop your skills and knowledge a fair amount from where you are now, and is open to you applying in the future… like, maybe 6 months to a year would be my guess.
It means maybe apply again in the distant future after you are more established as an experienced dev with a "better grasp of the fundamentals." But you didn't get the current job and they were trying to be polite about it.
You didn't get the job. Move on.
- Permanently Deleted
Keep in touch means: Update me if anything changes. Don't update him on your progress towards what you agreed on, only if you won't make it or gave up or something.

Normally I would agree with people here that he was just being nice, it may happen in a call where the recruiter is awkward and got caught off guard. Generally you would end the interview and wait for feedback by email instead of getting it directly in the call, it may have been a inexperienced recruiter or a tiny company with no process. 3 weeks does sound short to clear any gaps in your knowledge.

What I know for sure in 20 years in the industry is that companies will tell you "sorry it's policy to wait X months before applying again" instead of making you waste your time applying in a few weeks. I'm not really buying he was being nice if he agreed to chat again. I would advise writing to him again in a few weeks, telling him you had a go and feel much more confident. Tell him you understand that the opportunity may have passed but that you wanted to make good on your agreement to get back to him, and that you appreciate his feedback either way. This implies of course he agreed to check back in a few weeks

You may not get a reply at all, but it's worth a shot given he specifically agreed to chatting again in a few weeks. You have nothing to lose. While the job may have passed, there are more and I've often made connections in interviews for jobs I didn't get, that ended up paying off later when meeting them again.
- Yea, for the most part I would have agreed with everyone else as well, he was just being nice. But it was a much less formal interview then normal, and at the end he made a point to add me on LinkedIn during the call because he wanted to stay in touch. That was the only thing that gave me enough confidence to ask about meeting again in a few weeks. I'm still focusing on applying elsewhere and not putting all eggs in one basket but I'm hopeful to have this at least in the backburner.
  
  If you said: Hey can I email you in a few weeks and he said yes, then do it.
  
  If you asked "can i poke you in 3 weeks" and he just ambiguously replied "let's keep in touch", then I would not write again.
  
  Most people will connect even if they don't expect to hear
I think he wants you to message him every day with a little "hi, how's it going? Hope you're having a good day"
It means to keep in touch. If something happens on his end he'll let you know, and if anything changes on your side to also let him know. Imo it means "keep me updated if anything changes". Normally it would mean both parties keep each other updated, but I wouldn't take it personally if he doesn't, he's got the big end of the stick.

I would adivse to only contact him in a few weeks as agreed, or to let him know if in the end you don't intend to do it, or something comes up and you need more time.

9 comments