Should I send a text message or whatsapp to my interviewer when I don't have their email?

Question

I had an interview with the head of a department a couple of weeks ago. This interview was arranged by a recruiter. The interviewer is located in Brazil, and I am in Argentina.

Because of communications problems (very common in my country) we had to reschedule the interview and we did so via SMS texts and WhatsApp. Now it has been two weeks and I do not have any update. Would it be unprofessional to send the interviewer a SMS or WhatsApp asking for an update? I do not have the interviewer's email, and a phone call is too expensive for me.

Interview was over the phone, he called me from his cell phone after we arrange a time and date via SMS messaging — Orejano, Apr 11 '18 at 15:20
You might want to see if you can find him on LinkedIn. This is how I've always done post-interview followups when I don't have the person's email address. — AffableAmbler, Apr 11 '18 at 15:23
Are you asking about contacting the recruiter or the department head? How did you initially get in contact with the recruiter? — David K, Apr 11 '18 at 15:25
What, specifically, was the recruiter's role in setting this up? Did the scheduling changes happen through the recruiter or directly with the interviewer? Generally, it's best practice to follow up through the channel(s) you were officially handled through, both in terms of who you contact and also how you contact them. Maybe it's just me, but it hard to tell if that was via the recruiter or directly with the interviewer. — dwizum, Apr 11 '18 at 15:31
Also, you might find this question useful: How do I properly follow-up with a hiring manager, to check on the status of a position? — David K, Apr 11 '18 at 15:45

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 11 '18 at 15:38

8

we did so via SMS texts

Since that was how you both managed to communicate and set the interview, and that the interview went fine, then it seems that there is absolutely no problem in texting him; so far it is the best communicate tool you were able to establish.

answered Apr 11 '18 at 15:38

Sandra K

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Agreed. This was an established method of communication. If, for example, the interviewer had simply mentioned (s)he was calling from their cell, but all communication was email/phone call, it would not be professional to send a text message to the number on your Caller ID. – Chris G Apr 11 '18 at 15:54
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Did that, and got a positive feedback. I'm on the short list!. – Orejano Apr 11 '18 at 21:20
@Orejano Nice, good luck :) – Sandra K Apr 11 '18 at 21:34

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 11 '18 at 16:30

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You should handle this through your recruiter or HR contact at the company.

While it was fine to work out the details of the time and phone numbers for execution of the interview directly with the interviewer when there are technology problems, that should probably be the end of the direct interaction with the interviewer.

Depending on the size and make up of the company, it is quite likely that it is HR or the recruiter's job to manage feedback and status communications, not the interviewer. More likely than not, the interviewer has plenty of non-hiring work to take care of, while those functions are why HR and the recruiter are in the process.

answered Apr 11 '18 at 16:30

cdkMoose

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@panoptical, I would agree regarding a thank you, but this question is specifically about requesting an update on the process/status. In that case, OP should not be forcing that question on the interviewer. My point is not about how to interact with the interviewer, but that the communication should be with someone else. – cdkMoose Apr 11 '18 at 17:12
Good point; would help if I read the last part of the question. ;) – panoptical Apr 11 '18 at 17:20

Should I send a text message or whatsapp to my interviewer when I don't have their email?

2 Answers2