Okuzeka
Job Interviews & Careers vocabulary · Applications & Hiring

Hear back

Meaning in job interviews & careers, with examples

phrasal verbCommon term

In job interviews & careers, hear back means: To receive a reply or news from someone, especially after you have applied for a job or had an interview.

In Turkish: haber almak, dönüş almak, cevap almak

How it is used

Very common in conversation and emails: 'Have you heard back from them?', 'You should hear back within a week.' Usually followed by from and the company or person. It is close to the Turkish 'dönüş almak'.

Example sentences

  1. Have you heard back from the bank about the second interview?

  2. I haven't heard back yet, but they said it could take two weeks.

Common collocations

  • hear back from
  • haven't heard back yet
  • hear back within a week
  • follow upTo contact someone again after an interview, application or meeting to ask for news or to add more information.
  • rejectionA decision by an employer not to offer you a job or not to move you to the next stage, or the message telling you this.
  • applicationA formal request for a job, or the set of documents and forms you send to an employer when you make that request.
  • job offerA formal proposal from an employer to give you a job, usually stating the salary, start date and main conditions.

More terms: Applications & Hiring

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: