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I visited the campus for an in-person interview 2 weeks ago. They supported my flight and hotel. I thought I was good at the interview and the director stated that she will be in touch after several weeks. Is it okay if I send follow-up email? I am so nervous and cannot focus on my work. Any comments will be appreciated.

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Unless they gave you a specific time frame, then yes, it is fine to ask them about the current state of your application.

If you have other options, then keep them open until things are definite, but don't bring them up when asking for an update.

Don't become a pest, but a couple of weeks is a pretty good interval.

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I would say that if no time frame is specified, two weeks is enough to warrant an email. I've actually had cases where I had been accepted to a position, they just hadn't informed me yet. It is likely that they may still be interviewing other candidates or have not made a decision so it will do you well to keep your email straight and to the point, IE

Dear interviewer,

Thank you for taking time to interview with me, I was wondering if there were any updates on the position.

Thank you,

OP

You could maybe add a thank you to their hospitality but I find most people in academia don't like emails, so besides adding the standard niceties, I try to get in and out quick.

Note: my field is CS, so small talk is usually at a minimum. Some people find this type of communication a little too impersonal.

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  • Seems like good advice, except that I would not suggest including a comma splice in a professional email.
    – Kevin Carlson
    Commented Feb 26, 2020 at 18:56
  • I've not heard that before, is that an unspoken rule or guideline that I have missed? I assumed it would be okay to combine the two statements because of their shortness.
    – sntrenter
    Commented Feb 26, 2020 at 19:24
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    It's not unspoken, though perhaps not spoken about all that often outside of high school English classes anymore. To combine two complete sentences into one, one either needs a linking conjunction or a semicolon. So "Thank you for taking time to interview with me; I was wondering if there were any updates on the position" is valid, but simply writing two sentences is probably better here. The comma in the middle indicates that one clause should be subordinate to the other, as in "While we like you, we won't hire you" or "We won't hire you, though we like you."
    – Kevin Carlson
    Commented Feb 26, 2020 at 19:30

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