As a former VP of Human Resources for two Fortune 500 companies, I would advise against you calling to request an interview.

However, I strongly advise you to call and follow up on your application. Sometimes people send out applications and the recipient never receives them for whatever reason (lost in the mail, misplaced on the desk, online apps can get lost due to server failures etc).

My advice

1) Create a strong cover letter outlining why you are a good candidate for the specific position.

2) Tailor your resume/CV to the position/company

3) About 7 business days after sending in your resume/applying online, contact the company/hiring manager to try and talk about your candidacy. Not everybody is willing to talk about it with you. If they say they are still taking resumes/CVs, wait a week and call back again.

4) If you have received a rejection letter, call the person who sent you the letter and find out what you need to do to make yourself more desirable to that company.

"I have applied for jobs and called and requested interviews and was told that they often do not interview people who do not show the initiative and call"

Any company that gives you that line above, is not a company I would want to work for. Do they only give paycheques to the people who request one too?

The purpose of human resources is to take stock of a company's employee situation, and address the needs that come about from the assessment. When you are hiring, it is the duty of the HR department/recruiter to contact those who seem best to fit the company's corporate culture and resource needs. You don't exclude people who don't follow up (that's just irresponsible).

For the record, I work for the state of Illinois and have previously worked for two other states. If anybody called an requested an interview for an entry level position, chances are they wouldn't get an interview. Personally, I wouldn't give you an answer over the phone anyway. You follow the process as outlined by the state, and then I'LL make the determination who gets an interview. If you call me to discuss your pending application, I will do my best to call you back and talk to you about it, but will never commit to an interview.

Job applications are always hard - how should you fill them in? Should you follow them up when there is no reply? I guess there's no definitive answer but the site in the box below has some great tips about this. It certainly helped me when I was filling in job applications recently, plus they have other stuff on job hunting.

Requesting an interview isn't something I would do, but I always call to check up on my application and hope they offer me an interview.