Job Hunting Outside the US

I got this question from a reader: A friend of mine from Suriname claims that in her country job candidates should never follow up on the status of the recruitment process because doing so will make them look desperate and impatient, and will kill their chances of being selected for the job. So if, for example, she has been contacted by a prospective employer who expressed interest in her resume and at the end of the conversation told her they’d be in touch, and then two weeks later she still hasn’t heard from them, it is extremely bad form to send a follow up inquiry and to confirm she’s still interested. The same even goes for if she’s actually had an interview. She says this is also the case in Europe and Africa. I find this so hard to believe because it’s so completely contrary to the way we’re coached here in the U.S. I’m hoping that you and your European and African readers can confirm/deny the validity of her claim.

I live in Europe--Switzerland to be precise, but I've never job hunted, nor hired here. My husband has, obviously, and it was very much like a US job interview process. I will say that his company is largely expats so they probably adapt to different styles for different candidates.

I certainly can believe that different cultures have different ways of doing things. Pictures are popular on resumes here. Another reader from India said you need to put your age on your resume because job postings have age requirements.

So, tell me what you know about job hunting outside the US. Or does that vary strongly by region as well?