What to do after an interview

Posted on Monday, March 11, 2019 by Anne Jagger RecruitmentNo comments

 

So the interview is over. Now what? Most people just go home and wait patiently behind the phone or computer for the answer. But this only leads to prolonged periods of anxiety and feeling utterly helpless. We’ve compiled a few things you should take in consideration after finishing an interview.

 

1. Send a thank you note

Thanking your interviewer is very important. You can do this in various ways, either by emailing them or sending them a handwritten note. However you want to do this, it’s definitely going to make a great impact and separate you from the other candidates. Refrain from using templates found online, but rather customise each thank you note for each job interview.

Make sure you thank the interviewer for taking their time to meet you. Try not to make it all about your aptitudes, but rather offer them a gentle reminder of why you would be the ideal person for the job. Adding a few things from the interview will refresh your interviewer’s memory and also show them that you are interested in the company.

If you’ve been interviewed by several people, make sure you send each of them a separate email and try and personalise it for each of them.


2. Follow up 

After sending the thank you note, it’s best to follow up in order to make sure you stay at the top of their heads.  If you are sending an email, make sure you keep it as short and to the point as possible. Sending an overly long email will come off as desperate. If you write a lengthy email, they’ll probably just skim over it. You don’t want that. You want them to read every single word.

Always make sure to follow up after the timeframe they’ve given you. If they haven’t, then after a week might be a good time to check up with them and show them that you’re still interested in the position.

However, if they don’t reply to you, don’t send them multiple emails afterwards asking them the same things as it can come across as irritating.


3. Write down important information from the interview 

Right after the interview, take a few minutes and jot down any key points from the interview, whilst it’s still fresh in your mind. This is especially important if you don’t have much experience with interviews, as in most interviews the same questions are asked. Whether there was a difficult question you didn’t know how to answer, or you are not entirely happy with your response, this will help you be more critical and properly assess your actions and work on these weaknesses instead of being afraid they will come up in next interviews. This will definitely help you improve your interview skills and make you feel more prepared for your next ones.

If there is a next stage, make sure to add to your list any things you’ve forgotten to say during this step, or see how you can improve the answers you’ve already given. If however, this was your last interview, add these things to your thank you note.

 

4. Don’t abandon your job search

Even if you had the best interview experience, it’s best not to put all your eggs in a basket. Try to keep your options open and go back to job hunting. It’s best to have some other options in case something goes wrong than have nothing at all. And if you do get the position you applied for, now you also have the opportunity to choose the best option for you in terms of salary or company culture.

 

5. Get in touch with your references

Making sure you have references is a very important step to take after the interview. When deciding what people to hire for their company, recruiters will look for anything that could justify their decision; therefore they will most likely get in touch with your references. That’s why you need to let them know that they might be contacted. Surely they will be very grateful for the heads up. A good thing to do will also be to summarise the job you applied for and add any other things you would like your reference to focus on when talking to the recruiter. Don’t forget to also send a thank you note to your reference for taking their time, as it just might be that they’ve helped you land your dream job.


6. Have patience

Waiting around for a response after an interview can be indeed a stressful situation. This will only make you more anxious and you will be more prone to overthinking and overanalyzing. It’s good to take a few minutes to assess your interview in order to see your weak points and find ways to improve yourself in the future. However, obsessing over this experience is not going to be good for you. Just be aware that you did everything that was in your power. The interview is just a part of the process and no matter how much you obsess over it, it’s not going to move faster. Recruiters need to take their time in order to find the ideal person for their company and need to look at a large number of candidates in order to make the right decision. Waiting a month before hearing anything is quite common.

 

7. Ask for feedback

If the worst happens and you don’t get the job, there are some good things that can come out of this. In some instances, you will get a phone call or an email letting you know that this time you’ve been unsuccessful. If this is the case for you, ask them if they could kindly provide you with some feedback. This can be very beneficial for you, as you can learn from a professional how to improve yourself for your next interviews.

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