In a previous post, we talked about the do’s and don’ts of interviews from how to dress to what to say, but we didn’t go into too much detail about what you should do after an interview. The steps you take after an interview can actually be as important as, if not more important than the interview itself. Once you’ve gotten through your interview, employers will expect you to know which steps to follow, and if you don’t, any chances you had of getting a job might disappear entirely.
Step 1: Think about what went well and what didn’t, and keep applying and interviewing
Was there a question in particular that you weren’t prepared for and could have had a better answer for? Think about what your answer could have been and how you could make that work in the future. Think about what your weaknesses were in the interview – were you jittery and fidgeting? Were you talking too fast? Did you ask enough questions? Don’t forget to think about what you did well so that you can replicate it the next time you have an interview – did you have a really good answer to a question that you think might come up in other interviews? Write all of this down so that you know for future interviews what you need to improve and what you can count on yourself to do well. It will also come in handy for the second step of your post-interview process.
Step 2: Send a thank-you note to each interviewer
You should make sure that you send thank-you notes within 24 hours of having an interview, but don’t send them too soon after. If you wait a few hours, it shows that you’ve processed your interview, evaluated it, and considered which parts were most important to you. Be sure that you get your interviewers’ contact information and preferred method of contact so that you know whether you should send an email, a printed letter, or even a hand-written note, and where to send it. If you’re unsure of how to ask for contact information and they don’t bring it up, simply let them know that you’d like to follow up, and ask, “I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me. How should I send a thank-you note?”
When you start writing your thank-you note, think carefully about what you should include. You should be sure to reference things specifically talked about in the interview so that they know you were invested in the conversation, and you might consider adding a few talking points that you didn’t get to in the interview and wanted to. This shows that you know more than you had time or opportunity to talk about in your first conversation, and it might prompt them to give you a second interview to talk with you about the points you bring up.
If there was a question that you weren’t satisfied with your answer to, answer it again and stress why you feel it’s an important question. Or, if there’s a question that you found particularly interesting but might not have had time to think carefully about during the interview, answer it again with added analysis. This shows that you valued the conversation in your interview and that you have the ability and desire to delve deeper into topics in which your interviewer is interested. Also, if you blank on a question during your interview, the follow-up is a great time to give an answer. People understand that it’s difficult to think on the spot, and if you already missed one opportunity to answer a question, why miss another great one?
Consider attaching one or two work samples that you didn’t have a chance to talk about or share to stress your ability to do well in a field. If you don’t have work samples, talk about something related to whatever job you’re applying for – a book you read, an article, an event, etc. The goal is to show them that you’re a candidate who will be able to do the job well and that you’re not just interested in the job – you’re dedicated to it.
All of this said, at no point in your thank-you letter or in any form of follow-up should you act like you already have the job. Confidence in your abilities is encouraged, but if you’re cocky about your eligibility for and entitlement to a position, your interviewer is probably going to be more annoyed than impressed. So even if you think you landed the job, be gracious and humble rather than cocky and overly assertive.
Step 3: Tell references that they might be contacted
If you haven’t already told your references that a perspective employer might be contacting them soon, do so after the interview so that they know to be on the lookout for a phone call. Even if they aren’t contacted, it’s better to keep in touch with your references so that they can stay aware of what you’re doing and remember why they agreed to be your references. Even though they might be your only references, they very well could be references for a number of people, so make sure that you are someone they can remember and will want to continue being a reference for.
Step 4: Use your network
Starting out, you might not have many people in your professional network, but if you know someone who knows your interviewer or someone high up in the company, or if you know someone who works for the company, ask them to put in a good word for you. LinkedIn is a great place to start, as you can reach out to employees at companies to which you plan to apply to ask them questions in advance, building a relationship with them before you apply, get an interview, or go to an interview. If you know someone at a company with whom you keep in regular contact, you might have a better chance of getting a job there. So look up a company that you hope to work for on LinkedIn, find an employee with a job title that interests you, and strike up a conversation about what they do, what their company does, and what they like about their work place. You might find that they’re just as interested in getting you hired as you are in being hired.
Step 5: Follow the timeline your interviewer gives you for following up
If they tell you they’ll let you know in a week, wait a week before sending any questions about the status of your application. If you don’t know how long you should be waiting because you forgot to ask in the interview, ask when you should expect to hear back in the thank you email you send.
If you do call them once your waiting time is up and they haven’t called you, don’t be too persistent. Call once or twice afterward and leave messages with whomever answers, but after that, if they’re not calling you back, they’re probably not interested.
Step 6: If you get a second interview, bring new information and conversation to the table
Don’t go into the second interview expecting interviewers to ask the same questions or even to be interviewed by the same people as the first time. Think of new conversation topics or ways to expand on things you already talked about. Do more research into the company so that you have specific questions to ask and talking points to address to show that you’ve done more homework between your two interviews and are still 100 percent invested in getting the job.
Step 7: If you get turned down, don’t take it too hard
If you got every job you interviewed for, the work place wouldn’t exactly be competitive, so you should expect to be told “no” at least a few times in your interviewing process. When you are turned down for a position, it’s important to remain gracious, thanking the interviewer for the opportunity and highlighting things you liked about the prospect of working for their company. You never know when they might need someone like you for a different job, and they just might be calling you next time.
Step 8: Stay in contact
If the employer does have another opening in the future, they’ll be more likely to offer you another interview if you’ve maintained interest and kept in contact. The more dedicated they see you are to working with their company, the more likely they are to think you should be working there. So, while you’re applying to other jobs and keeping your options open, don’t lose hope that you might, one day, end up where you want to be even if it didn’t work out the first time. That said, don’t try to connect on LinkedIn right away. Wait until you’ve found out whether you’ve been given the position, and if you haven’t, then add the interviewer(s) on LinkedIn. If you do it before you find out, it might make an interviewer uncomfortable when reviewing your application because you’re already in their “network” but aren’t getting the job.
- Hope Swedeen
What are some things that you’ve found go over well in an interview? Have you used social media to keep in touch or make connections with employees at a company at which you’re interested in working?
Step 1: Think about what went well and what didn’t, and keep applying and interviewing
Was there a question in particular that you weren’t prepared for and could have had a better answer for? Think about what your answer could have been and how you could make that work in the future. Think about what your weaknesses were in the interview – were you jittery and fidgeting? Were you talking too fast? Did you ask enough questions? Don’t forget to think about what you did well so that you can replicate it the next time you have an interview – did you have a really good answer to a question that you think might come up in other interviews? Write all of this down so that you know for future interviews what you need to improve and what you can count on yourself to do well. It will also come in handy for the second step of your post-interview process.
Step 2: Send a thank-you note to each interviewer
You should make sure that you send thank-you notes within 24 hours of having an interview, but don’t send them too soon after. If you wait a few hours, it shows that you’ve processed your interview, evaluated it, and considered which parts were most important to you. Be sure that you get your interviewers’ contact information and preferred method of contact so that you know whether you should send an email, a printed letter, or even a hand-written note, and where to send it. If you’re unsure of how to ask for contact information and they don’t bring it up, simply let them know that you’d like to follow up, and ask, “I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me. How should I send a thank-you note?”
When you start writing your thank-you note, think carefully about what you should include. You should be sure to reference things specifically talked about in the interview so that they know you were invested in the conversation, and you might consider adding a few talking points that you didn’t get to in the interview and wanted to. This shows that you know more than you had time or opportunity to talk about in your first conversation, and it might prompt them to give you a second interview to talk with you about the points you bring up.
If there was a question that you weren’t satisfied with your answer to, answer it again and stress why you feel it’s an important question. Or, if there’s a question that you found particularly interesting but might not have had time to think carefully about during the interview, answer it again with added analysis. This shows that you valued the conversation in your interview and that you have the ability and desire to delve deeper into topics in which your interviewer is interested. Also, if you blank on a question during your interview, the follow-up is a great time to give an answer. People understand that it’s difficult to think on the spot, and if you already missed one opportunity to answer a question, why miss another great one?
Consider attaching one or two work samples that you didn’t have a chance to talk about or share to stress your ability to do well in a field. If you don’t have work samples, talk about something related to whatever job you’re applying for – a book you read, an article, an event, etc. The goal is to show them that you’re a candidate who will be able to do the job well and that you’re not just interested in the job – you’re dedicated to it.
All of this said, at no point in your thank-you letter or in any form of follow-up should you act like you already have the job. Confidence in your abilities is encouraged, but if you’re cocky about your eligibility for and entitlement to a position, your interviewer is probably going to be more annoyed than impressed. So even if you think you landed the job, be gracious and humble rather than cocky and overly assertive.
Step 3: Tell references that they might be contacted
If you haven’t already told your references that a perspective employer might be contacting them soon, do so after the interview so that they know to be on the lookout for a phone call. Even if they aren’t contacted, it’s better to keep in touch with your references so that they can stay aware of what you’re doing and remember why they agreed to be your references. Even though they might be your only references, they very well could be references for a number of people, so make sure that you are someone they can remember and will want to continue being a reference for.
Step 4: Use your network
Starting out, you might not have many people in your professional network, but if you know someone who knows your interviewer or someone high up in the company, or if you know someone who works for the company, ask them to put in a good word for you. LinkedIn is a great place to start, as you can reach out to employees at companies to which you plan to apply to ask them questions in advance, building a relationship with them before you apply, get an interview, or go to an interview. If you know someone at a company with whom you keep in regular contact, you might have a better chance of getting a job there. So look up a company that you hope to work for on LinkedIn, find an employee with a job title that interests you, and strike up a conversation about what they do, what their company does, and what they like about their work place. You might find that they’re just as interested in getting you hired as you are in being hired.
Step 5: Follow the timeline your interviewer gives you for following up
If they tell you they’ll let you know in a week, wait a week before sending any questions about the status of your application. If you don’t know how long you should be waiting because you forgot to ask in the interview, ask when you should expect to hear back in the thank you email you send.
If you do call them once your waiting time is up and they haven’t called you, don’t be too persistent. Call once or twice afterward and leave messages with whomever answers, but after that, if they’re not calling you back, they’re probably not interested.
Step 6: If you get a second interview, bring new information and conversation to the table
Don’t go into the second interview expecting interviewers to ask the same questions or even to be interviewed by the same people as the first time. Think of new conversation topics or ways to expand on things you already talked about. Do more research into the company so that you have specific questions to ask and talking points to address to show that you’ve done more homework between your two interviews and are still 100 percent invested in getting the job.
Step 7: If you get turned down, don’t take it too hard
If you got every job you interviewed for, the work place wouldn’t exactly be competitive, so you should expect to be told “no” at least a few times in your interviewing process. When you are turned down for a position, it’s important to remain gracious, thanking the interviewer for the opportunity and highlighting things you liked about the prospect of working for their company. You never know when they might need someone like you for a different job, and they just might be calling you next time.
Step 8: Stay in contact
If the employer does have another opening in the future, they’ll be more likely to offer you another interview if you’ve maintained interest and kept in contact. The more dedicated they see you are to working with their company, the more likely they are to think you should be working there. So, while you’re applying to other jobs and keeping your options open, don’t lose hope that you might, one day, end up where you want to be even if it didn’t work out the first time. That said, don’t try to connect on LinkedIn right away. Wait until you’ve found out whether you’ve been given the position, and if you haven’t, then add the interviewer(s) on LinkedIn. If you do it before you find out, it might make an interviewer uncomfortable when reviewing your application because you’re already in their “network” but aren’t getting the job.
- Hope Swedeen
What are some things that you’ve found go over well in an interview? Have you used social media to keep in touch or make connections with employees at a company at which you’re interested in working?
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