You’ve submitted the resume, aced the phone interview and
gotten through the in-person interview. Now you’re done, right? Wrong. The best
job hunters know there’s still more to be done. Whether the interview went well
or poorly, there are some things that you’re going to need to do to help keep
yourself in the running.
1. Get a business card from everyone you interview with.
You'll need this for step two. If people don’t volunteer a card, ask for it. It
couldn’t hurt to bring a small business card holder with you so they know you’re
prepared. Nothing too flashy or complicated, just a little case to hold their
cards will do. It’ll also come in handy so that the cards don’t get soggy in
your pocket. If you go home and realize you only got a few business cards,
don’t be ashamed to reach out to the person who first reached out to you to
schedule the interview and ask for everyone’s contact information. If you
didn’t get a single business card, you can stop reading now and get back to
applying for jobs.
2. When you get home, send a personalized thank you to
everyone you interviewed with. You'll want to phrase each one differently,
because people will compare notes, and if you sent a form e-mail to everyone,
it will be noticed. Make sure to thank them for their time, and try to address
something that was mentioned during the interview. If you wanted to clarify an
answer, or if a new question came up in your mind, now's the time. Also be sure
to make clear that you're still interested in the job and are excited to hear
back from them soon. If you forgot to mention something that will highlight why
you’d be the best candidate for the job, you can go ahead and include it here.
3. Do not call them to follow up. If you call right after
the interview, it's too soon. If you call awhile after the interview and
haven't heard back, either they haven't made a decision, or they did make a
decision and the decision was "not you." A company is never going to
decide to give you the job, but forget to call you and tell you about it.
4. A follow-up e-mail is OK, if only to get them to send you
the “Sorry, but not this time” brush-off, to which you can respond with the
oh-so-classy “Thanks for your time, please keep me in mind if you have any new
openings.” I know people who didn’t get the first job they interviewed for, but
made such a great impression in the interview and beyond that they scored a
position later down the line.
5. Keep job hunting after the interview. Let the momentum of
a small success (the interview) keep fueling your search. If you get the job
from the interview, great! If not, you'll be too busy sending more resumes to
care. Don't let the interview slow down your job search.
What are some of your post interview tips? Let us know on
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