10 Things to Do After a Job Interview
You gave your best performance and presented your cleanest resume at the interview, and now you sit and wait. However, there is proper after-interview etiquette to not only show your appreciation, but to help remind the human resources manager about you. Following up after an interview demonstrates you are still interested in the job, too.
Follow-Up Note
A few days following the interview, send the manager a follow-up note via e-mail or through the postal service. Don’t just thank the manager for his time; instead, reiterate that you are interested in the position, add a few additional points from what you discussed during your interview and thank him for the opportunity.
Timeline
After the interview is over, inquire about the timeline. This includes getting a firm or prospective date about when the manager plans to make her decision. By doing so, you create your own base for when to follow-up a few days following the interview.
Reflect
If you feel your interview went less than ideal, you must reflect on the experience. Ask yourself what you would have changed in the interview – constructively – to identify what went wrong so that it may be corrected in the future.
Follow-Up Again
Check in with the hiring manager periodically to find out the status of his hiring process. Keep the follow-up within the timeframe given to you, but don’t check-in daily or even every other day. Spread out your inquiries and don’t sound aggressive or anxious during them.
Desire
After the interview, you have time to reflect about whether the job is right for you. Ask yourself if you are the right fit for the job, if the people and culture of the new job work for you, and, most importantly, if you would be happy working there. Sometimes, interviewees realize the job is not right for them, or that there are better opportunities, once they reflect after an interview.
Patience
The hiring process takes longer than you might think. “US News & World Report” points out that hiring for a position has numerous hurdles, such as hiring managers going out of town, scheduling issues and human resources delays. Therefore, be patient during your wait, and don’t assume that just because you haven’t heard anything means you didn’t get the job.
Apply for Other Jobs
Don’t stop looking for work while waiting on one interview. No matter how well the interview went, there might be other candidates in the same position. Therefore, continue to send out applications, resume and go to interviews while waiting to hear back about interviews already completed.
Move-On
Don’t check your phone frequently or constantly worry about past interviews. After the interview is over, and you have completed your follow-ups, move on mentally. If the employer doesn’t call, you won’t waste time worrying about a position you never had.
Explain
You should never make excuses for an error, but you can explain it in a follow-up letter to the employer. If you felt your answers to interview questions were poor or that you left something out, send a professional follow-up letter that explains this to the hiring manager. Only do so if you know the hiring manager made a note of your poor answers. According to “Forbes,” giving an explanation on minor things the hiring manager didn’t notice can add attention to errors that might have gone unnoted.
Apologize
You might feel your interview was poor, but don’t automatically assume the hiring manager thought the same. According to “Forbes,” you should never apologize to a hiring manager if you think your interview went poorly. The only time you should apologize is for a slip-up, such as referring to the hiring manager by the wrong name.