Hats off to you! You’ve successfully completed the job interview process and checked off a key milestone in your search for a new opportunity. After shaking hands with a potential future employer (or bidding farewell virtually), it can be appealing to think your job is done. However, what you do after the interview can have a lasting impact on how you’re perceived by the hiring manager and could be the difference between landing the opportunity or being overlooked.
In this blog post, we explore the efforts you can take after your interview, offering practical tips and strategies that will distinguish you from the rest and demonstrate your professionalism and commitment. After all, every interview is an opportunity to learn and improve, regardless of the outcome.
Self-Reflect
After the adrenaline of the interview has eased, take some time to reflect. This is a meaningful step in your job search, whether you get the job or not, as it provides valuable insights for future interviews.
Consider asking yourself:
- What did I do well?
- What was an area where I felt confident or particularly connected to the interviewer?
- Did I nail a tough question or shine when discussing a particular achievement?
Now for the hard part:
- Where could I have improved?
- Was there an answer where I struggled to articulate an experience? Or skillset where I drew a blank?
Not only is this critical for refining your approach for future interviews, but it can assist if a recruiter or a different hiring manager circles back and asks for clarification.
Keeping in mind that interviewing should always be viewed as a two-way street, you also want to assess:
- Is this role or company genuinely a good fit for me?
- Were any red flags or gaps revealed at various stages in the interview? Take note before you follow up with your recruiter, and hopefully, it can provide further clarification.
If you felt you struggled overall, there is an endless list of available resources for general interview skill improvement and more specific guides like our 6 Ways to Prepare for Behavioural Interview Questions and How to Answer “Why Do You Want to Work Here?”. Turn your plan into a point-by-point, specific list of actions you will take to turn yourself into a better candidate. The ‘Video’ page on our website also contains various short videos with tips and tricks to help improve your skills.
Be Honest with your Recruiter
Chances are, you’re working with a recruiter or talent acquisition professional and one of the first things you should do after your interview is connect with them to provide an update. After investing time and effort in helping you secure this interview, a professional recruiter is often your ally and wants you to succeed.
How should you approach this?
- Reach out to them as soon as possible while things are fresh, and give them an honest account of how it went. Did the interview meet your expectations? Were there any surprising questions? Were there areas where you struggled?
- When providing this feedback, you want to stay candid and not sugarcoat but keep the same level of professionalism as you would at any other stage in the process.
- This is where the constructive feedback you provided yourself during your post-interview reflection can differentiate you. Instead of saying, “I completely blanked on this question,” you can position it to your recruiter as, “There was a question that I struggled with, but here is how I would approach it next time.” That way, if your recruiter is connecting with the hiring manager and this question comes up, they might be able to advocate for you and demonstrate that you had the self-awareness to know you could have answered something more effectively.
Furthermore, if your interviewer did not address a timeline for when to expect a decision on whether you were selected for the role, this is an appropriate time to ask the recruiter when you can expect to hear the next steps.
Keep the Momentum Going
Try not to treat the end of your interview as the finish line. After all, job hunting is often a marathon, not a sprint. While you’re waiting for a response, keep your job search active! Continue applying to other opportunities, attending networking events, updating your skills, and optimizing your LinkedIn profile. Staying proactive ensures that you maintain momentum, regardless of the outcome of your current application.
By keeping the job search active, you prevent yourself from becoming too fixated on one opportunity, and if you do land the role, you’ll have made great progress in your professional journey.
Send a Post-Interview Thank You Email
It may sound old-fashioned, but the thank you email is an important touchpoint that shouldn’t be skipped. A well-crafted thank you note not only demonstrates good manners but also reinforces your enthusiasm for the role and highlights your professionalism.
To craft a strong post-interview thank you email, it’s key to send it within 24-48 hours as you want to remain fresh in the interviewer’s mind. It can be relatively simple, but it is worthwhile to reference a specific part of the conversation that heightened your interest in working for this organization or that resonated with you.
The closing of the email should reaffirm your enthusiasm and also re-articulate how you believe you could be a valuable contributor to the role and company.
Looking for a general blueprint/example?
- Express gratitude for the interviewer’s time.
- Reference a specific topic or moment from the interview to personalize the note.
- State your continued interest in the position and eagerness for the next steps.
- Offer your availability for any further questions or additional information.
Oh, and don’t forget to proofread before sending!
Proactively Contact Your References
If your interview went well, there’s a strong chance the employer will want to contact your references to confirm your qualifications and experience. Get ahead of this by giving your references a heads-up as soon as possible. This step is major as it reinforces your initiative and ability to think ahead, and bonus points if you had done this even earlier in the process!
To prepare your references, let them know you are in the final stages of the interview process and that they might be contacted soon. Context is always key, so make sure you’re providing them with the name of the company, the job title you’re being considered for, and even particular strengths you may have communicated during the interview – they can ideally align their responses with sentiments you’ve already communicated.
Remain Professional and Patient
They say that, on average, it can take 24 business days to receive a post-interview response and while nobody enjoys the waiting game, remaining patient and tactful during this stage is essential. You are likely eager to hear back (who wouldn’t be), but the reality is that companies may take longer than expected to make decisions, particularly if multiple stakeholders are involved in the hiring process.
Avoid the temptation to check in too frequently, but if you haven’t heard back within the timeframe they gave you, it’s perfectly acceptable to send a polite follow-up email. You can re-iterate your gratitude for the opportunity and inquire about the timeline for their decision. Patience is key here, but you want to strike a balance between showing enthusiasm and not appearing overly eager.
We hope this article has served as a reminder that your work doesn’t end when the interview does. By reflecting on your performance, taking proactive steps such as connecting with your recruiter, and sending a post-interview thank you email, you can enhance your chances of securing the role. These strategies not only reinforce your professionalism but help you grow as a candidate for future opportunities.
This is also where career coaches and recruitment professionals like the ones at LRO Staffing can be invaluable! Feel free to contact us and find out how we can help.
