What to do after an interview?

When you finish an interview, what do you do? I know the first thing I usually do is call my parents and/or my spouse. I want to tell them right away how it went and I know they are impatiently waiting for an update. I then want to reward myself by binge watching my favorite show and most likely eating a burger from Shake Shack.

However, there a few other things to do when you finish an interview that can help determine your future:

Spend 10 minutes writing down how the interview went. You may want to include:

  • The types of questions they asked
  • The types of answers you gave
  • Did you like the people who interviewed you? Could you see yourself working well with them?
  • What did you answer well and what can you work on to better a future interview?
  • Contact information of the people who interviewed you.
  • Draft thank-you emails to each person who interviewed you.
  • Write a thank-you note to show appreciation, do not write a thank-you note to impress someone or to ask for something.
  • Make sure to write a separate and different thank-you note to each person that interviewed you.
  • Try to include something specific that you discussed with each person to personalize the email.
  • Let yourself sit on the email for an hour- do you have any follow up questions?
  • Send thank-you notes before the end of the day.
  • Ask your recruiter to follow up or set a reminder to follow up with the hiring manager.

A day or two later, send a LinkedIn request to the people who interviewed you. It is great to connect with everyone you meet, even if you do not get or accept the job. You never know what your future holds.

What to bring to an interview

When preparing for a job interview, you spend a lot of time thinking about what you are going to say. You research the company, the person interviewing you, and you search for potential interview questions. Now what??

Now that you’ve spent a good amount of time preparing, here are a few items you do not want to forget to leave out of your plan:

Contact and Address

Who are you meeting with and where are you meeting with them?

ID 

Many bigger buildings ask guests for identification.

Resume (In a folder) 

Print out 10 copies of your updated resume- you never know how many people you are meeting with. Keep your resumes neat and together; the last thing you want to do is pull out a dirty, folded resume from your bag.

A notepad and a pen 

Bring a notepad and a pen to show that you are prepared and that you thought ahead. You may want to write down some notes during the interview to show that you are engaged and interested in the job.

Breath mints or gum 

Get rid of either before the interview.

Questions 

You will be asked if you have any questions at the end of the interview. Whether your questions are in your head or written down, make sure you have a few prepared.