So, it was the end of your interview session. Your much anticipated big day finally came to an end, and you just took a deep sigh of relief. Well, hold on, the work is not finished yet. Now starts, your post-interview process, which is also as critical and important as your interview session itself. The selection chances of a successful job candidate are enhanced manifolds if he or she correctly follows up and presents the personality once again in front of the interviewer. Below are the eleven best tips that every job seeker must follow after closing out the job interview process.
Eleven Best Tips To Ace Post-Interview Process
1. Enquire About The Next Steps
Ok, so your grilling or interrogation finally ended and you are tempted to just rush out of the interview room’s door from which you entered some time before. It is recommended that you control your temptations to leave, and rather persevere. Instead of leaving straight away after the completion of your interview session, it is recommended that you still stay back and ask your interviewer about the way forward. This could be done by smartly asking any of the following questions:
- Sir, can you please share, the process ahead?
- Sir, may I know how much time you will take to finalize the list of the candidates selected for this job?
- Sir, will there be a second interview of the shortlisted candidates, or there will be a direct joining after this?
- Sir, how do you notify the candidates about the selection process?
2. Ask For The Contact Information
There might be a hundred candidates for every job opening, but what separates you is your eagerness and seriousness to work for the organization. You can show your will and desperation by asking for the contact details of the hiring manager. A renowned career coach, Mr. Philips states,” By asking the contact details of your hiring manager, you not only show your keenness to join but also put on display your extrovert nature.”
Hence, it is recommended that you always ask for the Mobile number or Email address (preferred) of your hiring manager just after completion of your interview session.
3. Its Time To Analze!!
A successful person is not the one who has secured those valuable college degrees, rather the one who constantly strives to improve oneself by engaging in self-analysis and assessment. After the conclusion of your interview session, it is high time that you analyzed your interview performance by preparing an analysis report, which must contain the following items:
- The interview questions, which you were not able to answer and skipped
- The interview question for which you delivered a sub-optimal response
- Recall all those things, that were redundant and could have been avoided
- Recall the instances when you displayed an aggressive, nervous, or edgy body language
Write all the points mentioned above in your analysis report with honesty and dligence. This will really help you to improve all your future interview performances.
4. Connect With Your Hiring Manager On LinkedIn
LinkedIn is undoubtedly the best professional networking profile wherein you can connect with several hiring managers, employers, and business organizations. It is recommended that after the completion of your interview process, you search for the profile of your hiring manager and connect with him or her by sending a short message. This is not a sales pitch or flattery of any kind, rather a simple and kind thankyou, which you are sending just to be in the reckoning and consideration of your hiring manager.
5. Request Your Interviewer To Give A Feedback
After the end of your last interview question, which is “Do you have any questions for us?” you can always request your interviewer to give feedback on your interview performance. This not only shows your level of seriousness and professionalism but also depicts your eagerness to improve your skills and primary trade. Hence, always gently ask your interviewer to give feedback on your performance.
Tip Of Caution
Interviewers are as busy as honey bees and more than not there are long queues of candidates waiting to get interviewed in the waiting room. If you are among the first few candidates, never ask for feedback after the completion of your interview. Rather, just go home, and mail your interviewer at his or her official mail address requesting descriptive feedback on your interview performance.
6. Sending A Thank You Note
The act of asking for contact details of the hiring managers comes in handy, when you are required to send a thank you note to your hiring manager. Ideally, a thank you note must be sent within 36 hours of the end of the interview session at the official email address of your hiring manager. A thank-you note could be in the form of a formal mail, a crafty handwritten note, or simply a text message having relevant emojis. Your creativity really matters while designing and making a thank you note. Below is a template thank you note to guide you even further:
Hello Sir/Ma’am, I am (your name) and we had an interview session on (mention the date of your interview) at about (mention the time of your interview). It was a really interactive session wherein my core skills were tested and analyzed. I really appreciate the level of questions as well as your support throughout my big day. I hope to find my name on the merit list and soon see myself contributing and working for these prestigious organizations. Thanks for sharing your time with me.
7. Share The Requisite Documents
The need to revise all those college notes, an urge to read out all the frequently asked interview questions, and the unavoidable nervousness or anxiety. A mixture of all these acts forms a perfect ingredient for amnesia, suffering from which most candidates forget to carry a few requisite or supporting documents. Thanks to the interviewers, who are supportive and kind people, they always give the candidates extra time to submit these documents after the conclusion of their interview session.
Hence, instead of relaxing just buckle up and try sending all those missing documents in the form and manner as prescribed by your interviewer.
8. Try Contacting The Other Job Candidates
Usually, after a few days have passed post the interview, the candidates tend to become curious and want to desperately know about the status of the recruitment process. This curiosity gets bigger with time, and candidates end up sending repetitive emails to the hiring managers, interviewers, or other officials associated with the recruitment process. This puts forward a bad impression and shows that you are not able to handle your anxiety or excitement.
Hence, kill your curiosity by mailing, chatting, or calling any of the other job candidates that were waiting with you in the lobby of the interview venue. Try getting their contact details, which candidates love to share, and start communicating with them to discuss as well as knowing about the latest happenings.
9. Keep Browsing, Searching and Applying
Keep the ball rolling. You might have given exceptional interview performance and you are almost certain to secure the job this time. But, never stop searching for jobs, and just keep the ball rolling by browsing for various relevant job openings. Keep applying at all the vacancies with the same level of vigor and enthusiasm. This way, you not only prepare yourself against the improbable but also enhance your chances of landing a better and more suitable job.
10. Ring Your References
It is common for the interviewers to contact a few references given by you during the interview session or via resume. Hence, it is always recommended that:
- You let your references become aware of the fact that you appeared for the interview session of an organization and gave their names as references. Hence, there are chances that the interviewer might contact you. This will make them alert besides making them non-susceptible to calls from unknown numbers.
- You remain in touch with your references and keep enquiring if they received a call from the interviewer. It is not a lifetime process, however, you can certainly do this every 3-4 days for the next 15 days after the completion of your interview.
11. Just Enjoy The Wait
Life is a complicated process, which in summary is a list of events that can be controlled and cannot be controlled. What you, as a job seeker could have controlled, was your performance in the interview session as it largely depends upon your level of preparation, confidence level, and certain other innate skills. Now comes the uncontrollable part, wherein you just have to wait for the declaration of result or a call from your hiring manager. Every successful person knows the art of waiting and keeping patience to see the good times.
Hence, just enjoy this waiting period as who knows from tomorrow, you might just revolve your office chair with a pen in your mouth and remember this wait in your light moments.
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7862738/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0883902695001298
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
All the team management, content creation, and monetization tasks are handled by me. Together with the team at PrepMyCareer, the aim is to provide useful and engaging content to our readers.