5 Things to do After an Interview

Hello everyone! Today is the last day of my "Interview" series. Hope you enjoyed week 1 & 2!

1. Write down anything noteworthy- if you brought a notepad with you, as soon as you get in your car or find the nearest coffee shop and start jotting down important details from the interview. If you have to get them references and/or any other document. Also, try and write down any detail from each person you met with during the interview. If you want, you can also follow up on something you felt like you stumbled upon. This is a slippery slope, however if you were drawing a blank on something, put it in your follow up email. Especially if it was a name of a restaurant, or a common friend.
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2. Thank you emails- this is common practice, just remember to get everyone's email. Keep the email short and bring up something specific that was said during the interview. I wouldn't recommend sending a mass email to everyone, personalize your message. Again, keep it short. Less is more.

For example; Dear John, it was a pleasure meeting you today. It was great to learn more about AwesomeCompany. You gave me a lot of insight on how my previous work experience would be a great fit for your team. I'll be sure to read more about the recent acquisition with EvenMoreAwesomeCompany. Look forward to hearing back from you on Friday for more details. 
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3. Connect on LinkedIn - pending the type of rapport you had with those interviewing you, connect with those people on LinkedIn.
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4. Continue to Follow up- typically when an interview ends, the person who conducts the interview will tell you "we'll be in touch". Don't take that as an answer. Ask for a firm date on when you can expect to hear back. In this day and age, 3-5 days is enough time for an employer to give you a response on the next steps.  If they say a few weeks, tell the person you're going to send a follow up email in a week. You know that saying...out of sight, out of mind. This is especially true with interviews. It's acceptable and good to be aggressive at times like this in your life. Worst case they don't choose you as a candidate because you wanted the job too badly. I always tell people, "Sounds good, if it works for you, I'm going to send you a follow up email in a two days." You're not really asking for permission, you're basically telling them...you'll hear from me soon. Most likely they'll agree, which gives you the green light and you don't feel bad for emailing them for a follow up status.
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5. Reach out to your references - if you haven't reach out to your references prior to the interview (which is recommended), reach out to each of them and tell them about the interview. Also ask if they can let you know how the reference call goes afterwards. It's important you have an idea what details they focus on. For example, if your reference is a previous manager and you got along with well, but it was early in your career. You might want to prep him for a call from the company and talk about some of the areas they're focusing on. This will also give you a chance to say, "It was so great to have you as one of my first managers, you taught me so much in my career so far." You're indirectly reminding them that you're more experienced.
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After you've done all this, you're done! You've successfully completed your interview. Enjoy a glass of wine or ice cream, you deserve it!

Keep in mind when you're interviewing that you have to know, when to move on. It's even more important to learn how to bounce back. In my experience, most people start looking for jobs when they're unhappy with they're current position (once upon a time I was a Legal Recruiter). Try and focus on the positives and even more importantly, on things you can control at work. You can't control your boss, but you can control how you manage your time on a daily basis.

I'm a firm believer that your network is more important than your work experience on paper. You might have one year of experience, but have the ability of someone with five years of experience. The people in your network ple who communicate this to your next big promotion is your network! Your old boss. Your teammate. Your Director. Your customer. The list goes on.

 Remember that experience is great, but your network is more important. Work on knowing the smartest and most opportunistic people you work with and make those people your friends and mentors. These are the people that will help you get your next job!

If you ever have any questions, please email me directly at thecorporatecatwalk {at} gmail.com