After the interview

After the interview

More than 25% of potential jobs are thrown away because the candidate doesn’t follow up after the interview. Following up doesn’t guarantee you’ll be offered a job. It does guarantee that you will be remembered as a courteous and persevering person. If you follow up skilfully it may tip the balance in your favour. Leaving a good impression is never wasted anyway. Always write and thank the most senior person you saw for their time. Do more than this; think about what you learnt.

Would you like to work in this business? What are the upsides; what, the downsides?
What are the main opportunities and problems for the business and how is the appointee going to contribute to their solution?
Which of your interviewers seemed best disposed towards you? Do you think this person was impressed enough with you to help you quite apart from the company they work for? (If the answer to this is ‘yes’ you may be able to extend your network.)
What points that you made were best received?
What mistakes did you make at the interview, if any?
What aspects of your experience seem most suited to helping the business develop?

Based on your careful but creative answers to these questions decide who to write and thank and whether there is anyone else you met who you could contemplate writing to demonstrate interest in the company and job. Show that why you are doing so is because you care – about them.

There is one more question you must ask yourself. “If I was put in charge of that business, or even of the part of it in which I hope to work, what would I do to make it more successful?” It is human nature to criticise bosses. It is as well also to remember Abraham Lincoln’s famous comment “He has a right to criticise who has a heart to help”.

No series of short articles can deal with all the aspects of getting a job that you must master in today’s world. In the last five Daily Paradox articles I have tried embrace the main points but there are inevitably areas not covered, such as the second and third of your contact lists, much more detail about the interview, how to write a compelling email and the whole business of engaging those you are hoping will engage you.

That is why Terrific Mentors International has a Career & Job Service to navigate you through the rough waters of job seeking. How much of our service you need we will only discover in a one hour no-cost-to-you chat. I encourage you to use us for this. It commits you to nothing further and you will learn a lot from it. I hate to see competent, decent people fail to get jobs because they have not approached the subject professionally.

As John Steinbeck said in The Grapes of Wrath “The last, clear definite function of Man, muscles aching to work, minds aching to create beyond the single need; this is Man”.

Everyone deserves a fruitful, rewarding, fulfilling job.