Interviewing for a job is one of the most stressful situations you can find yourself in.
Whether you’re looking for a new exciting opportunity or are in need of money, job interviews can often feel quite fraught and desperate, as you of course want to be successful, and there is a lot of competition for almost every job opportunity available.
While this can make interviewing difficult, it’s important to consider what you need to do after an interview to give yourself an even better chance of succeeding.
This is also an area of job hunting that many people overlook, which can be exploited to improve your chances and also help you handle the stress of interviewing in a calmer and more professional manner.
In this guide, we’re going to look at some of the best things you can do after an interview to improve the experience for yourself and your chances of successfully finding a job.
Table of Contents
Take A Deep Breath!
Right after an interview emotions can run very high, even if you feel it went well. You will likely feel incredibly anxious, excited, and nervous which can lead to a sort of mania or hyper type of behavior that can prevent you from thinking clearly and behaving normally.
This is very common, and before you do anything constructive after an interview it’s important to center yourself, take a moment to collect your thoughts, and allow the adrenaline rush of the interview process to dissipate before you move on with your day.
Often just a few deep breaths and a minute or two of calming yourself down can be enough to help make the following steps much more effective.
Ask For Next Steps
After you’ve calmed down, and maybe a few hours after your interview, it’s a good idea to consider asking for the next steps, by emailing your interviewer and inquiring about when you can expect to hear about any progress on your application, and what the likely next steps of the recruitment process will look like.
Don’t send this too early on, as it can come across as pushy and overeager, but sending this email several hours or even a day after your interview helps indicate that you are organized, interested in the role, passionate about taking the process seriously and it will also help you stand out from among the other potential candidates.
Reflect On Your Performance
Reflection is an important tool for improving your interview technique and increasing your chance of success in subsequent interviews.
Refer to any notes you took during the interview and try to unpack where you felt strongest and weakest to identify areas where you could’ve done better.
This will help you improve your chances of getting hired if there are more interviews, or other opportunities available.
Write And Check Your Interview Notes
If you took quick notes during your interview, whether you noted questions, answers, or areas of potential opportunity, make sure to rewrite and organize those notes into something neater and more usable for future interview preparation.
Often interviews are incredibly fast-paced and you need to think on your feet, so notes can b messy and hard to read. Organizing them while the interview is fresh in your mind is a great way to improve your chances of succeeding in later interviews.
Send A Thank You Email To The Interviewer
Another useful tip is to send a brief thank-you email to the interviewer for both their time and for the opportunity to interview.
It’s a short and courteous way to indicate that you are a positive and considerate person, but again it helps you to also stand out from other candidates and keeps you present in the interviewer’s mind.
Send Supporting Documents
Send through any supporting documents that are required as soon as possible so that your application doesn’t stall, as this could have a negative impact on your chances of success and potentially indicate you are disorganized.
Whether it be ID or other key information required by the interviewer, make sure to send it in a timely manner to give yourself the best chance of success.
Contact Your References
Another practical step can be to contact your references directly and let them know via email to potentially expect to hear from an interviewer or recruiter regarding your application.
This is a point of courtesy and also increases the chance that you get a positive interview from your reference.
Consider Connecting On LinkedIn
If you really want to go after a particular role and feel as if it is appropriate, you can consider connecting with your interviewer on LinkedIn to develop your network and try to increase your influence, as well as reinforce and show your experience and enthusiasm.
Prepare To Wait
A big part of the post-interview process is waiting, and you need to be prepared to wait as long as necessary.
Recruitment periods are a busy time for businesses, so don’t expect to hear back from them immediately even if you’ve followed up, there simply may not be enough time to contact you right away.
Being professional during this time and not taking it personally is absolutely essential, and even if you are being ignored or slighted, it’s best to simply move on and write things off, to preserve your reputation as well as your sanity.
Look For The Next Opportunity
After your interview, the best thing to do is keep looking at other opportunities, so that if you’re disappointed you’re already moving towards the next potential interview and don’t waste any time.
Never put all your eggs into one basket, because banking on one interview and application can be really disappointing and stop your job hunt in its tracks.
