You’ve had your interview, the hard work is done and you can breathe a big sigh of relief, your fate now lies in the interviewer's hands.
That’s your job done, right? Well… maybe not.
There are a few actions that could help boost your chances post-interview, keep you fresh in the decision maker's mind and give them confidence that you’re the best person for the job.
Confirm your interest
Before you even walk out of the door - or click the ‘leave meeting’ button if you’ve been interviewed by video chat - make sure the interviewer/s are clear that you’re interested in the role.
Nothing over the top, just a simple ‘Thank you for your time today, I’m very interested in the position and I look forward to hearing from you' is probably enough.
It’s also the perfect opportunity to ask what the next steps are, or how and when you can expect to hear from them again if it’s not already been covered earlier in the interview.
We all know the importance of making the right first impression, but the final impression you leave them with counts too. Aim to leave the interviewer feeling positive and upbeat.
Send a thank you
A timely follow-up email to the interviewer is a great way to confirm your commitment to the process. It’s perfectly acceptable to send an email anywhere from a few hours up to a couple of days after the interview to thank them for their time once again and reiterate your interest. It’s also a chance to ask any pertinent questions that you may have thought of after the event.
You never know, if it’s down to a choice of two candidates - a nice touch like an email could be the difference!
Just make sure you treat any contact with the same care as you would the application and interview process, keep it brief, professional, and pay attention to your spelling and grammar.
Appraise your performance
Regardless of the outcome, any interview process is an opportunity to learn and grow. While it’s fresh in your mind, review how you felt it went. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes on a CV can provide a different perspective - could you be ‘selling yourself’ better? Or were any errors pointed out - such as typos or discrepancies?
Think about the quality of your responses to the questions posed to you, when you are put on the spot it can be more difficult to think. Did you use your strongest examples? Did you provide a succinct but sufficiently in-depth response? Often you can gauge from the interviewer’s reaction and whether they needed to stop you, or ask you to expand further.
One thing it’s important not to do though is beat yourself up if you didn’t answer a question as well as you know you could. Interviewers are human too and understand the pressures of an interview situation. It’s not an exam, it’s about giving the interviewer the confidence that you can do the job, would fit in with the team, and ultimately want to stay.
Conversely, make sure you congratulate yourself on what went well, an interview is an unnatural situation that doesn’t happen every day! They’ll most definitely be lots of positives that you should recognise too. For one, getting an interview is an achievement in itself.
Be patient
There’s a line between giving a potential employer the impression that you’re interested, enthusiastic and keen, and being too full on. You definitely don’t want to damage your chances by being too much of the latter. Desperation is not the look you’re going for!
Allow a bit of leeway - people are busy and unexpected things come up. If the interviewer doesn’t come back to you exactly when they said they will use your judgment on what is a reasonable length of time before you follow it up again.
And finally, if it isn’t the outcome you were hoping for naturally, you might be feeling disappointed or frustrated. But try to remain positive and always act professionally - you never know when your paths might cross again. Ask for feedback and use this to evaluate if there’s anything you could have done differently.