Post Interview Dos and Don’ts

Congratulations! Your resume stood out from the numerous submissions for a job, and you landed that coveted interview. What you do after the interview can be just as important as the preparation you put into it.

Below are some dos and don’ts to consider post-interview.

Do Reflect and Assess

Give yourself time after an interview to assess how you did. Write down your thoughts as you answer these questions. 

• Overall, how do you feel the interview went? Why?
• What answers do you think you nailed?
• What answers could you have done a better job with?
• What questions were unexpected?
• What experience or examples did you highlight? 
• What experiences or examples could you have emphasized more?

Reflecting on and assessing the interview can help organize how you feel and create a game plan for future interviews (both next steps in the hiring process or with other potential employers). Plus, if working with an external recruiter to land your next job, these notes will be helpful on follow-up calls with them.

Don’t Over Analyze Every Little Detail

It’s very easy to fall down a “woulda, shoulda, coulda” rabbit hole when reviewing your performance in an interview. While a bit of critique is healthy and helpful, dwelling on every last detail can be detrimental. 

Sometimes hiring managers may see you in a different role after an interview. If you’ve already convinced yourself that you blew it, you may just talk yourself out of that opportunity should you jump in with excuses before they have a chance to talk about those other options.

If you still move on in the process, you may overcompensate for all of your perceived shortcomings during the next round of interviews. Even if you are critical of yourself, clearly they liked what they saw in that interview enough to want to learn more. 

Do Send a Thank You Message

Within 24 hours of an interview it is good etiquette to send a thank you note to the interviewer. This is your chance to not only stay top of mind during the process but to reemphasize key points from the interview.

Some key tips:

• Keep it short. A few sentences are all that are needed to come across as both eager and grateful for the opportunity. No one has time to read a multipage message, and this isn’t the time to give a replay of the interview.
• Highlight a key statement or two from the interviewer that made an impression on your interest in the company. By highlighting something the interviewer said, it shows you were not only talking but actively listening.
• If you would like to expand on an answer from the interview you felt you could have been more thorough on, make sure to frame it in a way that does not call attention to you not liking your initial response. Keep it positive.

Don’t Be Thirsty

Aggressively following up after an interview can put a bad taste in a potential employer’s mouth. If they give you a time frame of when to expect to hear back, give them that time.

Chances are, they are interviewing multiple people and will need time to evaluate all candidates before making a decision on who to continue through the process. While you may think that aggressively showing interest is an effective way to show your interest in the job, chances are you will be seen as an annoying pest.

Do Keep Your Options Open

No matter how well you think you did in an interview or where you are in salary negotiations, until the ink is dry, the job isn’t yours. There is a myriad of reasons why a job offer can fall through, many of which are out of your control. Pinning all of your hopes on one job can lead to accepting employment terms that are less than favorable to you as well as creating a defeatist mentality (“If ‘this job’ doesn’t want me, no one else will.”). 

Plus, having other options can give you confidence going into an interview that you have skills and talent that are in demand. That confidence will come across when speaking with potential employers.

Don’t Ghost Potential Employers

So you’ve signed an employment contract and will be starting a new job. Well done! If you’ve been in contact with multiple potential employers and are in varying stages of the hiring process, take a moment to let them know you will no longer be continuing to seek employment with them. Not only is it professional, but it shows respect for the time they invested in you to say “Thank you, but I’ve chosen to accept another offer.” 

As the saying goes, be careful of the bridge you burn today. You may need to cross it tomorrow. Should the job not be what you expected, the company suddenly fold, or down the line you decide to move on in your career, you may want to be able to go back to those other companies for employment. You can’t expect to pick up where you left off if you just disappear during the process.