Be Brave Not Safe

Congratulations!!! You have just participated in your first phone and/or face-to-face interview.

It is now time to follow-up – within 24-hours of the interview (sooner if possible).

This follow-up should be targeted to “at least” the staff recruiter and hiring manager whom you met with. You may wish to include others involved in the interview process, if possible.

The content of the follow-up message (sent as a separate email to each person) should include the following commentary:

• Thanking them for their time
• Reinforcing how and why you feel you are a good fit for the opportunity (if that is truly the case)
• Reflecting on any important questions they may have asked, where you can share additional perspective to solidify yourself as a solid candidate for their consideration
• Confirming the agreed upon next steps and timing
• Letting them know that you look forward to hearing from them
• Offering to get back together (on-the-phone or in-person) to cover any other questions or topics they’d like to cover.

And, in the case of any interview, EVERY question they asked matters, or it would not have been asked! As such, if you didn’t know the answer to a question that you “should” have, or you feel that you “fumbled” on a question, you can include commentary in the follow-up message to address this (to the person(s) you interviewed with, whom this applies to).

Now it is time to be patient. But, only through the agreed upon period of time when they indicated you should hear back from them.

Realize that you are not the center of the prospective employers universe. And, they may get busy and fail to follow-up in the agreed upon timeframe. When (not if) this happens, NEVER consider this a rejection. At this point, you can send an email and/or call the hiring manager and/or staff recruiter to follow-up on the previously agreed upon next steps, reinforcing your enthusiasm for the job opportunity.

Assuming you have a conversation with them be sure to “again” determine next steps and timing there-of.

If you are unable to re-engage with them, don’t sweat it and move on! By now you have other “irons in the fire.” Keep working them. This instance has simply served as valuable practice!

In subsequent posts we will cover:

• Dealing with (3rd-Party) Recruiters
• Managing the Process
• Weighing Your Options
• Closing the Deal

In the meantime, enjoy the process! You are almost there!

Click here for the next article in this series.