This blog will focus on Follow-up – what you can do after the interview, to cement your position as candidate of choice. 

In an ideal world, you’ll hear from a potential new employer within an hour of leaving the building; in reality, it could take days or weeks.  Whatever the timeframe and final result, turn the post-interview period to your advantage by keeping lines of communication open and your name in the frame.  

On the day of the interview, contact your potential new employer and recruitment agency (if there is one) with feedback.  If you do this by email, use your private email/mobile device and outside of office hours. Doing so shows respect for your present employer by not using their time, equipment or systems in an effort to find a new job.    

Take the opportunity to restate your interest and highlight one or two areas of the meeting which you found particularly interesting.  Don’t compose the recruitment version of War and Peace, just a few lines to demonstrate that you’re still interested and thinking about what was said.   

For your own benefit, jot down some notes about what went well and where you could have done more.  Were you asked a question to which you didn’t know the answer?  Why didn’t you know… lack of research or was it too left field to predict?  Whatever the reason, spend some time researching the topic that caused the issue and don’t restrict your efforts to answering specifically what you were asked.  Read around it too… if you’re called back for a second interview, you might be asked the same question again (no doubt phrased differently) and this time will not only have the answer, but be well placed to expand the discussion.

If the timeframe you were given for a decision comes and goes, it’s reasonable to make contact with both the company and recruitment agency for an update.  At this stage, contact with the company should be via the Human Resources Department.  If a recruitment agency is involved, they might prefer to make contact on your behalf.   

If, at any stage (ten minutes after the interview or ten days later) you realise you don’t actually want the job, then let all concerned know as quickly as possible, using positive language and thanking them for their time.

If, when the decision comes, it isn’t good news then don’t feel too deflated.  There are a hundred and one reasons why candidates don’t a job – underqualified, overqualified, too extrovert, not extrovert enough… the list of possibilities is endless.  The right job for you is out there somewhere and at some point, you’ll find it and nail it.  Good luck.