How to Follow Up After a Job Interview

Now that you have nailed your job interview, it’s time to sit back and relax, and wait for the employer to offer you the job on a silver plate, right? Wrong! When it comes to getting your dream job, you have to be proactive, even after the interview is over. Following up on a job interview is an important part of the job search process, and there are a few things you have to keep in mind when you follow up with your potential employers.

Take notes after the the interview

When your interview is done, the first thing you should do is to write down all the relevant information, including what went well and what went wrong. Take note of anything that stood out to you during the interview. You should also write down the name of the interviewers, as well as what questions and concerns each of them had and any important issues that were discussed.

Send a personalised thank you note

Depending on the nature of the job you are applying for, you can either write a handwritten note or an email. If it is a technology related job, by all means use email to avoid looking like a dinosaur! If the work environment is in a more traditional setting, then you may write your thank you note on blank note cards. Either way, send a thank you note to each person you met during the interview. If you have to send more than one note, make each of them unique, as it will show more thought and sincerity. In addition, use the “soft sell” technique to show your potential employer how enthusiastic you are about the opportunity and reinforce the fact that you are the perfect fit for the job.

Do a second follow up

Sometimes the hiring manager would give you a timeline for the recruitment process. In this case, do a second follow up if you haven’t heard back from the company after the date that they were supposed to contact you. If you don’t have an exact date, do your second follow up around 10 days after your interview. For the second follow up, do not just resend the thank you note. Write a customized email to each person you met at the interview to thank them again for the interview and gently remind them that you are still waiting and interested. If you have followed up twice and still haven’t heard back from the company, put it out of your mind and move on, as it is likely that you have not been successful at this point.

Top 5 Tips for those New in Recruitment

The world of recruiting can be a lot of fun and make you very successful early on in your career. However it of course comes with its fair share of headaches. As a new recruiter you have to be prepared for the world you are about to enter because while it can be very fruitful it is also very demanding.

1. Take notes

It goes without saying that taking notes on anything new you learn is essential. You may think you retain everything mentally, but you are fooling yourself. As a recruiter myself I am a bit biased to just how important note taking is. You will learn so much on what it takes to make it as a recruiter, it is imperative you write this information down to constantly refer back to. Also note taking helps you develop key skills in recruiting. Even when you are 10, 15, 20 years into your career you will still be taking notes. Whether it is taking notes while screening candidates or taking a requirement from a client, you will burn through plenty of notepads in your career.

2. Reach out to others

There’s no one way to be successful in recruiting. The path to success in recruiting can come from thousands of different roads. You should soak in information from as many sources as possible. When I first started out in the industry I met with as many successful people in my office as I could and learned what made them a success. Don’t stop there, you should also look into getting a mentor. Some of the major recruiting companies have some sort of mentor program, but make sure to reach out to one on your own. Also, use social media to your advantage. Get on LinkedIn or Twitter (some areas of Facebook work too) and start connecting with successful people in the industry. The one good thing about recruiters is they are not shy about being active on social media so they won’t be hard to find. Also look into recruiting podcasts, there are plenty out there. I would start with checking out Drive Thru HR and Recruiting Animal.

3. Have a strong work ethic

The old way of thinking in recruiting when it came to work ethic was you had to be willing to work 7 am to 10 pm. Honestly this is a very outdated way of thinking. I have worked around some amazingly successful people that made a 9-5 schedule look like a joke. However that does not mean you shouldn’t have a strong work ethic. There will still be times you don’t leave the office until 8:00 at night regularly. Work ethic isn’t about the hours you put in as much as it is about the dedication you have. You must be able to dedicate yourself to your career. You need to have a “do whatever it takes” mentality. Whether that means working until dark, working on the weekends or not giving up until the job gets done. You need to have the mentality that you will do whatever is required of you to find success.

4. Work smarter, not harder

This saying is pretty cliché but it applies here. When I first started recruiting I got a piece of advice that I’ll never forget: “cast a wide net”. What it means is that you need to be able to find the candidates you are looking for as soon as possible. You should be developing the contacts in your industry to get you in front of candidates immediately. Cold calling candidates to fill a requirement takes twice the time as it would if you are connected in the industry so well that the candidates are at least aware of who you are immediately. If you are going to focus on a specific industry you need to make sure your name is commonly known in that community.

5. Be ready to fail

Recruiting is like hitting in baseball. A .300 average in baseball is considered somewhat successful. Which means in 10 bats a hitter will only make contact 3 times. Recruiting operates under similar conditions. We are dealing with an unstable product: people. People are going to make the decisions they want that won’t always be in your favor (i.e. accept a counter offer and not the position you are offering). You have to be ready to face this kind of rejection head on and continue to be successful. If you aren’t ready to hear the word “No” a long term career in recruiting may not be for you.