What to Do After the Interview?

There are many ways to follow up after the interview or series of interviews. You can do it by telephone, through your employment agency, in person, or by letter. I recommend you do follow up in writing and that your letter serve as a vehicle to enhance your candidacy. Whatever you do, it must work to your advantage and not vice versa. Before we get into the contents of a good follow-up letter, let's take a look at some of the things you shouldn’t do.

First of all, don't "bug" the recruiter or the interviewer. The company needs time to make a hiring decision; it will probably be interviewing many candidates over a period of time in order to hire the best person. Often I've interviewed candidates who called back the next day, waning to know where they stood. I admit that it's difficult to go home and wait, but you should realize that it takes time to make a hiring decision. A post interview phone call will most likely only irritate the interviewer. When and if they're going to make you an offer, they'll call you. A more professional approach is to write the interviewer a letter. In the case of multiple interviews, multiple letters-all slightly different-should be written. The letters should be constructed to accomplish a number of objectives. First of all, they should be on crisp, clean paper, neatly and accurately written or typed, properly addressed with the recipient's name and title correctly spelled, and on your own stationery-not your past or present employer's. The body of the letter should express your interest in the position, your positive assessment of the company and its people, your qualifications for the opening, and your intention to accept the job if offered. Below is a good example of what a follow-up letter should be.