Job Search Radio

I thought I would do a show today that talks about what to do immediately after the interview. I'm frankly surprised I haven't done this but when the idea came to my mind, I went back and I really didn't see anything I'd done that address that. So, I thought I would do a show today that deals with after the interview, what you should do almost immediately . . . like leave the building, but after that, here's a couple of things I want you to do. That's because my belief is you can learn from the experience, and there's information that you can glean from them that will help you if and when you're invited back.

So, the first thing is, "What did they ask you? Specific questions? What did they ask you about and how did you answer the questions? In retrospect, did you hit on the points, or did you miss on something? Yeah, part of the reason for that is I want you to learn for the next interview, whether it's with them or with another firm, how you can perform better. That's because it's kind of like watching tape after a sporting event.

Great athletes, to use football, for example. football players watch tape of their performance. They look at the defenses. As a quarterback, did I read the defense right? How did I miss that? How did they disguised their their defensive alignment that confused me? What could I have done differently?

I sit with my coach and I'm not trying to sell you coaching right now. But, you know, I sit with my coach to do a debrief about what I missed here and what I read well, and how I reacted, so you want to remember, review and chunk down? What did they ask and how did you answer.

This is the next thing I want you to think in terms of and this is very important. If you're invited back, what seemed to matter to them. Now, "the matter to them" part of this ties in very well with what I call the best question to ask on any interview, which I've covered any number of times. Go back and watch my video on the best question to ask on any interview and when to ask it.

It starts off the interview talking about finding out about the role and I teach you how to do it. And now, I want you to compare it with what you're picking up from their questioning as to what seemed to matter to them. As you go on in the interview process with the organization, particularly in second and third interviews, did you discern anything new from the first interview with HR, with the team. They may talk about one thing, but as you get further along the road, you start to pick up new little tidbits of information, write it down. Write it down because it's important to remember. When you get to the decisions and once you're on board, if you go on board, it's important to remember these little details because they can be pivotal to your success on subsequent interviews, and once you're on board in the new job.

Energetically, what's the place feel like? Did it have the kind of energy you like working with? For those of you who like a quiet space, was it quiet? For those of you want a lot of action and interaction with people, was there a lot of energy and noise in the room? What do you feel like there? Is there someone there that you should write a thank you note to because I do believe thank you notes are another selling opportunity that so few people exercise.

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about a handwritten note. I want you to email a note to them pretty quickly and to use that note as an opportunity to reinforce the positive things that you communicated to them that relate to what they're looking for. Ideally, you want to rectify any mistakes that you made in the course of your interview.

What went well? What didn't go well? This is about you're learning here. How did you perform well? How didn't you perform well? What did they say to you that really struck a responsive chord? What gave you a cause for pause? That second thing, the cause for pause, gives you follow up questions that, on subsequent interviews, you can ask clarifying questions about.

Is there someone there after the interview who you would want to connect with on LinkedIn, drop a note to, things along those lines. Drop a note to isn't the, you know, "Hey, thanks for making time to speak with me." It's about the real relationship connection. But, first things first. Is there someone there who intrigued you, who you'd want to connect with on LinkedIn and try and develop a relationship with?

All of these are variables that it's important for you to review as part of your growth, part of your professional development. If you ignore them, you're missing an opportunity to get better at what you do.

Give yourself criteria for evaluating the opportunity and help yourself perform well as subsequent interviews.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai