After The Interview

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses what to do AFTER the interview. If there is a reference to any jobs on recruiting for, these positions were filled years ago.  I no longer do recruiting. We’ve edited the transcript but not the show itself.

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Now, you know, most people, when they finish up an interview, are exhausted. There’s a lot of stress, a lot of energy that goes into doing an effective interview, whether it’s by phone or in person. And, you know, at the point that the interview is over, often the job hunter, you, just breathes a sigh of relief and appreciation that it’s over.

You know, I’ve done it. I finished. I think I did well.

But, you know, we’ll see how things go. So what do you normally do? Oh, most people just, you know, kind of make prayers that they’re going to get another interview, they’re going to get the offer. But there are ways to influence the employer.

Now, if you did a terrible job on the interview, none of this advice will work. If you did a good job, as between you and one or two other people, often these behaviors are enough to separate you from the competition. Because one of the things that I know from having talked to employers for so many years, is that they’re looking for a tiebreaker.

They’re looking for someone that not only inspires confidence that they’re the solution to a problem, but will do things that makes the employer believe that they’re not going to turn down the offer. Let me give you an example. I have a client who contacted me about a week ago, saying, is so and so still available? I said, let me check.

I’ll get back to you. They had interviewed him three weeks, three months before, and had a new position opened up that they thought was right up this guy’s alley. Great.

So he finishes a phone interview with HR, because there’s a new HR person involved in the process. And then a day or two ago, does an interview with the overall executive for the function that he’d be working in. So this isn’t just his immediate manager.

This is his boss’s boss’s boss. So clearly a high up individual. So I send an email to HR to let them know his feedback from the interview, what he had been told, which included another person is going to be interviewed next week, and they’ll have a decision at some point next week.

So I send this off to HR. That evening, I get a message back for them say, what he was told is true, but the other person’s procrastinating about scheduling it. So we get the idea that he may not be interested, in which point, what’s happened with my client, he’s advantaged himself.

He’s put himself in the position of being someone who they’re really eager to hire, because the other person doesn’t seem to care. And when answering the question, a couple of questions in the interview, he’s positioned himself as being someone who’s excited by the job, which is right up his alley in a promotion form. So it’s important to do this kind of stuff.

And thus, I made a couple of recommendations to him. And I’m going to talk with you about some of the things that I tell people to do after an interview. And the first thing I tell people to do is jot down some notes afterwards.

Why? Because if you’re interviewing with a bunch of firms, what often happens is jobs start to get confusing to you. You confuse one job for another. You have questions that come up.

That’s perfectly natural. And you may forget them in two weeks. Now, this isn’t the case with this individual.

But imagine for a second, you’re interviewing with four or five firms. You have an active job search going on. You’re trying to get as many interviews as possible.

You’re interviewing with a bunch of places and suddenly, things get kind of confusing for you. Which job is which? So what I want you to do is jot down some notes immediately after the interview. Who you spoke with, what they tended to ask you about, what the tone and tenor was of the conversation, what they tended to focus on, what went well, what didn’t go so well.

Write down as much as you can remember. Now, why is this important? Well, number one, this is a way that if you don’t get the job, you have a way of debriefing with yourself about where the interview may have fallen apart for you. If there were things that you did wrong, there are signals in this that will let you know about places that you can fix.

So, I’ll simply say, if you’re working with a recruiter, this is a way that you can give them a great debrief after the interview by letting them know everything that took place in the conversation, what went well, what didn’t go well, what your questions are about the firm and what they’re doing. And if it comes down to offer time, this becomes a way that you can help yourself with your conversations with the employer. The other thing is the idea of sending a thank you email.

Now, I know some people believe in handwriting a letter. I know some people believe in mailing a word process letter. My opinion is that if you mail something, by the time they get it, they’ve already made a decision and there’s no going back on it.

What you’re always looking to do is to influence a decision maker to think favorably of you. Now, what can you say in a thank you letter? Thank you so much for making the time to meet with me. I’m truly interested in the role.

You can ask a couple of questions here, but I’m not a fan of that, really, unless they’ve said we’re going to be making you an offer. Can we schedule time to speak? I have a few questions for you is fine, but doing the questions in the course of an email after an interview, not a good decision on your part. So, basically, putting together a thank you letter involves thanking them for making the time to speak with you.

Now, what you’re doing is making sure they know your name, yet again. You can now speak about some of the positives for you and your candidacy for this organization. So, you can now reinforce some of the good things that occurred in the interview that you’ve reminded yourself by jotting down some notes.

You can try and fix some of the miscues that might have taken place. So, for example, if they were administering some version of a technical interview to you, you can try and correct the wrong answers here. So, for example, you might say, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that at times when you’re doing an interview by phone or in person, a candidate feels a lot of pressure.

Maybe you felt that way before yourself. And I know one of the questions, I didn’t answer it as well as I could have. This is how it . . . you know, when I left the interview, I realized that my answer wasn’t correct.

Let me offer you an improved answer. And what you’re doing is trying to fix that mistake for yourself, so that they know that you know that that wasn’t the right answer and offer up the real right answer. Now, sometimes it doesn’t make a difference.

That’s okay. But you’re trying. And then at the end, you can conclude by saying, what would next steps be in your process of when might I expect to hear back from you about next steps, questions along those lines that afford them the opportunity to communicate with you again and talk with you about the next steps in the interview.

So, again, the idea is you’re taking down notes right away and making sure that you have a clear idea of the position, what you’ve been told so you can address that in future interviews. And then you’re sending a thank you email to help them remember you yet again.

Have a great day.

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ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS job search coaching and career advice globally because he makes job search and succeeding in your career easier. 

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