{"id":78465,"date":"2014-08-04T13:45:30","date_gmt":"2014-08-04T18:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=78465"},"modified":"2014-08-04T14:02:52","modified_gmt":"2014-08-04T19:02:52","slug":"acing-the-job-interview-part-4-of-4-post-interview-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=78465","title":{"rendered":"Acing the job interview: Post-interview tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Angie Solis, Senior Assistant,\u00a0INALJ Missouri\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Acing the job interview: Post-interview tips (pt 4 of 4)
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\"AngieSolis\"<\/a>I hope that throughout this series you have learned at least one thing to help you through the interview\u00a0process. Since we started on this journey we have talked about pre-interview prep<\/a>, personal and\u00a0professional interview prep<\/a> and surviving the interview<\/a>. Now, I want to talk about after the interview.\u00a0We can all breathe a little easier now that the interview is finished, but while all the face to face may be\u00a0done, the work isn\u2019t over. There are still things that you can do to help make you a successful candidate\u00a0for the job.<\/p>\n

First of all, once you leave the interview, take after-interview notes<\/strong>. The first thing I want to say about\u00a0this is; why didn\u2019t I think of this sooner!?!? Secondly, you may be asking why? Taking notes after the\u00a0interview will help you to remember questions that were asked and your answers. You want to take\u00a0notes after the interview while the information is fresh so you can remember the best details including\u00a0the interviewer\u2019s responses to your answers. Sometimes when I\u2019m looking back at an interview my\u00a0perspective begins to change because I can\u2019t remember if something particular was said or if I gave the\u00a0answer that I wanted to give. Taking notes will help you to follow up on any questions that you or the\u00a0interviewer might have and can also help you to become a better interviewee in the future (should you\u00a0need to interview again).<\/p>\n

The next thing you want to do after an interview is to send a thank you note<\/strong>. This can be done via e-mail, mail or both. The thank you note should be sent within 24-48 hours after the interview is over\u00a0so make sure to get business cards before leaving so that you can have contact information on hand\u00a0and ready to go. I stress that this is not a step you want to overlook. It may seem so menial<\/a> but it\u2019s\u00a0something that can help you to get the job or be traded out by someone who took the time to send\u00a0their thank you\u2019s. If the hiring process is time sensitive then be sure to send an e-mail as a mailed letter\u00a0may not arrive within the time frame you need. For a more traditional institution or a job that isn\u2019t time\u00a0sensitive be sure to send a typed thank you letter. Don\u2019t feel that you even have to choose one or the\u00a0other. Send a thank you email after the interview and get a typed letter to the hiring manager in the\u00a0mail within 24 hours. Not sure what to write? Some great samples of thank you letters can be found on\u00a0about.com<\/a> and monster.com<\/a> as well as other places on the internet.<\/p>\n

Before the interview was over, the interviewer should have given you a time frame for when you should\u00a0hear back by. In the real world there are many factors that could prevent a potential employer from\u00a0getting back to you when promised and it is perfectly acceptable to follow-up<\/a>. You don\u2019t want to\u00a0intrude on the hiring manager\u2019s life to find out about your application status but contacting the hiring\u00a0organization tactfully can help you in your quest for job hunting glory. My recommendation would be to\u00a0wait a week after the specified time frame. Don\u2019t get me wrong, that week is going to seem like torture\u00a0but just remember that things happen and it\u2019s best to wait it out. Mashable recommends to use the\u00a0same medium of contact that was previously used. If communication was being handled through email,\u00a0go ahead and send a quick note to cement your interest, highlight your strengths and check for any\u00a0updates on the position. Follow up once and if you don\u2019t receive a response, move on. It\u2019s best to focus\u00a0that energy on jobs that are in the here and now.<\/p>\n

At this point I\u2019m going to stress that if you aren\u2019t selected for the job try not to take it personal and\u00a0don\u2019t feel rejected if you get rejected<\/strong>. Hiring managers have a difficult job to do and there are typically\u00a0many qualified candidates for each job. If you are not selected for a position just take a deep breath and\u00a0keep it moving. I completely condone having a moment of silence along with a little cry on the inside\u00a0but try to use the experience as a learning one to improve your skills for next time. My mantra is that\u00a0everything happens for a reason so if you didn\u2019t get it this time, the universe has other plans for you.\u00a0While it may feel terrible at the moment, time will help heal your broken heart and one day your efforts\u00a0will not have been in vain. Hopefully that time will be sooner rather than later. Need some cheering\u00a0up? Think of a stampede of corgi puppies<\/a> and that should do the trick.<\/p>\n

In reality, you really can\u2019t win them all. Building relationships and networking are going to help you\u00a0to get a job in the future so use this opportunity to not only build a connection with your once was\u00a0potential employer, but show them what they missed out by sending one final goodbye<\/strong>. Sending a\u00a0rejection thank you letter is just as important as sending an after the interview thank you letter. It\u00a0shows employers that you are in fact a true professional as well as a solid candidate for future positions.\u00a0Don\u2019t want to write the letter? Get over your writer\u2019s block with some tips from TheLadders.com<\/a> and\u00a0samples from about.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On to a more positive note, hopefully all your efforts will end on a happy note and with a job offer.\u00a0If you haven\u2019t already discussed it, ask about pay, benefits and all the like that are important to you.\u00a0Make sure to get all the facts before you negotiate a job offer<\/strong>. The first thing you want to do with those\u00a0facts is to evaluate the job offer<\/a>. All of you out there reading this are my new friends so I want you to\u00a0know how extra special you are, so make sure that you don\u2019t undervalue yourself. You may be a new\u00a0graduate or inexperienced in the field or new to the institution, but, THEY picked YOU and you should\u00a0remember that when accepting a position. Now, don\u2019t go asking for the salary of a head librarian or\u00a0every other Friday off but know that some things are negotiable. Take these tips from the real experts\u00a0for rules on navigating the job offer. Forbes<\/a> and Monster<\/a> have some great tips, so be sure to check\u00a0them out and let me know if you have any of your own.<\/p>\n

Once again, I hope you\u2019ve learned at least one thing through this series. All of these links and more are\u00a0available on my Pinterest board, You\u2019re Hired! So follow me and let me know your thoughts on acing\u00a0the job interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Angie Solis, Senior Assistant,\u00a0INALJ Missouri\u00a0 Acing the job interview: Post-interview tips (pt 4 of 4) I hope that throughout this series you have learned at least one thing to help you through the interview\u00a0process. Since we started on this journey we have talked about pre-interview prep, personal and\u00a0professional interview prep and surviving the interview.…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[6258,5949,69,3592,3640,4514,6432,111],"class_list":["post-78465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-after-the-interview","tag-angie-solis","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-missouri","tag-interview-tips","tag-post-interview","tag-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/AngieSolis.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-kpz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}