Follow Up -- Don't Drop the Ball!
© Patty Inglish, MS 2005. All rights reserved.

After you have done all the hard work of preparing a resume and cover letter, applying for a job, researching the company thoroughly and then completing a fantastically good interview, don't just leave and hope they call you! Your interview is really not finished yet. You need to do some post-interview follow-up.

Just as a good golf swing has good follow through, good interviewing has good follow-up. Even if you don't want the job, so the follow-up in order to make good business contacts for the future.

[In case you missed it --successful manners and etiquette for job interviews]: Etiquette for the Interview

What Should I Do After The Interview?
There are several more good things that you can do to help yourself have the best chance of winning the job for which you just interviewed. Here they are:

Interview Follow-Up Tips and Suggestions for Success in Obtaining Your Dream Job
Take interview follow-up very seriously as a strategic part of landing the job of your dreams.

Follow-up all interviews, even if they did not go as well as you expected, or you decided that you did not want the job. Interview follow-up will definitely place you ahead of other job candidates who interviewed for the same job, all other things being equal. Among equally-qualified candidates, the person hired will be the one who did the best and most sincere interview follow-up.

Follow-up well in a timely manner, but do not make yourself look or sound desperate for the job. If you seem desperate, then your potential new employer may develop the idea that you have poor planning skills and ran out of money, that there is substantial reason that no one else has hired you, and/or that perhaps you were fired from your last job or all of them. Your new employer would not want employees who let things deteriorate to the point of desperation, whether it is as complex an issue as a bankruptcy or as simple as running out of toilet paper for the company bathrooms and forgetting to order it.

At the end of your interview, ask the interviewer or panel of interviewers 1) when they will make their decision, and 2) when you might expect a call for a second interview.

Write down the correct names and titles of every individual who interviewed you, in addition to the receptionist, personal assistant, or executive secretary who served you. Request their business cards or make notes of their information in a small notebook. Interviewers, and even company presidents, will ask the receptionist what he or she thought of you as a job candidate and as a person. Make a good impression on everyone there.

Write individual thank-you note cards or letters to each person who interviewed you within 24 hours. Say something slightly different in each one to make them sound individualized.
Write thank you notes after every interview, even if you do not want to job. This will help make you known in the business world as someone who has class! It will make good business contacts for you.

Find out whether snail mail, email, or FAX is the best way to get hold of the interviewer(s). Ask the receptionist. Proofread your thank-you letters or cards before sending them and make 100% sure that there are no grammar or spelling errors.

In your thank-you letters, write that you appreciate the company's interest in you and re-state why you think you are the best candidate for the job.

Call all your references and tell them they may be contacted. Actually, you should talk to them before you apply for jobs and ask their permission to use their names, addresses and phone numbers.

Continue to search for jobs and go on interviews, even if your interview went so well that you think the company is definitely going to hire you. You do not know that for sure, and you do not want to lose momentum in the job market while you are waiting for a job that hired someone else.

Even if you are hired by the company that you expect to hire you, you can use additional interviews to gather information and to make good business contacts long-term. Further, if the job you receive does not work out, you will have ready contacts to help you secure your next one.

Stay visible in your business by continuing to look for other job and career opportunities, even after you have been hired. Stay informed about the job market and your industry, because you will be able to use the information to help yourself and others.

Do additional interview follow-up after the thank-you letters or notes have been received. Allow 48-72 hours after mailing, then make a telephone call to the interviewer and ask about the position. Re-state your assets during your telephone calls.

Be patient, but persistent. The hiring process often takes a while. This is especially true of jobs in the educational system or those connected with the city, county, state, or federal government. These entities, as well as the Board of Directors of any non-profit organization and of many commercial enterprises as well must vote on the job candidates. If they have a meeting only one a month, then you cannot rush the results faster than that. This is why it is important to follow-up with the interviewer by telephone.

Consistently continue your follow-up efforts until the job is filled. Just don't call every day. If an employer tells you it may take 30 to 60 days to fill a position, you can certainly call once a week, however.

Do not forget about the company if you do not receive a job offer or the job-offer package does not work out for you for some reason. This is an important business contact.
Small employers are as important as large corporations in the realm of business contacts. Add your interviewer into your business circle and ask them to keep you in theirs for the future. Ask them for referrals to other contacts.

You can use job interviews to gain important information for your future about business trends, plans being made by new companies, etc., not only for obtaining a new job.

THANK YOU LETTERS and THANK YOU CARDS
You must use your judgment about whether to write letters, use email, or prepare handwritten thank-you cards for interview follow-up. However, it is always wise to send a handwritten letter or card and then quickly follow it with one of the other methods of contact and thanks.

Personally, I prepare word processed thank-you letters for the interviewer(s) and do a handwritten notecard to the receptionist. I have used email letters in the past, but actually find them less formal and less satisfactory when I receive them. In fact, as an interviewing and/or hiring manager in the recent past, I found these emails to be usually poorly-worded, trite, slangy, shallow, and even flippant. A well worded and sincere email thank-you is acceptable, especailly if you send a handwritten note simultaneously. I usually mail hard copy letters or and/or fax them.

FIVE ESSENTIALS TO REMEMBER
Show good etiquette and good manners in using proper titles, punctuation, grammar and spelling.

Near the beginning, show verbal appreciation for the company's interest in you.
Re-state your interest in the job and the company, but without sounding desperate.
Re-state your qualifications for the position and add anything you forgot in the interview.
Enclose any information the interviewer asked you for, including references or other materials.

EXAMPLE
Date (May Day, Year)

Your Name
Your Address
City, State, Zip Code
Your Phone Number / Your Cell Number
Your Email Address
.

Interviewer Name
Interviewer Title
Organization Name
Organization Address
City, State, Zip Code
.
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:
Thank you very much for providing time from your busy schedule to talk with me about the Sales Manager position at McDonald's Blinds and Shades. I truly appreciate your time and consideration in interviewing me and feel that I am a perfect fit for this position.

After speaking with you, I know that I will excel in the job duties in a way that will bring an increased customer base and increasing revenues to your company. In addition, my enthusiasm for the work and managing people will bring higher motivation levels and results overall to the sales team.

I am very interested in working for you and look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this position. Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information. My cell phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx and I carry it with me at all times.

Thank you again for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Your Signature

Your Typed Name

CC: file