Job Interview Follow Up Do's and Don'ts

Do

1. Do call your prospective employer to get feedback

Most companies will give you a timescale within which feedback will be provided. If it goes beyond the date specified call them and ask whether there is any feedback available. Keep calling every 3-4 days until you get an answer. Calling everyday may be misconstrued as harassment but every 3-4 days will be viewed in a positive light as it shows your commitment to wanting the job.

Tip: Get the name of the hiring manager who interviewed you and a direct dial number and check out that it’s okay to call them to get feedback.


2. Do be polite but assertive

When calling for feedback be polite, pleasant but assertive. Explain that you are considering offers from other companies and are keen to find out the outcome of this interview as it was your favourite role. If a company knows that you are considering other job offers they will be more likely to work quickly to give you interview feedback or risk losing a good quality candidate.

3. Do thank the organisation for your interview

Regardless of whether you get the job or not after receiving feedback, make a point of thanking the manager or human resources staff for the interview. Remember that others who have been made a job offer may decline it and if a prospective employer perceives that you have showed character and respect they may remember that and offer you the job next.

I know a number of people who have adopted this approach and the companies concerned have been so impressed that they called them back having created another role for them!

4. Ask for feedback on how your came across in interview if you don’t get the job

This can be difficult as it can hurt your pride but ask the company how you interviewed. They may identify something you hadn’t thought of as a problem, perhaps about your presentation or listening skills or something else. You can then use this information to improve next time.

5. Do speak to the decision maker.

Human resources departments often deal with interview feedback but very often they have little idea of your potential importance to the company. So after interview they are likely to give you a standard response that they are still awaiting feedback from the hiring manager. The hiring manager has the real power so speak to them directly or in addition to the Human Resources department so that they are aware of your concerns or other offers you are considering. The hiring managers will often speed up feedback to you if you keep them informed of developments.

Don’t

1. Don’t harass

There is a fine line between being persistent and harassing. If after interview you have been told a date by which you should have feedback, don’t call before this date. After this date has passed you should call every 3-4 days but not sooner as you will become a nuisance and people will stop taking your call.

2. Don’t be rude or offensive

Finding out interview feedback can be exciting or disappointing. If you don’t get the job and don’t agree with the feedback do not be rude or offensive to employers. Remember they are just doing their job. Just write it off and go find that company that can appreciate your skills.

3. Don’t lie about other job offers

You need to be careful what you tell a prospective employer after interview in order to hurry up feedback. Don’t lie about job offers and use this to try and speed up feedback or it could simply backfire. The company concerned could simply reply that you should take the other job offer as they can’t get the feedback quick enough. This will leave you empty handed.

Elements of a Succesful Job Search

Introduction

Starting a job search can often be a daunting experience, after all where do you start and which sources of information should you use? This article aims to examine in detail the elements of a successful job search, drawing upon my experience as a recruiter over a number of years.

Step 1. Objective Setting

It is impossible to decide whether something has been successful unless you define some basic objective in the first instance. Think about some of the following:

a) Are you looking for an identical job in a different company?

b) Are you looking for a career change into a specific industry?

c) Or are you still undecided about what job you want, but intend to cast the net as wide as possible and see what happens?

Once you have clarified your job search goals this will influence what you expect to gain at the end of the process.

Step 2. Update your Resume

Some people get steps 1 and 2 in the wrong order in their haste to find employment. They update their resume and then start thinking about what job they would like to search for. Remember your resume provides a snapshot of your skills and abilities but you should always tailor it to the type of job you are applying for. Don’t just submit the same resume for multiple jobs. Take time to emphasise particular skills in your resume that may appeal more to some employers than others.

3. Dress to impress

Go out and buy a good interview suit, even if you don’t normally wear one. Looking smart and presentable to any prospective employer is essential as it communicates respect and attention to detail. Getting your interview attire ready before you commence your actual job search will ensure that you are ready to respond immediately if an employer asks you to attend an interview at short notice. The last thing you want to be doing is trying to buy smart clothing on the day of an interview.

Tip: Go for dark colors, like blue, navy or black for interview clothing and always stick to a plain white shirt or blouse. These colors are quite neutral and smart and are unlikely to be off putting to a prospective employer.

4. Newspaper Media

The traditional way to search for a new job is by combing through newspapers or specialist magazines to find suitable vacancies. These media types can be very useful. Newspaper advertising provides a good overview of local vacancies whilst specialist magazines offer opportunities within a particular industry like social working, engineering , aerospace etc.

These should definitely be an essential element of a successful job search but their major drawback is that you often have to shift through lots of irrelevant vacancies until you find something suitable.

5. Internet Job Search

The internet is by far the most effective media for searching for job opportunities, as most company websites or specialist job search sites are regularly updated, offer instant access to potential employers and are highly interactive.

Specialist online job search sites like www.monster.com, one of the market leaders are even better.

Features include the ability to upload your resume directly onto the site so that thousands of potential employers can view it directly and email alerts which trigger an email to be sent directly to your email inbox if suitable jobs that match your criteria are posted on the site. Online job search sites like these offer flexibility, speed and the ability to narrow down your search options if there is just too much information to go through.

These sites are an essential element to your job search and I would highly recommend monster.com who host some of the largest online selection of jobs covering virtually every industry and specialism.

These sites are free for job hunters to use, as monster charge the companies fees for advertising on the site.

6. Register with an employment agency

Employment agencies don’t always have the best reputations but there are some really excellent agencies out there and they can add some real value to your job search. Having worked for a recruitment agency for a number of years here are some of the benefits they can bring to your jobserach:

a) Objective Critique of your resume

Whilst we all like to believe that we have written an excellent resume, a good employment agency will sit down with you and go through it in detail, suggesting improvements along the way.

b) Agencies know companies better than you

Employment agencies really do know what their client companies want and can provide you with invaluable information or interview coaching regarding what skills you should be emphasising.

c) Agencies have good links to companies


It’s sad to say but sometimes if you apply directly to a company your resume can go to the bottom of the queue, but agencies can speed the feedback process up by acting as a representative on your behalf.

Most employment agencies are commission based and it’s in their interest to get the fastest feedback possible after your resume has been submitted to a company. As a result they are likely to have developed good channels of communication with hiring managers and will be actively promoting your skills to key decision makers in the company.

Tip: Ask around for a recommendation of a good agency, that way you’ll quickly discover who which can add value to your job search.