After The Interview

This article on the interview checklist is part of the Coaching Collective series, featuring tips and expertise from Flatiron School Career Coaches. Every Flatiron School graduate is eligible to receive up to 180 days of 1:1 career coaching with one of our professional coaches. This series is a glimpse of the expertise you can access during career coaching at Flatiron School. 

You have just completed your interview. You feel good and think it went well. Time to sit back and wait for them to offer you the job, right? Wrong!  

You can’t kick back and relax just yet because you know that you have one final, critical task to perform: the post-interview checklist. 

#1 – Send A Thank You Note

Time is of the essence

Send this within 24 hours of your interview.  Speed is of the essence.  This will show that you are interested in the opportunity, professional, and that you possess good follow-up skills.  

There is some conflicting information out there about whether or not to send an email follow-up or a handwritten note.  Go with the email for speed’s sake.

Send A Custom Note To Each Interviewer

Before leaving the interview make sure that you get business cards from each person with which you interviewed. Send thank you emails to everyone you interviewed with. Don’t send generic notes – make sure you say something a little different to each person.  

Remember that you are attempting to differentiate your candidacy from the other candidate contenders.

Focus On The 3 R’s

Think about the 3 R’s when composing your follow-up:

Reinforce. Re-state why you are the right person for the job.  The best way to do this is to align your skills, experience, and abilities in comparison to the primary requirements in the job description.  Consider using a two-column format to compare your capabilities to the job requirements.

Recoup. If there is something you wished you would have said or a piece of the technical challenge that you just did not get, add this to your note.

Remind. In the closing sentence, express interest in the next step. Tell them that you’re excited about the role and that you look forward to any next steps they have in mind for you as they complete this stage of the process.

Here’s an example of a thank you note you might send:*

Dear [Recruiter or Hiring Manager’s Name],

I’d like to thank you for chatting with me about the [Name of Position] job with [Name of Company or Institution]. I enjoyed learning more about how you’re doing things differently with [Conversation-Specific Point].

It sounds like something that would be perfect for someone with my background in [Skills and Qualifications], and I’d love to talk more about the opportunity.

I look forward to hearing about the next steps in the process. Please let me know if there’s anything else you need from me to help with your decision.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Title

GitHub link

LinkedIn link

Email address

#2 – Perform An Interview Post Analysis

More than likely you will participate in multiple interviews before you land your job.  Learn from each experience and use your cumulative learning to continuously improve your interviewing skills.

Use the following questions as a post-analysis checklist:

• What went well? Why?
• What did  not go well? Why?
• What would I do differently if I were to repeat the interview?
• What are my key learnings?
• What interview skills must I further develop?

Take note of all the things that went wrong or weren’t ideal in your opinion and think about how you can improve on these points. Before heading out to the next job interview, you should revisit this list. Remember that making mistakes isn’t the end of the world, but it is crucial to learn from them.

#3 – Get Back Out There

No matter how well the interview went, you should operate under the assumption that you did not get the job. 

Continue to market yourself for other positions, stay on top of new opportunities, and continue your social networking strategies. This will maximize your opportunities and keep the interviews coming in. Remember – never put all your eggs in one basket! 

About Bill Souders 

Bill Souders is a career coach with Flatiron School. Bill spent 30 years working for the Coca-Cola Company in various sales leadership roles before transitioning into coaching. His expertise is in the career coaching, transition, and placement of college grads, high potential entry-level and emerging leaders, and c-suite executives. 

*Thank you note sample by Maddie Lloyd – Jul. 7, 2022

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is current as of September 13, 2022. Current policies, offerings, procedures, and programs may differ.