Waiting after a job interview can be difficult sometimes. You may be wondering, “What am I supposed to do now?” or feel as if you are wasting time waiting to hear back from the employer. Well, waste no more time! There are four things that you should do while you wait to hear back from an employer after your interview:
- Start preparing for the next round of interviews
- Reach out to a connection
- Continue applying for other jobs
- Keep track of possible jobs
Start preparing for the next round of interviews
Often times, you need to interview multiple times with different people for the same position. After your first interview, you will want to write down the details about the interview, including who it was with, the questions you were asked, your answers, and anything else you consider important about the interview. Doing this after each interview will help you to keep each interview straight and allow you to reference your notes if needed in the future.
After you write notes on the first interview, you will want to prepare for the next round of interviews with the company. If you know who the next interview will be with, you may want to research the people with whom you will be be speaking and what their roles are in the company.
If you do not know with whom you will be interviewing, you may want to prepare in a similar way to how you prepared for the first interview. For example, remind yourself about the organization and its goals. Review your past experience and why it makes you the best person for the job. Prepare your answers to questions and also the questions you want to ask. The people in your next interview may ask you questions similar to the first interview or they may ask very different questions. In any case, it is best to be prepared!
Reach out to a connection
Let’s say that you have a close friend working at the company where you interviewed. While you wait is a great time to reach out to that person and tell him or her that you interviewed at the company. Let your friend know who you spoke with in your interview and how it went. Maybe this person has a close connection to your interviewer, or maybe he or she will have advice for you in your next interview. You never know how connections can help you, but it never hurts to speak with them and let them know how your interview went. Often times, the connection can help sway the interviewer by standing behind you and speaking well of your abilities.
Continue applying for other jobs while you wait
It’s best not to put all your eggs in one basket. In other words, make sure you don’t count on getting the first job for which you interview. While you are waiting to hear from an employer about one interview, it is best to keep looking for other job openings and see what matches your skills and interests. During this time, you should still apply and interview for other jobs.
Keep track of possible jobs
You may be interviewing for many jobs in the same week or month. Wouldn’t it be bad news if you forgot to show up for a job interview or follow-up after one or more of the interviews? This is why it is so important for you to keep track of the jobs you have applied for as well as your status in the hiring process.
Again, you should take notes after each interview to keep all the employers and companies straight. There is so much that happens in each interview that you are sure to forget some details if you rely only on your memory. Write down who interviewed you, the questions asked, and your answers to them. Finally, add details such as when you will hear back from them and whom you should contact to follow up.
It may be valuable to keep this information in a spreadsheet so you are able to view all the information together at one time. Then you can see jobs in which you’re interested, ones for which you’ve applied, and ones with which you’ve had interviews. Keep track of your status in the hiring process so you can easily see when you should follow up with the different companies you have contacted.
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