If an interview is the main meal then the follow-up is the dessert – interviews do count for a lot but thankfully not for everything.

How you follow up an interview is just as crucial and here’s how to do it right:

Why The Follow Up Matters

Half of the battle with landing a job is standing out from the crowd and one surefire way to do that is to stay in mind which is the opposite of Out of Sight Out of Mind.

Following up ensures that the interviewer knows how serious you are about this position,  and will definitely take that into account when awarding the job.

The trick is, however, to do that the right way because as easy as it can land you the job, it can just as easily dissuade them from choosing you for that position.

Gaining favor with a potential employer is a sensitive but doable task if you follow the tips below.

Start Preparing In The Interview

As with anything else, preparation is key,  and preparing for your job interview is just the tip of the iceberg.

Of course, you know how essential it is to take down notes in order to ask informed questions which is something that the interviewer will definitely expect from you,  but you could also use the same strategy to take down notes that could help you with your follow-up.

These notes include the names of the people or person interviewing you,  their job title, potential interests such as hobbies or industry related interests such as a big event or development.

You must also make sure that you collect business cards or contact information that you can use to follow up after your interview. And in turn, to give your professional and well designed business card to anyone who may not have your contact details and/or resume. 

Once the interview has concluded you may take the opportunity to ask who you can follow up with and when they would refer you to do so if they have a preference, that is.

Send A Thank You Right Away

You can choose to send an email or an actual thank you note,  but whichever you prefer, make sure that you do that within 24 hours of the interview.

The sooner the better, in fact.

A thank you note is a simple gesture that just may give you the edge that you need to get ahead of your competitors.

Now it doesn’t mean that if you totally wrecked your interview that a thank you note is magically gonna make that better but it just might supply you with the opportunity to patch it up a little.

Either way, you should never let such an opportunity pass you by.

Your Follow up Email

For your first follow-up which can include your thank you note, yes, you should include some information that you learned in your interview.

For instance, if you discussed a certain article or study perhaps,  you should search for a related topic or article on something that you think would showcase your knowledge and sophistication and interest in that said topic.

This is not, however, a great opportunity to discuss hobbies but any professional or industry related topics would be perfect for the purposes of a follow-up email.

Do reiterate your interest in the position in that email and thank your interviewer for the opportunity to meet with you,  also thank them for their time and be as charming as would be appropriate.

You can also take a chance and highlight the skills that you think they were impressed by in the interview.

And if you really don’t know what to say be sure to use a follow-up email template and to personalize it as much as possible.

How To Clean Up Interview Mistakes

A follow-up email is not only a great opportunity to brown nose ( just a bit it) it is also a great opportunity for you to rectify any mistake you may have made in the interview.

So if you were nervous and kind of babbled at one or more points and failed to get your point across, now is the time to set the record straight and tell them exactly what you meant to say.

Your email can say something like “ I’m sure you can tell I was quite nervous during my interview and when you asked me ( insert question here)  I think my nerves got the better of me so I would just like to take the opportunity to answer your question properly-” then you go ahead and do that.

You can use the same sort of line then correcting yourself when you think you answered a question incorrectly or said something that didn’t necessarily count in your favor.

Also when correcting mistakes,  be sure to thank them for taking your above answer into consideration along with the rest of your interview.

Monthly Check-ins

It’s not uncommon for certain positions to take months to fill,  but that doesn’t mean that you’re out of the game.

However, when this happens it’s important that you don’t harass the hiring manager.

When it happens that it takes a while for a position to fill the rule of thumb is to do a monthly follow-up.

Since it can be easy to forget these things I would suggest setting a reminder on your phone.

Then when it goes off just do a quick search for a cool article or if you follow to the industry news then just talk about something that you found interesting and that this person might as well also just throw in that you are still very much interested in the position and available should they need anything further.

Phone Calls

When you don’t hear back from an email you can wait a few days before you phone to follow up.

If you’re nervous about phoning, you can scribble a few points in a notebook that you’d like to bring up, and keep it with you when you make the call.

Take a few deep breaths before you call,  calm yourself down so that you can be charming and friendly.

What To Avoid

Do not badger or harass the hiring manager, don’t stalk them on social media but do be respectful and genuine when you speak to them.

Additional Resource: The 3 Most Important Amazon Interview Questions