Top 3 Things To Do After a Job Interview

Interviewing is a critical step in your career planning, take every advantage you can to show a great first impression.

You will do many interviews, far more than you will expect. Mastering the interview is the number one thing you can do to land your desired career. Although even a perfectly executed interview won’t guarantee a job offer, you might as well take every advantage that you can to land the job.

Whether you nail the interview or completely bomb it, there are three things you should do that will make a difference and set you apart from the crowd.

1. Send a thank you card.

Not a thank you email (although you can also send one of those), you should send a physical thank you card after each interview. Sending a card will do a few things, it will show that you are serious about making a solid impression, it demonstrates that you care about their time, and it will set you apart from the crowd.

During your interview, note the names of those conducting the interview, confirm the spelling of their names, or grab one of their business cards.

Preferably the day of the interview, write a simple thank you note in a card, address it, and drop it in the mailbox with a stamp. Unsure what to say, keep it simple. Try something like:

Hello [person who did interview],

Thank you for your time today, it was a pleasure getting to know your team and organization. I would fit in well at [business name] and look forward to talking to you soon. Feel free to give me a call or email if you have any questions about my experience or background.

Thanks, [your name]

2. Research anything that you didn’t know during the interview.

It is not uncommon to be stumped during an interview. It’s something that most interviewers try to do, I think it's unfair, but it happens all the time. Don’t let it frustrate you or get you off your game. I cover how to handle this situation in Wired for Coding.

Keep notes of the questions that you did not know the answer to during the interview because there is an excellent chance they will come up again in the future. Jot down in your notebook anything that is unresolved.

After the interview, research the answers or technologies that you noted. You don’t need to be an expert, but at least spend a few minutes to learn the basics. Image how impressed they will be on a 2nd interview when you have taken the initiative to do the research.

3. Conduct a debriefing of your interview.

You can do this by yourself or with a friend. Using your notes (and your memory), reply the interview from start to finish. Go over each interaction, question, and reply.

Obviously, you won't remember everything, but you will remember when you did great or stumbled. Those are the instances that you want to reflect on. Why did you stumble, what was it that intrigued them to ask a follow-up question, how could you have better explained an answer, and so on.

By replaying the interview, you will be much better at the next interview.

I cover more tips and actions in my book Wired For Coding, including a complete worksheet to prepare yourself for your first job interview.

My book, Wired For Coding, covers this and many more topics that every computer science students needs to know before they graduate with a degree.

Wired for Coding

So, what does it take to land your first job as a developer? I’m glad you asked.

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