When the interview ends

The interview process does not finish (for you or for them) at the concluding handshake. They will be doing the ‘talking-about-you-behind-your-back’ thing for some time after you leave and you should also use the time immediately after the interview to your advantage. Almost everyone, even the poorest of candidates, operates a countdown schedule coming up to the interview. You should learn to continue that schedule in the aftermath.

First and foremost, remember that the interview is not over until you leave the building. Many interviewers (or an administrator/receptionist) will chat with you or stay with you right to the front door, so do not relax just because you've been told the interview is over. It is amazing what people will let slip once they believe that the process has concluded. Do not let yourself go! Not your body language, not your confidence, not your tone, not your professionalism. Everyone you meet in the building is forming an opinion of you, so be mindful of holding it all together until you are out of the building, out of sight and out of ear-shot.

All too often, an interview does not result in a job offer. For senior posts, the reasons why are rarely based on core competencies or qualifications. It may be that your experience isn't as good a match as they had initially inferred from your Curriculum Vitae, or that your personality or management style would not have been a good fit with the organisation. For more junior positions, the points above also hold true, but experience has shown me that most people simply talk their way out of the job.

Interviews are necessarily stressful occasions but if you are not succeeding and learning nothing from them, then you are putting yourself through the hoops for no good reason. EVERY interview that you attend is an opportunity for you to learn something that can improve your chances later in your career. The following will give you some ideas for getting something out of the process, even if it does not go immediately well for you.

THANK YOU
As soon as the interview is over, and irrespective of how you feel it went, write them a thank-you letter. The interviewer(s) must receive this no more than 36 hours after your interview. This is an entirely appropriate (and still, amazingly, rarely utilised) tactic – it certainly won’t change their mind if they weren't going to give you the job anyway, but they will be impressed by your professionalism and courtesy. You will stand out from the crowd and they may keep you in mind for future positions. Occasionally, this can also be used as an opportunity to follow up from a question to which just didn't know the answer during the interview - if so, include your response in your thank-you note. You can send your thank-you by e-mail, but I recommend a crisp printed letter – it is just that little bit more personal.

WHAT WAS SAID?
So, the interview is finally over. You have just been through a live-fire exercise and they have given you the blueprint for exactly what it is potential employers are concerned about when they meet you for the first time. But what went on in there?

• Once you are out of sight, start notating everything that was said in the interview room. Their questions. Your responses. Clangers that you dropped. Things you should have said better. Their replies to your questions. All of this is immediately pertinent.

• Take particular note of questions that you answered poorly, or that you weren't able to answer at all. Incomplete or fizzle-out answers. Answers that you had practised and that you just didn't deliver well on the day. Things you wish you had said, points you should have made.
  

• Capture it all. A useful aide-memoire for this is to record your thoughts. Use your phone, an iPod or a Dictaphone. Alternatively, just scribble your thoughts down on a notebook. Keep doing this for 72 hours after the interview – little details will occur to you for about that long.

• Transfer all of this information in a structured way onto your computer – this forms the core of your interview question-and-answer database for the future.
  

DEAR JOHN …
Didn't get the job? In some cases, you know that you have let yourself down the moment you walk out the door. But if you are genuinely mystified as to why you got a "Dear John" letter, it is time to start digging.

Write to thank them (again), express your disappointment and your continued interest in the organisation, but also mention that you will be following up to get feedback on your performance. When you do go for feedback, get specific – ask them where you fell down under these headings: (a) Experience (b) Qualifications / Training (c) Personal attributes (d) Performance at the interview itself.

Your tone throughout the feedback process must be utterly non-threatening (employers will clam up totally if they even suspect that you are likely to pursue the legal route), but politely insistent. You are looking for their help in furthering your career – make no bones about this and don’t be remotely apologetic in looking for this kind of feedback.

In the private sector, organisations tend not to give particularly useful feedback, typically responding with some statement to the effect that there was a “more suitable,” “better qualified” or “more experienced” candidate. Fine. Ask them what you could have done better. Politely harass them. Send them your 4-point check-list by e-mail and ask them to take a few moments to HELP you! If psychometric or other testing was used as part of the selection process, you are legally entitled to see the results and receive an explanation of what those results mean.

THE UNCIVIL SERVICE
In the public sector, you are entitled to much more concrete feedback on your performance at interview than in the past, specifically on areas in which you were perceived as being weak. You are also entitled to a transcript of the questions asked, the notes taken and scores assigned to each of your answers. Use this feedback as a discussion document with your current boss at your next review meeting and have suggestions on training / development initiatives that you can take to help redress the perceived weaknesses.

If you feel that a public sector selection process has not been conducted fairly, you are entitled to make some pretty big waves these days; but of course, that can have a major impact on your long-term career prospects – a difficult judgement to make and one on which you should definitely seek advice first.

If you come up against a bureaucratic brick wall when you are looking for feedback, don’t give up. DIG until you learn something that allows you to improve your approach. Keep asking the question, “What can I do better the next time?” and don’t stop until you get a constructive answer.

TALK TO WINNERS
Once the dust has settled, a very useful person to talk to with regard to a disappointment at interview is the person who got the job ahead of you. Send them a congratulations card. Follow up shortly afterwards and offer to buy them lunch or a drink after work. Explain why you want to meet them and gently ingratiate yourself. This is a lot easier than it sounds and can pay great dividends.

You can get a tremendous insight into an organisation from someone newly hired and you should also try to maintain contact with that person over time – you may be competitors, but you can also feed off each other to some extent. Just make sure that you give them a reason to want to meet you. If you are serious about your job-hunt, you should be able to bring lots of knowledge to the table on the basis of all the research and networking that you are doing. People will tolerate and may invest time in a symbiotic relationship, but will be quick to dismiss someone who brings nothing to the party.

Errol Flynn once said: “It’s not what they say about you. It’s what they whisper that matters”. If your current approach at interview is not working, start by assuming that the blame lies with yourself and go looking for the whisper that will make a difference the next time.