Interview Skills
20 After the Interview
Shortly after the interview is the perfect time to reflect on the experience. This means thinking about not just what went well but also what you can improve on for next time. You can download this PDF featuring a list of questions that you can use to prompt this reflection.
- Check out the York U Career Centre resources for steps to take after an interview
- You can use this Job Search Tracker spreadsheet from The Muse to keep track of companies you research, jobs you apply to, interviews you attend, and steps you take to follow up!
- Last but not least, you will want to send a ‘thank you’ message. Yes, you thanked your interviewers at the end of the interview. But it is common practice to also offer a more formal message of thanks to interviewers within 2 business days of your meeting. Today this is commonly done via email.
Thank you
Here are some tips for writing a post-interview Thank You message, along with an example:
Emails are often informal, but this is a business communication and should be structured as a business email. Be sure to follow these guidelines (and example):
- Type the e-mail address correctly and double-check before hitting Send!
- Use an action-specific subject line.
- Use normal sentence capitalization
- Keep your sentences short
- Use an appropriate greeting
- Express gratitude and be specific.
- Reaffirm your interest in the opportunity.
- Mention something specific about the interview to jog the reader’s memory and connect this message to your interview.
- Express interest in next steps.
- Invite contact.
- Sign off with a complimentary close
- Include a signature.
- Edit and spell check before sending!
Are salary negotiations something you need to consider? Sometimes you’ll be asked this in the interview, but you could also be asked to share your salary expectations before or after the interview. The timing depends on the company. CERIC has some articles to review to help you navigate questions and discussions around compensation.
