The post “Interview Follow-Up Messages: Best Practices” was an important read for me because it was relatable to my experiences right now. This week I have my first job interview ever and I’m very nervous. I’ve been asking people for tips and potential questions to ask during the interviews. This post is exactly what I needed to help me succeed in my interview.
Because it is my first interview, I am worried I may make a mistake. Thankfully, the first topic the post talks about is what to do in case you make a mistake. It helped me realize that mistakes happen all the time and I’m not alone. The post emphasized the importance of sending a follow up message or email and touched on the fact that the email is a perfect time to correct any mistakes that were made in a polite manner. Thanks to this reading, I will be prepared if I do end up making a mistake on my first interview, which I know can be common.
I didn’t know how early to send a follow up email and the reading now gives me an estimated time range on when to do so. I will make sure I send a follow up email within 48 hours of my interview to make a good first positive impression.
I thought normally follow up emails are just a simple thank you, but this post taught me that it is important to expand on a topic discussed during the interview as well, in addition to the thank you. There are no guarantees when following up on an interview, but it’s always worth a try to make a good impression, according to the post.
The post caught my attention when it mentioned the positives of mailing a handwritten note, instead of an email. The reading mentioned that if an employer gets a mailed letter, they have it forever, rather than it just being another email in their inbox. This was interesting because I figured that nobody used handwritten letters anymore, but now I’m aware that some people still use it. It may be something for me to consider in the future as I continue my interviews and job search.
This post has really helped me gain another perspective with interviews and writing afterwards. I look forward to using these tips in my interview coming up at the end of this week.
Great post! I agree with you that receiving a handwritten thank you letter is sentimental and would make you stand out among other interviewees. However, I do wonder if interviewers could just throw the letter away and not think twice about it. Emails can be forever as well, unless they are deleted. I think it is important to send a thank you email within 24-48 hours in order to stay relevant to the interviewer. I also feel that bringing up a personal connection will make the interviewer feel comfortable and personable with you. How would you suggest bringing up a mistake within a thank you email? This is something I have not done either, but I think that I would avoid any minor problems and politely bring up major issues that need to be addressed. Thank you for sharing!
Awesome that you are going to get to apply this lesson this week in your first job interview. It’s great to learn that making mistakes in an interview isn’t the end of the world, and you can easily clarify any issues in your follow up email. It is also important not to overshare though, as they might not have even realized the mistake. Good luck in your interview!
Handwritten letters are such a unique strategy that I am glad you highlighted. I have always appreciated them personally, and to know that sentiment translates professionally is great news to me. While online communications are fast, the personability of a handwritten letter can not be replicated, and like you said is considered much more valuable than a standard email that they get hundreds of each day.
Great post! Wish everything went well for you during the interview! It is exciting to see how you applied what we learned during class to real life settings. I wish I could’ve known these things better. I remember my first interview, I did pretty much everything that’s not ideal to do, I didn’t send thank you letter, or follow-up email, nor prepared for the interview, so it went really bad. Is there any other things happened during interview that you want to learned more about? Like how to answer behavioral questions, how to ask questions at the end of the interview, etc.