Interview follow up

Your interview is over, it seemed to go well, but you weren't offered the position. What do you do now? Don't give up as you can view it as practice and learn and improve for future interviews.

Consider the following strategies:

Send a thank you letter

This shows your level of interest in the position. In addition, you are demonstrating personal and professional qualities that are typically sought by an employer: dedication, attention to detail, and the ability to follow through. Although you may not have been offered the position this time, your thank you letter will help you to stand out if another position comes up in the future.

Gather feedback

Contact the interviewer to ask for feedback on your interview performance. You can do this over the telephone or by mail. Be clear that you are not complaining about the decision, but rather trying to find out how you can improve your interview technique.

Recall the questions

Make a list of the questions that were asked to help prepare you for future interviews. Employers tend to ask questions around topics specific to that field of work. Make a note of the questions and your responses and get feedback from a Career Counsellor. It is particularly worth remembering questions you found difficult to answer.

Self-evaluate

An honest evaluation of your own performance is very important. Were there questions you could have answered better? Were there gaps in your skills, knowledge or experience? What did you learn from the experience? What action can you take to improve your chances next time?

Get some advice

Talk to family and friends after the interview about how you might improve your performance. Make an appointment to see a Career Counsellor and discuss ways of developing and improving your interview technique.

Coping with rejection

Being rejected for a particular position can be an emotional experience. Don't think of this as personal rejection. If the employer interviews 10 people for one job, they have to reject 9 of them! The employer makes a decision about who will best fill the position, based upon many different factors, so stay positive, learn from the experience and improve for next time.

If you do feel like you have been unfairly treated you can visit the Fair Work Ombudsman.