Don’t Drop the Ball After the Interview!

Much as we might like it to be, executive employment search is not simply a matter of creating a high-impact executive resume, landing an interview, and going home with a great job offer. Particularly at executive level, hiring decision-making is a relatively long-term process with a series of steps leading to the offer. All along the way, others are aggressively vying for the attention of the hiring authority, making follow-up after each and every phone or in-person interview critical to ultimately landing that offer.

As soon after the interview as possible, you will want to develop or have your executive resume writer craft for you a well-thought-out, focused, and explicit thank-you letter. Ideally this letter should be sent within 2 to 3 days after the interview. Covered in the letter should be either your anticipation of the next step indicated to you in the interview, or a request for information on next steps. You’ll want to cover what you perceive as key qualifications covered during the interview, and why yours are a perfect match. This is also an excellent opportunity to provide some insights into issues the company is facing and outline (in broad strokes) strategies that you recommend and would be pleased to implement for them.

In this letter you will also want to let the interviewer know that you will be following up by telephone, and give them an approximate timeframe in which to expect your call. This call will be a brief, friendly conversation to express your continued interest, offer to provide any additional info they may need, and inquire about next steps. This would not be the time to discuss specifics covered in the interview; rather your goal is to reinforce that you have a strong interest in the position and are eager to move on in the process.

Once you have had a good interview, don’t drop the ball and miss out on a potentially great opportunity! The executive who follows up well will more than likely emerge as the winner.