Ya ya ya. Following up is super-duper important. Always, always, always thank your interviewers. By email, definitely. By hand written note, maybe. But today, to set yourself apart, you need to slap your interviewers across the face with appreciation and kindness.
Get creative. There's the open palm slap. The back handed slap. The side slap. The gun slap. The wrist flick slap. The SLAP slap. The fist punch slap. The poke slap. And the tap slap.
Here's the three best ways to follow-up with someone in a meaningful, longlasting, memorable way:
1. Introduce the person who interviewed you to someone you think he/she should meet. Think about everything you talked about together in the interview. Who would be the best person you could introduce the interviewer to who they would enjoy meeting. Then make the intro.
2. Send the interviewer a book that you LOVE that you think he/she should read. Write a nice hand written note in the book cover.
3. Help a friend of the interviewer. If during an interview, the person speaking with you ever mentions a name, or a list of names, write those names down. Go home. See who they are on Google / Linkedin. See if you have any mutual connections. And find a way to help that person. Nothing says awesomeness better than people helping your friends. And it is certainly memorable.
There are ten million other ways to slap interviewers across the face with follow-up, kindness, and appreciation. I've listed three, but there are nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-seven other ways to slap. Find your own, and repeat it over and over again. There simply are not enough red hand prints in this city.
#9. Ask questions. Make sure the company and position are a good fit for YOU, TOO!
I've always lived on a two-way street. Give and take. And in an interview, remember that the two-way street principal applies. You're going to be asked a lot of questions by the interviewer. But you should also ask questions in return to help you see if it's a good role for you. If you're great at what you do, then people should be DYING to hire you. Literally DYING. Like sticking knives into their heads. Or shooting themselves in the kneecaps. Or... well, you get the idea.
If you're a great candidate for a position, remember that great companies and great hiring managers are looking for great hires to someday lead their great business. And you, in the same way, are looking for a GREAT job, with GREAT people, in a GREAT positive work environment, with the opportunity to LEARN, LEARN, LEARN as much as you possibly can. So make sure that before you leave the interview, you ask questions that you want answered.
Here's questions I think are fair game that you can ask to the interviewer (especially if it is the CEO / member of the exec team):
1. What is your vision for the business? Where do you see it in three years?
2. What do you do here? Are we ever going to work together? Doing what?
3. What do you look for in a new hire?
4. Do you have any recommendations for me that I can do to improve my standing in the application process? (This is another way of saying: "Is there anything else I can do to put me in better position to get this job?")
5. Do you have any good books you suggest I read related to your business?
6. What would I be doing on a day-to-day basis if I'm hired?
7. How would you define the culture of your business?
8. How many teams are there within the company? How big are they? Who leads them? Can I meet them, too?
Make sure that the job is a great fit for you. Ask questions. If the answers you get back from everyone really suck, or if you are not believing the people there, or if there are contradictions, or if you're getting weird vibes... Prod more. It's far better to walk away than accept a job that you have a really shitty feeling about before you get the job, only then to realize that it's not a fit for you down the road. Don't settle on something you don't believe in. Ask questions so that you know what you're walking into.
#8. Always ask who you'll be interviewing with so you can prepare
I'm always very impressed when an upcoming interviewee asks me prior to coming in to the interview who he/she will be interviewed by at my company. It is a totally, smart question to ask that makes sense for so many reasons:
1. It gives you insight into who you'll be meeting with so that you can do research on those people, learn about what motivates them, learn about their interests, and learn about what conversation topics they will find interesting.
2. If will make you feel more comfortable. Who knows, maybe you're not interviewing with only one person. Maybe four people will be interviewing you. Maybe they'll be interviewing you at the same time! Maybe at different times. Get as much info as you can in prep.
3. It will allow you to understand the dynamics of "good cop / bad cop" interviewing mentality in advance. (Many companies practice techniques of having multiple people from their company interview a candidate, with each person's focusing on one particular area of a person's background. One employee may be interviewing a candidate to see if they are a good culture fit. While another employee may be interviewing a candidate to see if they can technically do the job on a day-to-day basis. One employee may be interviewing a candidate with the focus of seeing if the job is too complex or too simple and will ask questions focused around upward mobility and expectation setting. All sorts of things). I can guarantee that few businesses will have six people interview the same candidate and have each interviewer ask the same questions. It's best to vary topics and questions to get a 360 degree look at a candidate. And candidates should be ready for this.
Ask who you'll be interviewing with prior to the interview. Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. RIGHT!??!?!
"What in the world is in that BAG, what you got in that BAG?" - Ludacris
Rob Hale is on the board of the nonprofit that I operate alongside Founder Peter Trovato. He is also President of Granite Telecommunications. He's a great man, with a monstrous business. And he's got a ton of great advice. He gave this advice to Peter Trovato, and then Peter passed this on to me.
It's pretty straightforward. But you'd be surprised how few people do this.
Carry a bag, notebook, and pen with you to your interview.
Like, what happens if you find something interesting your interviewer says and you want to write it down? What happens if you think of something that you think would be good to look up later on? What if I give you a name of a person I think you could benefit from meeting? What happens if I ask you to write down your cell phone so that I can call you back to offer you the job?
You get the idea.
But the bag. The bag my friends. Now that is the secret sauce.
Bring a nice bag. I don't care if it's leather, plastic, cloth, or wool. Carrying a bag will make you look like you are a busy, professional, person. It will make you look like you have some place to be. Like you have a life beyond that day's interview. You can get a real nice Samsonite bag at K&G Superstore (owned by Men's Warehouse) for under $40. Do it. And up your game overnight.
My name is Ryan Durkin. I write so that I will never forget where I came from and what I stand for. I hope that this will motivate young people to realize their potential and become more productive than they ever imagined. That would make me truly happy.
My name is Ryan Durkin. I write so that I will never forget where I came from and what I stand for. I hope that this will motivate young people to realize their potential and become more productive than they ever imagined. That would make me truly happy.
