After the Interview

After the interview.

“So you have had your interview, and whether it was good or bad it is over now and you can forget about it, right?” Well actually, no. Whether you feel elated or depressed with your performance, you need to take the time to think about how you performed during your interview. This time you spend thinking about the questions you were asked and remembering how you answered them is very important to you and your future career. Let me explain why.

Whether this is your first or fiftieth interview, the process is frequently daunting and you like many others, may just want to get it over with. However, you probably invested time prior to the interview (see interview tips and preparation) preparing yourself mentally and perhaps spending your hard earned money choosing and buying suitable clothing so you could present yourself professionally. Whether you win a position or not, you don’t want to think you have wasted your time, right?

To avoid this feeling it is useful to think of the interview process and the time you spend preparing, attending and reviewing your performance as investing in your personal “My Future” bank account. The difference with the “My Future” bank account however is instead of being paid in money, your time investment is rewarded by increasing your abilities and understanding of what employers look for in future employees. The “interest” paid on this investment is the time you spend after the interview remembering the questions and doing your best to write down the answers you gave while they are fresh in your mind. By doing this you can frequently see where you could have answered questions better and this helps you avoid repeating the same errors during future interviews. This also helps to increase your confidence, reduces interview nerves and improves your abilities to win positions that interest or excite you.

Also always ask for feedback on your interview performance if it is available. Although many people find this an uncomfortable experience this can provide valuable insight into why you may not have won the position and help you to improve your answers or interview behaviour in future

So to continuously improve your ability to perform well during interviews always remember to immediately after the interview write down the questions asked, answers you provided, and think about how these could have been improved. Then write these thoughts down and keep them somewhere safe for future reference. Then physically pat yourself on the back for the progress you have made. Improving your performance is about looking forward never dwelling on previous mistakes or what you should have said or done.

And remember, what you believe yourself to be, you are.