Your job does not end after the interview. You still have business to take care of. As you get up to leave, remember it ain't over until it's over. Here are some resume-based tips to maintain job-seeking a productive, positive experience.
End on a positive note. As you leave, bring everything back home to your two or three greatest assets so that the interviewers will remember you. Express appreciation for the time you were given. Let them know of your interest in the outcome, if appropriate, while remaining confident and optimistic.
Make the interview a learning experience. Rate the organization's culture (philosophy, work environment, staff attitude), work (responsibilities, authority, horizontal/vertical interaction), support (training, compensation, benefits), and commitment (work time, commute time). Consider whether the organization will help your career, refine your skills, and support your personal needs and wants.
Write follow-up messages. Throughout the process, you might write five such messages: appreciation, essentially a thank-you note; inquiry, if the employer exceeded the time of a promised communication; interest, if you do not get the job but remain interested in the working for the organization; acceptance, if you get the job; and declination, if you're offered the job and decide you don't want it.
I'll look at these follow-up messages one at a time in the next five posts.
