Post interview stress can be a big game changer for a candidate after he/she has just finished giving an interview. One of the hardest obstacles that a candidate has to face is the time for waiting to hear back after a job interview from the interviewer.
The silence can extend up to a few weeks, months or even up to a year. There are many methods or activities that you could engage in, to distract your mind from the anxiety of waiting and holding back to get the final response from the company.
Keep in mind that it is not always that unusual from the company’s side to keep mum about the results of the interview with their candidates. It takes a lot of time and experience to handle the stress after each interview, waiting for its results.
How to Deal With Waiting to Hear Back After a Job Interview:
Try to loosen your mind from the build-up stress and pressure. Accumulation of such stress can lead to anxiety disorders or even depression. It’s all about how effectively you counter attack the post interview stress and how you spend your time. As mentioned before, there are a lot of activities that you could do to get a break from the waiting game. These include:
1. Looking for various other jobs:
Always keep in mind that do not contain your whole job search only with a single job. While completing the interview of a job, try to search for new jobs and extend your chances of joining. Try to occupy yourself with other possibilities.
Waiting for the response from a single company will always work against you. As you search for more and more jobs, it will ease your mind from stressing out too much by waiting for the initial interview result.
Moreover, many recruiters do not try to give out much information about the interview and express their regret after the interview process. By searching for more and more jobs, you select one that is the most suitable for you and you have the power to politely reject the other job offers.
Try not to stress over a single job interview for the rest of your life. To avoid this, always keep a backup plan after every interview you attend, even if there is a large possibility that you will get the job. It won’t hurt you to keep a plan B with you just in case.
2. Implement your interview experience:
Every interview process requires the candidate to learn and study the very basics of attending an interview. After every interview, try to review your performance and understand how well you have fared in the interview. Focus on your weak points and try to strengthen them through more and more practice.
Try to understand what all parts of the interview was hard and difficult for you and try to make these easier for you by making points for improvement. And try to implement from your lessons and what you have learned, the next time to attend another interview.
Try to make it as a continuous learning experience and slowly but steadily improve yourself. Focus on factors that have affected your performance in the interview and ask yourself questions like how can I improve my communication and soft skills? How can I present myself better in the interview? How can I improve my body language without making it too obvious? And so on. Keep in mind that all job interviews never fully depend solely on what is written in the resume, sometimes a good interview etiquette can help you to land a job faster.
3. Do a follow up or an inquiry:
If you are stressed about the results of the interview, a simple call or an email can help you to quench your stress. Try to send a follow up email to the recruiter or the hiring manager inquiring about the delay.
If they promise to give a reply regarding the interview, remind them that you are still available and that you are ready for a meetup. Also, make sure that you do not try to send too many follow up emails.
Sending too many emails and phone calls to the recruiter can easily make the recruiter annoyed by your behavior and the chances of you being selected will be lessened. Being too curious about the result will be seen as a sign of desperation and the candidate will be seen as a needy for the job. This might not go well with the recruiter. Try to be as subtle as possible while sending inquiry emails.
4. Keep yourself updated about the company:
Supposedly, if you are currently waiting for the interview results from a certain company, then try to keep yourself updated about the company. Always search the company websites and try to know the reason why they are delaying the recruitment process. Also, try to learn about technological changes in the industry and try to be educated about the latest innovations and products.
Research about the company and learn if they have any new job openings. If they have, then try to use your previous interview experience to your advantage. When you get such opportunities, it becomes easier for you to prepare for the interview, since you are already experienced with the interview process of the respective company. Try to use this knowledge and perform better for the next interview.
5. Send a thankyou note to the recruiter:
After every interview, try to send a thank you note or a thankyou email to the hiring manager. Try to keep the thank your note brief, as it is a great way to keep track of the interview details.
Try to keep things fresh and genuine and try to send the thank you note within two days after the interview. This will help to create a good impression about you to the recruiter and will help the recruiter to take notice of you.
Try to add points or factors that you’ve missed during the interview and promptly add them to your thankyou email. Also, every time try to change the contents of the thankyou message depending on the interview and the company. This will make the recruiters happy to see that you are genuinely interested in the company and that you are not just simply sending a generic thankyou message.
6. Try to keep the momentum going on:
Start a new hobby. You could always join a volunteer group or join a support search group. Try to keep yourself busy in a productive way so that you won’t feel guilty of waiting for a long time.
You could even take up some part time jobs in between and earn money. Try to take up a new sport and go to some classes that would be added advantage to your skillset. Try to go out, and meet new people, start-up a conversation, you never know how beneficial it might be for you.
The worst thing that you could do for you and your conscience is being cooped up in a room all day and stare at the phone. Try to do jobs that are both a learning and a fun experience altogether.
Do not sit idle. Always try to be active, to keep the mind ready and alert for the next challenge. Always remind yourself that not getting the job is not going to be the end of the world.
7. Not to worry:
The best method to tackle this problem is not to worry about the whole situation. If you have confidence that you have done a good job during the interview, answered all the questions honestly and with diligence and more than sure that the job is yours, then it will be a matter of time that you will get the results about the interview.
Many recruiters are so busy that they usually tend to forget or don’t bother to send information regarding the interview to the candidates. The most likely thing that you could do is to enquire from the company. Also, worrying about such a small thing affects a lot on your confidence and persona.
Instead of worrying, try to improve yourself and make yourself a better person. Keep in mind that you cannot control when the company calls you. So, try to accept the fact as it is and take the necessary measures.
8. Exercise:
Although it sounds odd, exercising is a great way to keep both the mind and the brain active and keep the mind distracted from the interview results. Exercising has a lot of positive outcomes for both your brain and body. It helps to release endorphins which aid in personality development and also helps to accelerate the cell-growth of our body.
Taking up a sport as an exercise is a great way to meet new people and socializing, especially if you are playing a group sport. Playing sports also develops the cardiovascular structure of your body.
Exercising also helps to prevent restlessly and insomnia that occurs due to post interview stress. It also reduces anxiety and depression. All these benefits can be yours if you take up exercising and sports.
9. Rework on your resume and prepare for the next interview:
Another activity that you could do during the waiting period is to rework and rebuild your resume and your CV. This can be beneficial for you if you decide to go for a new job shortly.
Try to see through the pros and cons of your current resume and touch upon the areas that need revision. Try to tailor your cover letters and resumes based on the job you are applying and do the necessary changes.
Practice on how to attend an interview without a hitch either by yourself or with the help of a friend. Learn how you could explain your previous experiences to the interviewer and learn how to include instances where you have helped to solve a problem and how you played a key role to stop the problem from further development. All these minute details can take care of proper practice and preparation during your waiting period for the interview result.
Also, think about the various reasons why the company not called you yet or any other candidates for that matter. Also, think about the various reasons why the company not called you yet or any other candidates for that matter. There can be a huge myriad of reasons why the company has not released the results for the interview.
The factors may include:
- If you are one of the earliest interview candidates, most probably your profile might probably be still under review. No company likes to hire people instantly, without ensuring that they have acquired the best workforce. This is much applicable for overseas jobs, where the company tries to review every candidate before the job offer.
- Some companies take a hold on the recruitment process maybe because of the industry changes or when the company has faced some sort of loss of income. They might not be in a position to accept new employees suddenly. Hence, they delay the whole recruitment process and keep the employment process on hold.
- In some companies, the recruitment process might be their lowest priority. So they avoid spending a lot of capital in that area. With the amount of work that the company currently has, they might be purposefully holding back the recruitment process.
In summary, the best thing that you could do is try to keep yourself calm and be cool. If you have performed exceptionally well, then the job offer letter will come to you. Try not to think too much about the interview and try to spend the time in-between more wisely and productively.
Get ready to face any kind of outcome. Anxiously waiting for an interview result won’t do you any good. Try to focus on something new and fun.
