What happens after the interview?

You applied, you got selected for an interview, and you prepared. Interview day came and went... Now what?

It can be agonizing to wait for an outcome from an interview process. If you're excited about the role and hopeful for a positive outcome, the wait can seem endless. If you feel like you flubbed the interview, the wait can give you time to ruminate about everything you think you did wrong. So what do you do with these feelings while you're waiting? I'll share a few ideas to help you navigate the uncertainty.

Recognize what's happening for you

There are lots of reasons why waiting can be hard. You're super excited about the role, and eager to (hopefully) get started. Or you want to know the outcome so that you can figure out what's next depending on the result. If you find yourself feeling stressed, it's useful to ask yourself why. What is it about this situation that makes it difficult for you? This is going to be a different answer for you or for me or for that person sitting across the library table from me while I write this post. When you feel the stress bubble up, naming it can help you find the right strategies to address it.

If you're excited, then you might enjoy leaning into the excitement. I'm not saying you should quit your current job and tell the world about the new job before signing an offer. (In fact, I'm very much recommending against that approach.) But you can geek out about it with a trusted friend. Or buy a new notebook and start setting up your bullet journal spreads. Sure, you might then sob hot, wet tears if you don't end up getting the job. But if leaning into the excitement helps you in the meantime and you know the tears will come regardless, this might be a good strategy for you. And then you can use that new bullet journal to help organize your ongoing search for the right role for you. What were the things that you were geeking out about with your friend? How can you find other roles that hit those high notes for you?

If you're in a Schrodinger's Cat state of not knowing if you got the job or not, then thinking through both results might help you feel less stuck in limbo. If you get the role, what are the next steps? If you don't get the role, what are the next steps? Is there anything that you could be working on while you wait? Sometimes that limbo state can make you feel like you can't start other things like a new gym routine or reorganizing your home office, and looking for opportunities to kick something off while you wait can help you feel more in control of your destiny.

Write it out

Are you reliving the question you wish you'd had a better answer for over and over? Are you wishing you'd used different words to ask a question to the interviewers? Try writing it to get it out of your head. There's evidence that journaling can help reduce stress and rumination by helping you process your emotions and expose yourself to the situation until it loses its impact. If you find yourself experiencing a lot of stress while waiting for the result, journaling might help.

Practically speaking, if you write out the things that you're displeased with from the interview, you can use the exercise to prepare for a follow-up interview or one for another role. Just as you prepared ahead of the interview, you can also do a retrospective and figure out how to learn from the experience. If you do end up landing the role, these notes might give you ideas for what you want to learn during your onboarding.

Zoom out

Interviewing is an interesting experience, because it's very self-centered. As you prepare, you're mining your own history to craft anecdotes about your achievements and articulate your skills and aptitudes. Yes, you're likely also doing research about the organization and position. But it's one of the times when you're expected to think and talk a lot about yourself. And this hyperfocus on yourself can make the flubs or highlights seem that much bigger in your mind.

When you're waiting for a result, it can be helpful to zoom back out and think about the bigger picture. You interviewed for this role, and you might be thinking a lot about what the outcome will be. But this recruitment process is probably one of several things happening for the hiring manager. They have their day job as well as their recruitment process to balance, plus whatever is happening outside of work. Things may stretch out if they have a lot on their plate. (And if they're hiring, chances are their plate is full with whatever work the new recruit will be taking on!) Plus they're likely interviewing multiple candidates and working with schedules of the candidates, panelists, HR support and their leadership. So while your interview was last Tuesday, they might still have several more days of interviews to work around all those calendars. This gets even more complicated during peak holiday seasons or when cold and flu season is taking people out of commission unexpectedly. Add to that any other things taking focus from HR. If a member of the senior leadership team just resigned or there is a massive new HR program launching and it's taking all hands on deck, there might be a disruption to normal operations.

So not hearing back right away doesn't necessarily mean they've forgotten about you. It could just be that hiring takes time for logistical reasons. And while you might be reliving your word fumble over and over, the folks from the hiring panel likely aren't. Zooming out to picture what else is likely happening that isn't related to your interview might help you take down the tension of waiting.

Distract yourself

If you've got a particularly long time to wait, you might need to deploy the same tactic I use when my kids keep asking "is it time for gramma and grampa's visit yet?" twelve times a day for the past three weeks. Redirect and distract!

If you're applying for a role in government or similarly bureaucratic institutions, wait times are notoriously long. It could take weeks between steps. (Friends and colleagues in recruitment likely have stuff to say about how this candidate experience needs to change, but nevertheless, it still happens.) Having the right expectation about timing might be enough to help you worry less about the wait. But if you need distractions, then hop on it! Having a few social events to look forward to, doing an online workshop, or continuing to search for other roles can give you somewhere else to put your energy while you wait.

Plan a coaching session

If you're working with a coach, planning a session to debrief about your interview experience can help you manage your stress and determine next steps. Talking over what you learned from the interview experience and how you might do things differently can help settle these things in your mind. You also benefit from having someone who can point out things you might not notice about your emotional shifts or interpretations of the situation that could open up new insights. If you're uncertain about whether you'd accept a job offer from the interview, working with your coach to talk through the options could also help you build confidence in your decision. You may also want to work with your coach to plan follow-up questions to bring to the hiring manager to address any uncertainty you have about the role or team before making a decision. These conversations can help you keep moving forward while you wait.

Whether you're looking to progress from your current role, seeking something new following a layoff, or just exploring what's out there, job search can be both stressful and rewarding. If you're in the midst of a recruitment process, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on how it's impacting you. Notice how you're feeling, how you're spending your energy, and how you need to take care of yourself.

Do you want to learn more about coaching and how it can support you? Leave a comment below or send me an email with your questions. Or book a discovery call to discuss what coaching could look like and mean for you.