How to Follow Up After the Interview

How to Follow Up After the Interview
Nancy Molloy, CompliStaff
 www.complistaff.com 

The first interview with a new company went well.  What to do next?
Without question, following an interview you should send an individually addressed thank you note to all whom you met.  Until recently, this formal soul would have suggested a hand written note and while I continue to think this is a charming touch, I have warmed to the idea of an email note of thanks.  In fact, email is perfectly agreeable.

The tone of your thank you note should be professional.  The note (this is different from a letter, yes?) should be three and not more than four paragraphs.

You might begin with an expression of thanks for the time and the shared information.  Perhaps there was something unique you wish to address about the meeting or, you may even add a short paragraph if with reflection, you had more to say.  Did I say a short paragraph?  Yes, not more than four lines, please.
May I suggest that in the last paragraph you state your level of interest and ask about next steps.  You might write something such as “I continue to have an interest in xyz company and in the role we discussed.  I look forward to learning about next steps.”

As a closing salutation, you might consider:  Kindest regards, Best regards, With sincere thanks.  And for heaven’s sake, please sign off with your full name.  I might even be so bold as to include a contact phone number under my name to make contacting me easy.

Finally, please, please, please, spell check before you send.

Repeat after each round of interviews.

Please stay tuned to Gayle’s List as next month I will write about how to resign from your job and what’s up with counter offers.

Nancy Molloy
www.complistaff.com

How to Prepare for an Interview

How to Prepare for an Interview
by Nancy Molloy

To make the best impression possible – and to reduce your own stress – research the company, the people you will be meeting and the job before your first interview. Knowing about the company will make you seem more interested in the job and increase your confidence. Use the company’s website and Google the company, hiring manager or any other topic likely to come up, based upon the job description.

Find out as much information as you can about the interviewer via the internet or LinkedIn. If you are meeting with human resources, you may anticipate questions about your career history to date, and other more general questions as to how and why you are at the crossroads you are.  If you are meeting with the hiring manager, the interview questions are likely to be more technical in nature and more process oriented.  To that end, you might quantify your successes as results will matter to the hiring manager. 

Thoroughly review the job description to ensure that you understand the qualifications and skills you will need to be successful on the job. Ask questions such as why the position is open and what the short and/or long-term goals of the position may be. This allows the hiring manager to speak towards results and provide insight as to her/his needs. Once you understand how you and the job fit into the plan, then you can talk about how your past experiences can help you to contribute to those goals.

Be authentic, and speak only about what you know.  It is okay to say, "I do not know but can research that and get back to you."  Then pause.  Please to not talk if you have nothing to add.  Some of us get nervous and even uncomfortable during silences in interviews.  It takes time to digest the conversation so hit pause and let the interviewer lead the interview.  Be sure to make eye contact and smile when appropriate, this will make you and the interviewer more at ease.

Dress for the occasion.  Be polite to everyone you encounter including the receptionist.  After the interview, write a good old-fashioned hand written thank you note; an email may work just the same, oh well.

Stay tuned to Gayle's List, Women to Be Heard, as next month I will write about how to follow up after the interview.

Temporary Staff, the Main Stream Alternative

by Nancy Molloy, Managing Director, CompliStaff, Inc.

Changing health insurance law effecting small businesses with just fifty employees is forcing hiring managers to seek taffing solutions that make sense in order to ensure peak productivity, growth and profits.

Temporary staffing, sometimes referred to as contingent staffing or contracting, is designed so that a manager can have more hands on deck whenever needed, with no expense or obligation beyond the term of the engagement.

Skilled temporary personnel are professionals just like you and me.  And today’s temps do everything from packing crates to running businesses; they are doctors and lawyers, they are CCO's and COO's as well as analysts and paralegals and auditors.

Temporary staffing offers flexibility for a line item that has traditionally been a fixed expense - personnel.  In the temporary staffing model you pay a fixed hourly rate excluding lunch hour and other time off and gain the skills and talent needed for only as long as needed, with no long-term commitment. And, you can staff up or staff down depending upon workload demand.

The staffing company is the employer of record and assumes all obligations with respect to payroll taxes including unemployment, worker’s compensation and healthcare, as required by law.

The opportunity to engage the skills you need, when you need, with no long-term commitment, is flexibility where it counts!  If you are not employing temporary staff as a staffing strategy, please do not delay or you risk losing an important competitive advantage.

Nancy Molloy - Crafting a Subject Line to Get Attention!

Crafting a Subject Line to Get Attention
Nancy Molloy "Workforce Contributor"

Just how important is the subject line? In fact, the subject line is the most critical part of the email since you have a single chance to get the attention of the recipient. Or not!

Each of us gets volumes of email daily, and one could easily overlook or delete an important email if the subject line does not stand out. The subject line should reveal the heart of the message. It’s that simple. If the topic is of interest or the specific message is relevant to the reader, it is likely that your email will be read.

Conversely, if you neglect to craft an appropriate subject line that gets the attention of the recipient, your email will likely end up in the trash or be labeled as spam. Following are some basic tools for writing a subject that makes it more likely that your email will be read:

Do write a subject that reflects the content of the email.

Do change the subject line in an evolving email chain. For example, if the first exchange asks for availability to schedule a meeting, the subject line might read, "Need your availability for meeting on June 21". Once the meeting is confirmed, the subject line in the follow-up email should change to reflect, "Meeting confirmed for June 21". In this way, the subject line honors the content, the purpose of the message is clear at a glance, and the email is searchable by subject line.

Do write in standard English using correct grammar since business email should be treated as a formal encounter.

Do proofread and spell-check the subject line.

Do not use unusual symbols in the subject line or the email may end up in the spam folder, never to be seen again. Did you know that exclamation marks or all capital letters in the subject line are among the top spam flags? Use at your own risk, and preferably not at all!

Utilizing these simple tools will best help you to communicate your message and ensure that the recipient reads your email.


Nancy Molloy
Complistaff, Inc.
973-486-0000
973-486-0805
nancy.molloy@complistaff.com
www.complistaff.com