I hope you’re enjoying your summer ☀️ I caught my first hurling match at Croke Park (semi-finals between Cork vs. Limerick) which was a blast. Besides that, been catching up with friends in Dublin.

I’m re-starting my friends and family newsletter. This is a personal monthly newsletter: I’ll write about topics that make me nervous and share personal recommendations and updates. You can subscribe here.

I also published my 2024 Q2 update and Q3 goals.

Finally, the third cohort of Land A Remote Job starts in October 2024. More than ever, I’m convinced that remote work is one of the most powerful tools to live a life on your terms, whether you want to travel the world or just be there to pick up your kids from school. This program helps you do just that. Want to learn more? Click here.

That’s it for the updates 😀 Today in 5 minutes or less, you’ll learn three ways to follow up to win interviews.

Plus, the best links and resources on remote work. You’ll learn:

• 🤝 5 tips to boost remote team collaboration

• ❌ Getting people to join the “no hello” club

• 🪜 The ladders of wealth creation

Let’s jump in:

🏆 Follow-up After (And Win) Interviews

You’re not imagining it. Landing (and then winning) job interviews is harder.

If you’ve struggled to “take down the green banner”, just know it’s not you. You’re not the only one going through this.

If it’s any consolation, there are macro trends at play:

• The unemployment rate (US) is 4.1% (at the time of writing)

• The market is contracting in the face of inflation

• We’re facing a historically tough VC market

So when you do land an interview, you need to make it count. You have to squeeze all the juice out of every opportunity you get.

Here’s how:

1/ Stand out with meaningful follow-ups

First, let’s get this out of the way: always send a thank-you note. Will it make or break you? Probably not. But it’s common courtesy. Do it.

Now, what if you have something you want to add after the interview? 

This can get tricky. We’re often too in our heads. We think we committed an unforgivable faux pax that sank the interviewer… while the interviewer was off-screen picking their nose and hoped it wasn’t too obvious 🙈

But if you feel compelled to follow up after an interview, there are right and wrong ways to do it.

Here is one situation my clients ran into recently:

In this case, if you’re going to follow up, most importantly keep it positive and short. 

Whatever you do, do not argue any points they brought up.

There are 3 “beats” a follow-up email should hit:

What you’re trying to communicate to the interviewer in this script: Oh, this person is thoughtful and I could see myself having a good working relationship with them. That’s it. You don’t need to be “correct” or provide a point-by-point breakdown explaining your stance.

Here’s a second situation a different client ran into:

If framed wrong, this type of follow-up after “putting my foot in the mouth” can hurt more than help. Again, any answer should be positive and short. One way of doing this:

P.S. FWIW this client nailed this interview and the 4 afterwards… and landed the role 🎉

2/ Perform a post-interview analysis

There’s one lesson I’ve taken away from training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu these past 8 years, and it has nothing to do with fighting. It’s this:

In every fight, every exchange, you’re either successful… or you acquire the knowledge that makes you successful in the future.

A post-interview analysis helps you acquire knowledge from every interview. I encourage my clients to analyze all their interviews. Maximize for learning, regardless of the outcome.

Here’s my 7-step process for a post-interview analysis:

1. Export the recording to Otter to get a transcript

2. Export to ChatGPT to clean up the transcript

3. Read the transcript

4. Listen to the recording

5. Ask ChatGPT for ways to improve my answers

6. Write out my improved answers

7. Practice my improved answers

3/ Ask for feedback

You should always ask for feedback after an interview… both when you go to the next round and when you do not. Feedback is a critical lever in landing your next role.

If the recruiter or hiring manager doesn’t get back to you? Follow-up. Nicely.

Here’s a script you can use:

I know what you’re thinking:

I get it. It’s true, getting feedback can be rare. The rate of getting feedback depends on the companies and roles you target. But, here’s the good news:

You only need 1-2 pieces of great, honest feedback across your entire career to improve your interviewing ability.

Ask for feedback. It might change how you interview for the rest of your life.

Conclusion

That’s it, the three ways to follow up so to win interviews:

• Stand out with meaningful follow-ups

• Perform a post-interview analysis

• Ask for feedback

Let me know how it goes.