7 Steps To Take After Your Internship Interview

By Allie Mitchell on May 13, 2016

You dressed in your best clothes and you just sat through your internship interview, thinking you aced it. You leave with a strong handshake and a good state of mind. Once you leave that building and head to wherever you are off to next, what do you do now?

Do you sit and wait, nervously checking your phone and email for some kind of confirmation that you did or did not get the job? You pace back and forth scrambling your brain for anything you may have said wrong or answers that you potentially shouldn’t use for your next interview.

Nervousness is common, it happens to everyone. You aren’t a foreign species without feelings. What to do after an internship interview is a common issue that most students don’t know how to approach. Which is why many schools offer interview guidance and help — they offer assistance to what you are looking for.

Starting from the beginning, right when the internship interview is over, let’s go step-by-step into what you should do and hope to relieve some of that nervous energy.

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Ending Questions

Ending an internship interview can be a smooth process in itself. All you are doing is telling them thank you for taking the time to speak to you and that you look forward to hearing from them soon. They will most likely ask you if you have any questions for them and if you do, MAKE SURE TO ASK THEM! They aren’t just saying this so that you don’t; they genuinely want you to ask them things. This makes you seem interested in the company and it makes you look like you want to become more invested in this job. Asking questions can also give you more insight into things that may help you make a more accurate decision on whether or not this internship is for you.

Handshake

This one is simple. A handshake can tell a lot about a person. At the end of an internship interview, giving your potential employer a firm handshake can tell them a lot about you. There are many types of handshakes that mean various things and can send certain signals to the interviewer. Make sure your handshake is firm, but not a hand crusher. Also make sure your palms aren’t sweaty; that is a no-no and also kind of gross.

Check Email

Sometimes interviewers will send additional files or things for you to do when you get home. Or the email they send you may just be a “thank you for interviewing with us” email. Regardless of which they send, it would be good to check your email just in case anything of importance comes in.

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Thank You Email

Sending a thank you email can go a long way. Not all companies will care if you send one or not, but it’s always nice to send just in case. Personally, I know that sending thank you cards is what many students do when they interview for medical schools and even graduate schools; therefore, why not go the extra mile for your internship? It may just be an internship, but an internship can take you a long way if you learn a lot from it. Many online sites have templates for thank you emails, if you are lost on how to start one.

Waiting Game

Those days/weeks of waiting to hear whether or not you got the job can be agonizing. Unfortunately, some employers will choose not to email you or contact you at all if you did not get the internship. I’ve had this happen through personal experience, but if they do decide to contact you whether the news is good or bad, you still say thank you and whatever else and you move on.

The Call/Email

When you get that call or email stating that (in this case) you got the job, you can internally do a little dance and freak out, but the idea is to focus and make sure you get all the information you need before your first day. If any paperwork needs to get sent to you or if you need to send anything in return, you need to make sure you don’t miss anything.

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First Day

Make sure you are there on time, dressed to impress and ready to work. Your boss will expect you to know what you are doing or go straight to them to learn your new tasks. Possibly, you will have a supervisor to go to and who you direct all your questions towards. The first couple of days is to learn how to do things and commit certain things to memory. After that you can choose to flourish in your new job or you can choose to fall to rock bottom. I would choose the first one.

The interviewing process is hard enough, there is no need to add more stress to yourself during the aftermath of said internship interview. These tips are meant to help guide you through the small window of waiting time between the interview and the company’s decision whether to hire you or not.

Unfortunately, there aren’t classes you can take on how to conduct yourself AFTER an interview. In the end, you will have to figure out what works for you and what seems to get you the best results. It is all about how much you want that internship.

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