你完成了最后一轮求职面试，现在你在等是否被录用的消息。这段时间你会感到很痛苦，在此期间你应该做些什么？是给对方邮寄手写的感谢信更合适，还是用电子邮件更好？如果你事后对面试中的一个问题想到了一个更完美的答案，你是否应该联系招聘经理？你应该等待多久再去跟进询问，看看对方是否已经做出用人决定？你如何避免在等待期间反复惦记这个工作？

You made it through the final-round job interview, and now you’re waiting to hear whether or not you’re hired. This stretch of time can feel like agony, so what should you do in the meantime? Is it appropriate and expected to send handwritten thank-you notes? Or is email better? If you thought of the perfect answer to one of the interview questions after the fact, should you reach out to the hiring manager? How long should you wait before following up to see if they’ve made a decision? And how do you avoid ruminating about the job while you wait?

身处面试结束之后的等待期让面试者压力巨大，因为通常“你和企业拥有不一样的紧迫感”，家住英国的职业策略师、《在新工作中成长进步》（Get Ahead in Your New Job）一书的作者约翰·利斯（JohnLees）表示。虽然你特别关注自己是否得到了这份工作，但是用人单位有许多其他事情要处理。利斯警告，在这段时间里，你有做出“适得其反”的行为之险，包括怀疑自己的能力，给你的未来雇主留下不顾一切的印象，而且，也许是最糟糕的——你不去找其他工作。按旧金山大学（San Francisco State University）管理学教授、《招募顶级人才的1000种方法》（1000 Ways to Recruit Top Talent）一书的作者约翰·沙利文（John Sullivan）的说法，虽然此时录用决定不在你的掌控范围，但是你并非无能为力。他表示，有些“面试后的立即行动可以为求职者提供竞争优势”。

This waiting period between your interview and the company’s decision is so stressful because often, “you and the organization do not share the same sense of urgency,” says John Lees, the UK-based career strategist and author of Get Ahead in Your New Job. While you’re singularly focused on whether or not you got the job, they have plenty of other things to deal with. Lees warns that during this time, you’re at risk of “counterproductive” behaviors, including doubting your own abilities, coming across to your prospective employer as desperate, and — perhaps worst of all — not pursuing other jobs. While the hiring decision is out of your hands at this point, you’re not powerless, according to John Sullivan, a professor of management at San Francisco State University and author of 1000 Ways to Recruit Top Talent. There are some “immediate actions after an interview that can provide a candidate with a competitive advantage,” he says.

表示感谢

面试后你最紧迫的任务是感谢那些花时间与你交谈的人。据沙利文所言，感谢的内容应该传达出这样的意思，即，你对这份工作更加心动了，而且你很确信你想得到它。他还建议，通过“提及面试期间发生的某件积极的事情”来让感谢的内容显得很亲切。如果你是在公司办公室进行的面试，你可以寄一封旧式的手写感谢信，利斯认为这种感谢信显示了优雅的个性化品位。如果你采取的是在线面试形式，最好坚持使用数字交流方式。如果你没有面试官的联系方式，但曾为了此次会面与公司里某个人联系过，那你可以给那个人发一封电子邮件，让他们知道你非常感谢他们及面试官付出的时间。一定要提到曾与你交谈的人的名字，在你写信的时候假定邮件会转发给他们。你还可以在领英（LinkedIn）上与你的面试官取得联系，并给他们发感谢信息。

Say thank you. 

Your most pressing post-interview duty is to thank the people who took the time to talk to you. According to Sullivan, the message should communicate that you’re even more excited about the job and confident that you want it. He also recommends personalizing the message by “mentioning something positive that happened during the interview.” If your interview took place at the company’s office, you could send an old-fashioned, pen-and-paper thank-you note, which Lees says offers a classy personal touch. If your interview took place virtually, it’s best to stick with digital communication. If you don’t have your interviewers’ contact information but communicated with someone else at the company to arrange the meeting, you can send that person an email letting them know how much you appreciate theirs and the interviewers’ time. Make sure to mention the people you spoke with by name and write your message with the assumption that it could be forwarded to them. You could also connect with your interviewers on LinkedIn and send them messages of thanks there.

发送后续材料

除了感谢信之外，沙利文还建议发送辅证性材料，包括面试中提及的作品样本。他表示：“递送附加信息可以起到加持自我的作用，有助于影响他们的决定。”照此思路，利斯建议发送一篇与该企业相关的新闻文章。内容可能涉及该公司正在考虑采纳的一项技术、疫情如何影响到他们的业务，或者其他相关的趋势。这样做，“你就是在微妙地表示：‘我了解你们的需求’”。

Send follow-up materials.

In addition to a thank-you note, Sullivan recommends sending supporting material, including samples of your work that might’ve come up in the interview. “Sending additional information could strengthen your case and help sway their decision,” he says. Along those lines, Lees recommends sending a news article that’s pertinent to the organization. It could be about a technology the company is considering adopting, how the pandemic is impacting their business, or some other relevant trend. By doing so, “you’re subtly saying, ‘I understand your needs.’”

抑制住重来一次的冲动

沙利文表示，面试之后反复回味你的错误以及回答得不好的问题是件很自然的事。“每一个人面试结束后都在想：‘我真希望当时是这样回答对方问题的。’”利斯表示，esprit d’escalier（意思是事后才想起一句妙语）这个法语表达很贴切。虽然你忍不住想打电话给招聘经理，重新回答你搞砸了的面试问题，但是保持克制才是明智的做法。虽然利斯承认，你精雕细琢的回答可能会给招聘经理提供有用的信息，但是“危险在于你听起来太需要精神支持了”。因为完美的回答不太可能成为敲定或打破他们决定的因素，最好还是顺其自然吧。

Resist the urge for a do-over.

It’s natural to mull over mistakes and questions you didn’t answer well after the interview, says Sullivan. “Everyone comes out of a job interview thinking, ‘I wish I had said this instead of that.’” The French expression, esprit d’escalier, which means thinking of a witty remark in hindsight, is apt, says Lees. And while it’s tempting to ring up the hiring manager to re-answer the interview question you flubbed, it’s wise to exercise restraint. While Lee concedes that your polished response might provide helpful information for the hiring manager, “the danger is you sound too needy.” Because that perfect reply is unlikely to be the thing that makes or breaks their decision, it’s best to leave it be.

……不过偶尔也要破例

据利斯所言，除非你要补充特别有用的信息，才可以打破以上的规则。比如，如果你能把涉及自己的一条相关证据与企业的需求联系起来，那么直言相告可能值得一做。此刻，你的语气至关重要。“听起来一定不能像是在批评这一流程。”利斯表示。不要暗示，因为面试官的疏忽，所以没有问你某个特定的问题。相反，你可以这样说：“‘和您交谈，我真的觉得很愉快，这里还有一条面试后想到的、你可能希望了解我的信息。’”利斯强调“热情、专业和简明扼要”十分重要。

…But occasionally make an exception.

According to Lees, the only exception to this rule is when you have something particularly useful to add to the conversation. If, for instance, you can connect a piece of relevant evidence about yourself to an organizational need, then it might be worth speaking up. Your tone is critical here. “It mustn’t sound like criticism of the process,” says Lees. Don’t imply that the interviewer neglected to ask you about a particular thing. Instead, go with something like, “‘I really enjoyed our conversation, and here’s another piece of information that’s come up since the interview you might you like to know about me.’” Lees emphasizes the importance of being “warm, professional, and brief.”

做一些分散注意力的事情

等着是否得到这份工作的消息会让你有压力，但尽量不要沉湎于此。在你等待结果的时候，要做一些可以分散注意力的事情。培养你的业余爱好，从事一些体育锻炼，好好读读摆在你床头柜上那本有趣的小说。利斯还建议花时间与能够“提升你自我形象”的朋友和同事共处。与你职业关系网中的人谈谈如何针对不同的工作机会提出想法，问问他们都见过其他求职者在面试过程中犯过的错误类型。利斯表示，你可以学到很多东西，知道如何才不“听起来像似乎是需要精神支持或过度沟通”。

Seek positive distractions.

Waiting to hear whether you got the job can be stressful, but try not to dwell on it. While you wait it out, Seek positive distractions. Cultivate your hobbies. Get some exercise. Dig into that juicy novel that’s sitting on your nightstand. Lees also recommends spending time with friends and colleagues who “elevate your self-image.” Talk with people in your professional network about how to generate ideas for different job possibilities. Ask them about mistakes they’ve seen other candidates make during the interview process. You can learn a lot about how not to “sound needy or over-communicate,” says Lees.

做尽职调查

有效打发时间的另一种方法是弄清如果这份工作唾手可得，你是否真的想要得到它。利斯表示，即使在未收到录用通知时，你也可以在此期间收集一些信息。你可以秘密地“利用你在业内的人脉来了解这份工作和这家企业的更多情况”，他表示。当然，“如果你收到了这份工作的录用通知，你会加大了解的力度”，甚至做更多的尽职调查，因为你需要决定是否接受这份工作。按沙利文的说法，这也是一个“敲定接受工作标准”的好时机。要设定你的最低工资要求，并针对你交涉其他重要细节的方式制定一个计划。他补充道，这样做的目的“是做好准备接到那个说他们需要你的电话”，但是要小心，不要抱太大的希望。

Do due diligence.

Another way to pass the time productively is to figure out whether or not you actually want the job should it become yours for the taking. Even without an offer, Lees says there’s information-gathering you can do in the meantime. You can “work your industry contacts to learn more about the job and the organization” behind the scenes, he says. Of course, “if you’re offered the job, you will scale that up” by doing even more due diligence since you’ll need to decide whether to take it. According to Sullivan, this is also a good time to “finalize your job acceptance criteria.” Set your minimum salary requirements and develop a plan for how you’ll negotiate other important details. The goal, he adds, “is to be prepared for the call that says they want you,” but be careful not to get your hopes up.

保留选择的余地

利斯表示，你还需要让自己做好接到负面消息的准备。“有数十个主观的理由可以不给你这份工作。企业可能会改变方向，它可能冻结招聘，或者某位高级经理可能决定他们不希望填补这个职位。”这就是为何你需要继续探寻其他机会的原因。“要预见到遭到拒绝的扁平化效应，”他表示，“如果还进行着其他会谈，被人拒绝的影响会小一些。然而，如果你让生活陷入停顿，那更像是一种空虚的体验。”

Keep your options open.

You also need to prepare yourself for negative news, says Lees. “There are dozens of arbitrary reasons that the job will not be offered to you. The organization might change direction; it might have a hiring freeze, or some senior manager could decide they don’t want to fill the position.” That’s why you need to continue to explore other opportunities. “Anticipate the flattening effects of rejection,” he says. “If you’ve got other conversations going, the rejection will have less impact. If you’ve put your life on hold, though, it’s much more of an emptying experience.”

要明智判断后续跟进的时机

判断要等待多久再后续跟进，看看招聘经理是否已经做出了决定，这是一件棘手的事情。“你肯定不希望身处求职乞丐的状态，”利斯表示，频繁查问可能会让你在讨价还价时处于不利地位。沙利文建议你在最后的面试中询问招聘经理，他们预计要花多长时间才会做出录用决定。“如果他们说一周，那就加一倍的时间，因为事情所花的时间总是比计划的长。”他表示。尽管如此，在他们给你的时间范围内跟进是值得的，以表明你对这份工作仍然感兴趣，但是“要毕恭毕敬，不要催促”。一封电子邮件写上诸如“不必回复，我只是想让你们知道我仍然感兴趣”之类的话，这可能会帮助你从其他求职者中脱颖而出。

Be judicious about when you follow up.

Deciding how long to wait before following up to see if the hiring manager has made a decision is tricky. “You don’t want to be in job-beggar mode,” says Lees, and checking in frequently could put you in a worse bargaining position. At your final interview, Sullivan recommends asking the hiring managers how long they anticipate it will be before an offer is made. “And if they say a week, double it, because things always take longer than planned,” he says. Still, it’s worth following up within the time frame they gave you to show that you’re still interested in the job, but “be respectful and don’t push.” An email that says something along the lines of, “No response necessary, I just want to let you know that I’m still interested,” could help you stand out from other candidates.

要记住的原则

可以做

•向招聘经理表示感谢，无论是以手写感谢信还是电子邮件的方式。

•提供支持性的辅证性材料（比如，你的作品样本）来加强你的依据。

•通过对公司进行尽职调查来有效打发时间，并最终敲定你个人的工作接受标准。

Principles to Remember

Do

Offer gratitude to the hiring manager, with either a handwritten note or an email.

Provide backup support material, such as samples of your work, to strengthen your case.

Spend your time productively by doing due diligence on the company and finalizing your personal job acceptance criteria.

禁止做

•要求重新回答你搞砸的一个问题——除非你能提供涉及企业所需的高度相关的信息。

•让压力困扰你。在等待期间花些时间与心态积极的朋友相处，以此来让自己分心。

•停止寻找其他工作。通过探寻别的机会来保留你选择的余地。

Don’t

Ask for a do-over on a question you flubbed — unless you can offer highly relevant information that speaks to an organizational need.

Let the stress get to you. Distract yourself during the waiting period by spending time with positive-minded friends.

Stop looking for other jobs. Keep your options open by exploring other opportunities.

丽贝卡·奈特（Rebecca Knight）| 文  

永年 | 译  时青靖 | 校   腾跃 | 编辑

丽贝卡·奈特是波士顿一名自由撰稿人，卫斯理大学讲师。她的作品发表在《纽约时报》《今日美国》（USA Today）和《金融时报》（The Financial Times）上。