So, you’ve sweated through the interview, successfully dealt with those tricky questions, avoided common pitfalls like badmouthing your former employers, and parted with a solid handshake and a goodbye on your way out. Now what?

First thing to do is manage your expectations. You could be in for a long wait, depending on how many interviewees an employer is seeing. If possible, ask your interviewer when you might expect to hear back, and try to resist calling them until then.

In Ye Olde Times, proper etiquette would see a follow-up thank you letter being sent within a couple of days of the interview, which is a touch stuffy and unnecessary. But thankfully, we now have e-mail.

A quick message the next day to say ‘thanks for seeing me, hope to hear from you soon’ is a good way to ensure you stay fresh in your potential new employer’s mind, and shows you can be polite to clients and co-workers should they hire you. It also gives you a chance to throw back to the interview in question (did you mention a website you maintain? Put a link in the e-mail).

Your tone should be friendly and thankful, rather than stuffy and desperate. And unless you get a reply, make sure you don’t hit them with a follow-up to your follow-up message. It makes you look pushy in all the wrong ways.