Steps to Take
Your Self-Inventory
Before you start your new position, take a moment to exhale. Congratulate yourself on a successful transition! Conducting a job search requires self-discipline, focus and the ability to move beyond your comfort zone. Appreciate that you have mastered all of these important skills. They will serve you well in your new job and throughout your career.
It is a good idea to take inventory of where you are at this moment, in terms of your hard and soft skills, values, level of self-care, as well as your professional and personal goals.
Telling Your Contacts
Once you have accepted your new job, make sure to reach out to the people in your network who helped you during your job search. Update them on your job status, and say thank you again. You can do this via phone or email, or in-person.
This email or call has four parts:
Reiterate your thanks and re-acknowledge how the person helped you;
Tell the person about your new job;
Offer (again) to help the person however possible; now that you have a concrete job, there may be a way you can help them that did not exist before; and
If this is a person with whom you would like to keep in touch (and do not feel like you need to keep in touch with everyone), find a way to make that happen.
The following is an example of an email you can send to update members of your network about your new job:
Hi Joe.
I hope all is well with you. I want to thank you (again) for your helpfulness and generosity in meeting with me at XYZ Coffee Shop in November. I also wanted to update you on my career developments, as promised. I recently accepted an offer to work in the Real Estate Development group at ABC Corporation, and I am very excited to start in a couple of weeks. Your advice to explore the City Bar Association’s Real Estate Section was perfect, as it gave me issues to think about as I prepared for my interview. I believe that contributed immensely to my getting this offer.
If there is some way that I could possibly be helpful to you, either now or in the future, please call upon me. You were so kind to me, and I’d really like to return the favor. [If you can think of a way you might be able to help, mention it here.]
I would also like to stay in touch. It would be great to schedule another coffee once things settle down. Many thanks again.
Kind regards,
Jane Doe