Have you ever left an interview wondering what you should do next? Don’t worry. Many people don’t know what to do when they reach this step in the job search process. Sometimes, the interview follow-up is just as important as the interview itself. What you do during this time can just as easily sway a decision as a great or sub-par resume or interview. We’ve made a list of things you should and shouldn’t do after your interviews that will help boost your chances of landing the job you want.

Don’t do nothing

Overall, the worst thing you can do after your interviews is nothing. By nothing, we mean sitting at home waiting for a reply from the company you interviewed with — you’re not looking for other opportunities, meeting new people, or making valuable connections. Instead, you’re at home on pins and needles waiting for that email or phone call. This is not an effective strategy!

Plan your follow-ups

Whether by email or phone, plan your follow-up communication with the company you just had an interview with, just in case they don’t get back to you. Figure out whether or not it is appropriate to send an email or make a phone call. Write down what you want to say in both cases. It doesn’t need to be long and complicated. It can actually be as simple as one or two sentences. Whatever you decide to go with, do some research on best practices for interview follow-up emails. If you are confused about how to write a follow-up letter, here is a good explanation of what to include by Indeed.

Don’t be too aggressive

The opposite of “don’t do nothing” is “don’t do too much,” and doing too much includes being a pest to the company you’ve interviewed with. The boundary between being positively aggressive and being a pest is small, and finding that boundary can be difficult. One of the best practices of following up with an employer is to space out your check-ins by week. This means sending a follow-up email a week after sending a thank-you note, and sending a check-in email a week after the follow-up. A week is just enough time that the hiring manager probably won’t be bothered by an email from you and not enough time to forget who you are.

Keep at the search

Working on at least two or more job opportunities at the same time increases your chances of landing a job you need. Even if one of them isn’t at the company you were hoping for, it is always better to have backup plans, and backups for your backups if possible, than having nothing at all. As we mentioned previously, working on only one job opportunity at a time is a bad strategy to fall into. Even if you feel confident that your interview went well, nothing is guaranteed. Continue to apply for other jobs and look for other ways you can position yourself to find other opportunities.

Don’t mope

If you don’t hear anything for a while after the interview, don’t let yourself get down. Moping will only make applying for other jobs more difficult. Even if you don’t get a reply for a few weeks, this doesn’t mean you were cut from the process. It could very likely just be a lengthy interview process and the company simply isn’t done making their rounds. Perhaps a large volume of candidates applied to the same job and you’re still in the running. There is always hope. Maintaining follow-ups and check-ins may help answer some of the burning questions and uncertainties you may have.