You’ve made it through an interview, or two or three interviews, as it seems to be these days. You relax for a second, happy that this part of the process is over, but that lasts only about half a minute before you begin going through every possible scenario in your head about how things could play out. Do you get a call back with an offer? An invitation to come back for another interview? A thanks but no thanks letter in the mail? What will happen next? And what do you do in the meantime?

It can be extremely nerve-racking as you wait after an interview, but here are four tips to keep yourself focused on what you can do instead of focusing on what you can’t.

1. Respond with thanks. Immediately send a thank you note, handwritten if possible, to everyone you interviewed with. Beyond that, focus on having gratitude for the opportunity to interview, and regardless of the outcome, how the opportunity to do so can help you in the future.

2. Be patient. Many people become frustrated by how long it takes to hear back after an interview. Put yourself in the employer’s shoes and realize how much they are also probably doing on top of trying to select a candidate for this role (of course this empathy needs to go both ways). In addition, some of the control on timing is out of their hands due to things like reference and background checks.

To help with this, inquire in the interview about what the next steps are and when you should expect to hear something back. Then follow their guidelines with your follow-up. For example, don’t call asking about the position two days after your interview if they told you it would be two weeks before they get back with candidates. As a rule of thumb, if you don’t know their timeline for follow-up, wait at least two weeks before following up with them.

3. Continue to look and apply for openings that are of interest to you. This helps to keep you focused on what you can control instead of dwelling on if and when and what you are going to hear from those who have interviewed you.

4. Continue to network. In fact, this should be a strategy regardless of whether you are waiting on interview results or not, whether you are an active job seeker or not. We’ll have more tips for you on networking here on the blog this week.

What is the most nerve-racking thing for you post interview? How do you combat this?