The interview may be over, but your chance to make an impression is not. Here are 10 strategies to continue boosting your candidacy.

1. Show that you’re still interested

Leave no doubt in the interviewer’s mind about where you stand. Ask for the job at meeting’s end with a phrase such as, “I would really like to contribute to this company and am hoping you select me.”

Also, don’t leave the room without a clear idea of what will happen next in the hiring process. Will select applicants be invited back to meet other people? By what date do they hope to fill the position? Such questions demonstrate enthusiasm for the job, and knowing the hirer’s timeframe will help keep you from panicking if a week has passed without a phone call.

2. Set the stage for further contact

Nobody wants to be a pest, but could your silence as days pass be misinterpreted as indifference? Avoid the guesswork by finding out before heading home what the employer prefers in terms of checking in. Lizandra Vega, author of “The Image of Success: Make a Great Impression and Land the Job You Want,” suggests asking the recruiter about her preferred method of follow-up communication and whether it would be okay to touch base again.

3. Be punctual

If you tell the interviewer you’ll send a list of references tomorrow morning, make sure you do it. Keeping your word and answering requests in a timely manner speaks volumes about the type of employee you might be.

4. Know when to sit tight

If an interviewer requests that you follow up by phone in a week, respect her wishes. Calling the next day can be construed as pushy and desperate.

5. Send a prompt thank-you note

A positive, nonintrusive way to stay on an employer’s mind is to send a thank-you note. Vega recommends emailing one within 24 hours of the interview, then following up with a handwritten note that arrives one to three business days later.

6. Send each interviewer a personalized, powerful follow-up letter

This piece of communication is another chance for you to shine, so don’t waste space with generalities. Ford R. Myers, a career coach and author of “Get the Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring,” recommends including specific references to each person you met and tying your accomplishments directly to the company’s stated challenges.

You also can use the letter to introduce achievements that didn’t get discussed and to elaborate on interview answers that you felt lacked punch.

7. Address one of the company’s needs

Another effective way to follow up is to act more like a consultant than an applicant. “During the interview, you learn a lot about a company’s weaknesses and/or areas where the company wants to expand,” states Linda Matias, president of CareerStrides.com and author of “201 Knockout Answers to Tough Interview Questions.”

“Consider creating a proposal on how you would address one of those areas. Doing so will demonstrate that you have the knowledge and also the enthusiasm to make a significant contribution.”

8. Keep thinking and learning about the company

Be prepared for additional interviews or follow-up phone calls by continuing to research the organization and the field. Gain new information about a topic brought up in conversation. Think of additional questions you’d like answered. These actions show the hirer that you didn’t stop caring about the company after the interview was over.

9. Leverage outside resources

Networking should never stop. “If you have contacts and connections with anyone who might influence the hiring decision, or who actually knows the interviewer, ask her to put a good word in for you,” Myers says.

10. Accept rejection with grace

Finally, keep emotions in check and don’t burn bridges if someone else gets hired. One never knows what the future might hold. The accepted candidate may not work out, or a different position may open up.

“If you are rejected, the first thing you should do (ironically) is send a thank-you note,” Myers says. “This will help distinguish you from other rejected candidates and put you in a positive light.”

1. Walk away from bargains

Just because you can buy a cashmere sweater for $20 or three bottles of ketchup for the price of one doesn’t mean you should. “Ask, ‘Do I have something similar?’ and ‘Where am I going to store it?’ before making a purchase,” advises New York City professional organizer Julie Morgenstern, author of “Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life.”

2. Make peace with imperfection

Efficient people give “A-level effort” to the most important projects (say, work assignments or a kitchen redesign), and for the rest they do just enough to get the job done, says Renae Reinardy, PsyD, a psychologist who specializes in hoarding disorders. Maybe you give yourself permission to bring store-bought cookies to a school bake sale or donate a bag of stuff — unsorted! — to Goodwill. “Trying to do every task perfectly is the easiest way to get bogged down,” says Reinardy.

3. Never label anything “miscellaneous”

You put a bunch of things into a file or box and write this catchall across the front. “But within a week you’ve forgotten what’s in there,” says Morgenstern. Instead, sort items into specific groups — “electric bills,” “lightbulbs,” and so on.

4. Schedule regular decluttering sessions

Rather than wait until an industrious mood strikes (we all know where that leads), have a decluttering routine in place — whether it’s spending 15 minutes sorting mail after work or tackling a new project every Sunday afternoon.

5. Stick with what works

“I have clients who will try every line of makeup, every cell phone — it’s exhausting,” says Dorothy Breininger, president of the Delphi Center for Organization. Don’t waste time (and money) obsessively seeking out the best thing.

6. Create a dump zone

Find a space to corral all the stuff that you don’t have time to put away the moment you step in the door, says Breininger. Once you’re ready to get organized, you won’t have to hunt all over the house for the dry cleaning or your child’s field trip permission slip.

7. Ask for help

“The organized person is willing to expose herself to short-term embarrassment and call for backup,” says Breininger. Which is to say, that elaborate four-course dinner you planned? Change it to a potluck.

8. Separate emotions from possessions

It’s healthy to be attached to certain items — a vase you picked up in Paris, your grandmother’s pearls. But holey concert tees or cheap, scuffed earrings your husband gave you years ago? Just let them go.

9. Foresee (and avoid) problems

You wouldn’t leave the house on a gray day without an umbrella, right? People who appear to sail through life unruffled apply this thinking to every scenario, says Breininger. Have a cabinet packed with leaning towers of Tupperware? Organized folks will take a few minutes to short-circuit an avalanche before it happens. (In other words, rearranging that cupboard now is easier than chasing after wayward lids as they scatter underneath the fridge.)

10. Know where to donate

It’s easier to part with belongings if they’re going to a good home. Identify a neighbor’s son who fits into your child’s outgrown clothes, or choose a favorite charity. “It will save you from searching for the perfect recipient every time you need to unload something,” says Morgenstern.

Like some kind of industrial magic trick, this design by Casulo challenges our very ideas of compact, portable and transforming furniture. It seems impossible that a bookcase, wardrobe, bed, mattress, multiple stools and more could all start out tucked away in a simple rectangular box just31 by 47 inches in size – but here it is: an all-in-one interior design with everything needed for a living room, bedroom and office packed into one small box.

The entire system can be deployed in just ten minutes, requires no additional tools and (as you might have guessed) every single part of the box is used in one way or another in the final design. Every time you move, or want to reconfigure a space, or have to put something into storage … would these steps not be much easier with a furniture system that simply collapses back in upon itself when not needed?

Leadership is one of those nebulous terms — you hear it all the time but it has various definitions. The traits that make up a good leader can vary depending on the organization, team, manager and work environment.

Leadership can also vary in style — are you someone who dictates the group and doesn’t listen to anyone else’s opinion? Or do you lead with a more bureaucratic or democratic style?

“Every leader has a particular style of leadership that is innate. However, the behaviors, attitudes or methods of delivery that are effective for one staff member may in fact be counterproductive for another,” says Michael Burke, account supervisor, MSR Communications, a public relations firm.

“Great leaders are aware of their own style and make the effort to learn how their style actually comes across to their team. They learn to flex their leadership style to individual team members so that they communicate and behave in ways that motivate and inspire.”

Here is what five leadership professionals consider to be traits that make up a good leader:

Rachael Fisher-Layne, vice president of media relations, JCPR, a public relations agency

1. Honesty. Always do the honest thing. It makes employees feel like they know where they stand with you at all times.

2. Focus. Know where you’re going and have a strong stated mission to lead people on. If you’re not sure, how can your people be sure? You have to have strong focus and stay the course.

3. Passion. Whatever it is, you must have passion for what you’re doing. Live, breathe, eat and sleep your mission.

4. Respect. Not playing favorites with people and treating all people — no matter what station in life, what class or what rank in the org chart — the same.

5. Excellent persuasion abilities. People have to believe in you and your credibility. Image is everything and the belief people have in you, your product, your mission, your facts or your reputation are key to being a great leader. You have to persuade people of this — it doesn’t just happen.

Darcy Eikenberg, a leadership and workplace coach, Red Cape Revolution

1. Confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will. I hear leaders worrying that if they show too much confidence, others will think them arrogant. The reality is people want to know what you know for sure — and what you don’t. Having the confidence to say “I don’t know” is a powerful skill.

2. Clarity. The only way you can get confidence is by becoming really, really clear about who you are and what is most important to you. New leaders fail when they try to become all things to all people, or try to do too much out of their area of excellence. Clarity helps you say “yes” to the right things — and “no” to others.

3. Care. The strongest, most effective leaders I’ve met care not just about the business, but about the people in it and the people impacted by it. Plus, they show they care through their words and actions, even proving how they care for themselves and their family by taking unplugged vacations and continuing their own professional development. Care shouldn’t be a four-letter word in our workplace today — and the best leaders know it.

Tom Armour, co-founder, High Return Selection, a recruitment firm

1. Integrity. They are people who are respected and worth listening to. I find in general due to all of the economic difficulties, employees prioritize and seek leaders and organizations that are honest and meet their commitments.

2. Compassion. Too many leaders these days manage with the balance sheet, often times at the expense of their employees and long-term customer relationships. Talented people want to work for leaders and organizations that truly care about their employees and the communities in which they operate.

3. Shared vision and actions. People produce real business gains and smart people need to understand what is needed and be part of the solution.

4. Engagement. Great business leaders are able to get all members of their teams engaged. They do this by offering them challenge, seeking their ideas and contributions and providing them with recognition for their contributions.

5. Celebration. In today’s work environment, people are working very long hours and they need to take some time to celebrate their successes in order to recharge their batteries. Those leaders who fail to do this create burnout environment overtime.

Mike Sprouse, CMO, Epic Media Group, and author of “The Greatness Gap”

1. Humility. True leaders have confidence but realize the point at which it becomes hubris.

2. Empowering. True leaders make their associates feel emboldened and powerful, not diminished and powerless.

3. Collaborative. True leaders solicit input and feedback from those around them so that everyone feels part of the process.

4. Communicative. True leaders share their vision or strategy often with those around them.

5. Fearlessness. True leaders are not afraid to take risks or make mistakes. True leaders make mistakes born from risk.

Nancy Clark, author of “18 Holes for Leadership”

1. Genuine. You need to be clear on what your values are and must be consistent in applying them. As part of that, you need to have the courage to hold true to them. You must not lose sight of reality. Lost values may be one of the biggest causes of downfalls.

2. Self-awareness. You need to be clear on what your strengths are and what complementary strengths you need from others. This includes understanding others and learning how best to utilize their strengths. Many unsophisticated leaders think everyone should be like them; that too can cause their downfall. They surround themselves with people like them. “Group think” can blindside them and cause failure.

3. Leverage team strengths. Part of awareness is don’t expect people to change. If you think you can change someone, think again. This doesn’t mean you can’t help them grow and develop. But don’t expect to change anyone (even yourself) behaviorally. We are who we are. Your job as a leader is to understand each person’s strengths and place them in positions where they can flourish and grow. If you are good at that, you have a huge part of the equation for success.

4. Leadership transitions. Going from individual contributor to supervisor is only the first of many transitions along the leadership pipeline. You need to understand the business model, how it applies to your current position, what you need to do to provide the greatest value, and how to leverage your strengths at this level. This requires building competencies and focusing on the right things. No one ever tells you that there are many levels and many adjustments you need to make along the way.

5. Supportive. You need to foster a positive environment that allows your team to flourish. Also by aligning the reward and recognition systems that best match your teams profile and deliver results.

If your company sends out an e-mail newsletter to customers, you may find yourself suffering from a new problem I call “spam trap poisoning.”

Spam traps are e-mail addresses that antispam groups post on the Web but don’t use for sending e-mail. Instead, these addresses lie in wait until they’re found by “harvester” programs. These harvesters are key tools for spammers: they scan millions of Web pages, scooping up every e-mail address that’s visible.

If a spam trap receives any e-mail, therefore, antispam groups assume the message must be spam. This can automatically put the IP address on a “blocklist” that keeps the sender’s messages from getting through to some mail servers.

Unfortunately, spam traps are starting to bite legitimate businesses. I’ll explain how and what you can do about it.

How Spammers Can Poison Spam Traps

I discussed spam trap poisoning with Julian Haight, the director of a controversial blocklist called SpamCop.net. In an interview, which formed the basis for my column last week on SpamCop, Haight said he’s reduced his reliance on human spam complainers and has dramatically increased his use of spam traps. “80 to 90 percent” of the reports he receives are now generated by such bots, he explains.

Spammers, however, are learning how to discover which e-mail addresses are spam traps. How can this injure your company’s reputation and e-mail deliverability?

• Spam Traps Lead To Swift Blocklisting. Because spam-trap addresses can react immediately to any e-mail they receive, as little as a single message can add a sender to a blocklist within minutes. Spammers don’t much care about one individual source of spam being blocked, of course. The top professionals in the spam business use a massive network of hundreds of thousands of PCs they’ve infected with Trojan horse programs that actually send the spam. Some infected PCs may be blocked, but spammers have many others that aren’t.

• A Process of Elimination. Because the biggest pros send millions of junk e-mails a day, they can segment their lists and send messages through different computers to try to identify spam traps. If one sender was added to a particular blocklist at 10:00 a.m., for example, it was probably due to a spam-trap address that received a piece of spam after 9:30 that same morning.

• Poisoning the Spam Traps and Your Company’s Good Name. By watching mailings that are sent out on subsequent days, spammers can soon isolate a few addresses that are almost certainly spam traps. The spammers then sign those addresses up for legitimate e-mail newsletters to ruin the effectiveness of the spam traps. Now the addresses are receiving legitimate e-mail, not just spam.

• Reliance on Spam Traps Backfires on Blocklists. To best “poison” the spam traps, spammers use the newsletters of the most respectable companies possible. When mail servers that use blocklists start to reject mail from these large, respected brand names, the blocking services lose credibility. Many end users had wanted to receive those company’s mailings and blame the blocklists for being wildly inaccurate.

If your company’s newsletter is used in these exploits, the pain can be severe. Your routine e-mail messages can suddenly start to bounce — or simply disappear, deleted forever by mail servers that blindly relied on the blocklists.

Choose One: A Terrible Problem or a Horrible Problem

Haight is adamant that companies can avoid damage to their reputations by requiring all newsletter subscribers to “double opt-in” as opposed to “single opt-in.” He also considers double opt-in to be a requirement because it prevents one person from signing up another person’s e-mail address to an unwanted list.

Let’s take a closer look at what single and double opt-in mean:

• Single Opt-In. A single opt-in newsletter allow customers to sign up by entering their e-mail address in a Web form and clicking “Subscribe.” The publisher usually sends an immediate message welcoming subscribers and telling them how to unsubscribe if a mistake has been made.

• Double Opt-In. This method, also called “confirmed opt-in” or “verified opt-in,” doesn’t initially send any newsletter to customers who subscribe. Instead, the subscribers receive a message saying they must “verify” their e-mail address. The message usually instructs the recipient to click a hyperlink or generate some kind of e-mail response.

There’s a big problem with double opt-in, however. The newsletters of most Fortune 500 companies don’t require it, because a huge number of customers simply don’t understand why they have to verify their address — “I just gave it to you, it’s valid, you idiots.” Other consumers don’t respond because they’ve been told never to follow any instructions that an e-mail requests, as a precaution against “phishing.”

“I’ve seen the rate as low as 40% confirmation,” says Paul Myers, publisher and editor of TalkBiz News, a newsletter for business owners. His own publication, which uses double opt-in, has a very targeted audience and gets almost 100% confirmation, he says. But he doesn’t believe double opt-in should be a requirement for every company. “There shouldn’t be any reason why people miss the mail they want because they didn’t understand the confirmation process — or that one was required.”

The Battle Over Opting-In

Anne Mitchell is CEO of ISIPP (the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy), a whitelist organization that works with Internet service providers and spam filtering companies. “The push for double opt-in was really by the antispammers, not the ISPs,” she says. “They [the ISPs] don’t care how you build your list, as long as you don’t send spam.”

ISIPP maintains online scoring systems that are used by SpamBouncer and other antispam filters. One ISIPP scoring formula for trusted senders gives a maximum of 90 points to those who require double opt-in. But single opt-in newsletters can still achieve 80 points. The difference is small — because single opt-in newsletters aren’t spam.

As far as the percentage of cases in which one person is subscribed by another person to a single opt-in newsletter, the number is “miniscule,” Mitchell says.

How Many Mistakes Are Made, and Who Makes Them?

AWeber Communications is one of the world’s largest e-mail service providers. Literally thousands of different customers use the firm’s technology to send opt-in e-mail newsletters, according to company CEO Tom Kulzer.

AWeber requires the double opt-in method for new subscribers to get its own newsletter, Kulzer says. But his firm allows its individual publishers to choose to use either double opt-in or single opt-in. “More of our customers use single opt-in, fewer use double opt-in,” he explained in a telephone interview.

Confirmation rates for the double opt-in newsletters he’s monitored range from “nearly 100%” to “as low as 20%.” Meanwhile, cases in which an innocent person has been signed up to a single opt-in newsletter without consent are very rare, in his experience. “We see that maybe once a month,” Kulzer says.

“Usually the only time we see problems with somebody maliciously typing in someone else’s address is vehement antispammers who are signing people up to a list,” he continues. “When we track that down, the newsletter’s been sent to a ‘postmaster’ account that only these [extreme] antispammers would know about.”

Conclusion

You’re caught between two awful choices. If you require a double opt-in policy for people to subscribe to your company’s newsletter, you may lose half of more of the people who want to sign up for it. That’s bad customer service. On the other hand, if you use single opt-in, as most companies do, anyone can add spam-trap addresses to your database of subscribers. Your company could suffer e-mail deliverability problems for days after every issue of your publication goes out — activating the blocklists each time.

The answer is to carefully monitor which blocklists point to or don’t point to the IP addresses that your company uses to send mail. OpenRBL.org is one free service that allows you to enter any IP address or domain name to see whether it’s on any of 30-some real-time blocklists.

If your company does get whacked by a blocklist for a few hours or days after your newsletter goes out, use some of the same tricks that spammers use to identify spam traps. Segment your e-mail list into 24 groups at random. Send mail to each group, one hour apart throughout the day. If one group triggers a blocklist, segment it even further until you’ve isolated the potential problem addresses.

Finally, consider dropping subscribers who, according to your server logs, haven’t clicked a hyperlink in months — they could be robots disguised as ordinary newsletter readers.