Always Send a Thank You Letter
I had two experiences that helped me with my topic today. The first was I had an interview yesterday with a great company. The other was a relative of mine had recently jumped out into the job seeking world and posed a question on her facebook page. The question was, “Should I send a thank you letter to the person I interviewed with today?” The answer to her and the topic for today is YES. Regardless of whether you want the job or not, you need to always send a thank you letter. It is common courtesy and it also is smart business. There are a couple of points I want to make about the thank you letter.
EMAIL VS. MAIL
There has been some debate about whether to send the thank you letter in mail or email. I am here to settle the debate. Send the thank you letter in email. There are a couple of reasons why you need to send it in email. If you send it in the mail it will probably end up in the garbage. The email gives them an easy way to contact you if the interview was memorable. The other point is that a thank you note through the mail may take many days to get to the hiring manager. The decision could be made by then. It will also create a more lasting positive impression the faster they get the thank you letter.
SHORT VS. LONG
You probably spent a considerable amount of time interviewing with the hiring manager. The interview is the time to sell you. You will be answering lots of behavioral questions. The hiring manager wants to make sure that you are the right person for the job and they will take the necessary time interviewing to ensure you are the right one. Your thank you letter is not the time for a long monologue of why you are the person for the job. This is a time to thank them for their time and mention a few other items. Make sure that your thank you letter is brief.
UNIQUE VS. SAME
You probably will interview with multiple people before they make the decision. The higher the responsibility in the position the more likely you will meet with more people. After you are done meeting with them they will get together and compare notes. You need to make sure that your thank you letter in unique to each person you interviewed with. You will have different conversations and connect on different levels. Therefore, make sure you do that in your thank you letter.
FORMAT
The format for a thank you letter should be very simple. I break my thank you letter into three parts.
- Thank them for the taking the time to meet with you. Also, refer back to the specific date you met and the position you were interviewing for.
- Reaffirm that you are interested in the position. Let them know why you are interested in working for them. Briefly go over any issues that you felt were unresolved and not fully answered or any skills that were not discussed that are necessary for the position.
- End with thanking them again for their time and you will provide more information if required. Let them know you are looking forward to the next steps.
The thank you note may seem like such a small and insignificant item, but it can do wonders for you. If nothing else it will show gratitude for interviewing with that company. It is about making a connection with the hiring manager and this goes a long ways.
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