Ask the Experts: Question 20
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Question:
I have been told that I should send a thank you letter to interviewers.
What should I include in the thank you letter?
First Answer:
The interview is never really over. Your opportunity to communicate your
skills to a prospective employer improves through use of a thank you letter.
The fact that you are willing to follow-up and actually take the time to do
it sends a positive message about you.
Remember to sincerely thank them for the opportunity to meet. This seems
obvious but too many job seekers view the thank you letter as merely another
means of marketing themselves. Being sincere in your gratitude is
professional–and appropriate.
The rest of the content of your letter will depend upon what was said in the
interview. It would be wise to mention the highlights of what you learned in
the interview: what you know about the company, the job you are applying for
and how your specific skills “fit” with their specific need. If you feel you
may have inadvertently left out a detail in explaining your skills, the
letter is a good place to mention it. As with all things in the job search
process, keep your comments limited to the job and your ability to do it.
The letter should include a commitment to re-establish contact with the
hiring manager. Your purpose in contacting him or her by phone or in person
again is to set-up a follow-up interview or to learn the outcome of their
hiring decision. Please place the burden of return contact on yourself,
indicating a date when you will be calling.
Try to be concise in your comments.
—Kelly Stone, myjobsearch.com
Second Answer:
The first rule in drafting a thank you letter is to keep it brief. A well
crafted thank you letter is only a few paragraphs in length.
Begin the thank you letter by doing just that, thank the interviewer for
his/her time and consideration. The interviewer’s time is important and they
appreciate when you recognize this.
During the interview ask the employer what he/she is looking for in an
employee. When you know this, you can explain to the interviewer how and why
you are the best qualified to meet those needs. In the thank you letter,
reiterate in a sentence or two why you are the best qualified to meet
his/her needs.
In closing, tell them how you are excited about the prospect of working for
their company and you are looking forward to helping them become more
productive, efficient and profitable.
Be sure to include your contact information.
—James Aure, A and A Resume
Third Answer:
This is not the “thank you” note your mother taught you to write to your grandparents for their birthday gift to demonstrate your good manners. The post-interview thank you letter is an additional opportunity to sell yourself which few candidates take advantage of, and therefore if it is done well it will make you stand out and possibly further your candidacy.
Because in your interview you asked such questions as “what are the three most important qualifications you are looking for in the person you will hire for this job?” and “what would you like to see accomplished in the first three months on this job?” you will have a lot more information about your fit with this position than you had before the interview. You will also have some sense of the interviewer’s view of the organization and its culture.
Use this information in the thank you letter. Reiterate the most important qualifications your interviewer identified in the interview, and provide examples of how you meet them, adding information that isn’t on your resume if possible. Bullets are a great way to make these examples easy for your reader to find, but keep this letter short, no more than one uncrowded page.
The message you want to convey is that you are already thinking like a member of the team, hard at work on contributing your knowledge and skills to the business problems or opportunities of interest to your interviewer. Just be careful you don’t come across as behaving as though you already have been offered the job.
Also, express your interest in the position, especially if you did not do so at the end of the interview. You can’t assume that your interviewer can read your mind.
You need to write such a “thank you” note tailored to each person you interviewed with, and it needs to be sent within 48 hours of the interview: you want it to get there before they narrow the candidate list down to the finalists. If you choose to send it via email, also send it via snail mail so that a formal letter goes into the file. Stand-out thank you letters are an easy way to differentiate yourself from others who may have equal qualifications but didn’t bother to write them.
—Carol Anderson, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at New School University.
Fourth Answer:
First, thank them for taking the time to speak with you. Next, if you are
still interested in the job, highlight something you learned in the
interview and lace it into your credentials. For example, “I am excited to
see your use of new technology in project management and feel my recent
education in computer science would fit well in your organization..”
Finally, tell them you remain most interested in the position and look
forward to hearing from them soon. Always hand write a thank you – no
emails.
Holly Lentz, Lentz Productions
