The Thank You Letter
Past experiences and research shows that the thank you letter can make a difference.
The thank you letter can tip the balance of a hiring manager's indecisiveness, or further clarify that you are the right person for the position.
There are many purposes to a thank you letter besides the most obvious of sincerely thanking the interviewer for meeting with you. A thank you letter can provide the opportunity to:
- Remind the employer of who you are and help distinguish you from the other candidates.
- Provide the employer with a sample of your professional writing skills.
- Show and restate your level of interest and outline why you want the career opportunity.
- Summarize the interview and prove that you are a good listener.
- Resell yourself by restating your most compelling skills and any vital characteristics not mentioned in the interview.
- Reinforce yourself as a professional with foresight and follow through.
- Correct any wrong answers or clarify any answers given during the interview.
- Clear up any misconceptions or false assumptions that may have resulted during the interview.
- Ask for the career opportunity.
- Save a not so great interview.
Guidelines for writing a thank you letter include:
- When addressing the thank you letter, use the name that the interviewer used to introduce him/herself. If in doubt, formally address the interviewer with Mr. or Ms. and last name.
- Include the Job Title in the interview letter. For example: Thank you for taking the time to speak to me about the "Job Title" position.
- Include any names of team members that you were not able to meet if have that information. For example: I look forward to meeting with "team member name" and learning more about the company.
- Mention the company culture and explain how you will best fit with that culture.
- Note any recent company presence in publications such as accomplishments and awards.
- Include the one most important characteristic you possess that will benefit the company and restate your value.
- Listen carefully in the interview and find the one most important issue the interview has and build upon how you are best fit to handle that issue.
- Restate the employer's objectives from the interview.
- If a next step of interviewing process is mentioned, restate your availability.
- Show sincerity in the tone of your letter.
- Format the letter properly according to business letter standards and check grammar and spelling. Let another person read the letter.
- Use a standard closing such as Sincerely or Regards.
- Send the letter within 24 hours, regardless of whether it will be mailed or emailed.