Clients often ask me whether they should send a thank you note after an interview. Absolutely if you want the job, I reply. And send one to each person you interviewed with. It would, of course, be good to tailor the copy to each person, but if some of the copy is the same, the reader will probably not know.
What should you write in a thank you note? Here are some tips:
Start by reiterating your skills and the aspects of your background that were especially appealing to the interviewer and/or relevant to the position in question.
In the second paragraph, you have an opportunity to add anything you forgot to mention in the interview. You can say something like: “I don’t know if I mentioned that I had developed x system when I was at Acme. I think that experience would be very useful in working with your system.” Also, if there was any misunderstanding during the interview, you can smooth it over in this paragraph.
You can close by saying that you look forward to hearing from them next week, or meeting Mr. Jones, or whatever they said was the next step. In this way, you’re letting them know that you’ll be contacting them if you don’t hear from them within a week or so.
Another question clients often ask is whether to email or hand write the thank you note. There are advantages to both methods. Email gets there faster and if you were told that a decision was going to be made quickly, then that would be a good way to go. A handwritten note has the advantage of standing out from the flurry of email. Some people even like to send an email right away and follow it up with a handwritten note.
Just be sure to write and send out your note immediately after your interview.
In summary, a thank you note is an integral part of the job search process that offers you an additional opportunity to make a good impression with each interviewer.
