Clients often ask me whether they should write and send a thank you note after an job interview.
Absolutely, I reply. It’s a critical part of the job search process. Send a thank you note to each person you interviewed with. They won’t know if some of the copy is the same as what you sent to their colleagues.
Use the first paragraph to thank them for their time.
In the second paragraph, reiterate your skills and the aspects of your background that were especially appealing to them and/or relevant to the position in question.
In the third paragraph, there is 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 developed such and such system when I was at Acme Co. I think that would be very useful in working with your system.” Also, if there was any misunderstanding during the interview, you can smooth it over in the third paragraph.
You can close by saying that you look forward to hearing from them next week or meeting Mr. Bluegrass, or whatever they said was the next step. If you don’t hear from them as stated, you can certainly contact them.
Always make sure that you check the spelling, punctuation and grammar in your thank you note before you send it!
Another question clients often ask is whether to email or hand-write their thank you note. There are advantages to both methods. Email gets there faster and if they told you they were planning to make a decision quickly, then that might be the way to go. A handwritten note has the advantage of standing out from the flurry of email. Some people like to send an email right away and follow it up with a handwritten note.
