Interview Thank You Letter

The Keys to the Interview Thank You Letter

In a tight job market, when candidates are always fighting to positioning themselves on the cutting edge, following up an interview with a thank you letter to the potential employer is every bit as important to the success of garnering a job as the interview itself.

Just as you wouldn’t dream of approaching a job interview without having perfected your resume, you shouldn’t think of leaving an interview without knowing right away how you are going to follow it up with the most effective Interview Thank You Letter possible.

A thank you letter should be written and mailed the same day as the interview so as to keep the employer’s focus on you as the person he or she wants to hire.

What Should an Interview Thank You Letter Contain?

Open the Interview Thank You Letter by expressing appreciation for the meeting and making some positive comments about your impressions of the company, the work environment, and the people you met. Then move on to making some short, positive comments about some facet of the interview itself, including reiterating the reasons why you would be the best candidate for the position of “Job Title” with XYZ Company. Listen carefully during the course of the interview to determine the company’s values (e.g., strong interpersonal skills, attention to detail) and mention one or more things that you learned from the interview that strongly reinforce your unique suitability for the job, as well as the values you share with the employer that would translate into the strengths that make you the perfect fit for its business.

The Interview Thank You Letter is the perfect opportunity to bring up something special about yourself that you weren’t able to address during the course of the interview – some other excellent reason(s) why the employer would want to hire you over any of the other candidates interviewed. This can be even more greatly enhanced if you can link some issue that you resolved in the past to the contribution you could make as the “Job Title” of XYZ Company.

Having undoubtedly determined during the course of the interview when the employer’s interview process will end, you can politely mention in the thank you letter that you look forward to hearing from him or her with a positive decision by that date. You can also invite the employer to contact you at any time for additional information that might assist with making the decision, and let him or her know that you are ready and willing for a follow up meeting at any time.

If you interviewed with two or more employers, be sure to write an Interview Thank You Letter to each one of them.

Since, the Interview Thank You Letter should be brief – no more than three or four paragraphs – the key is to make it as personal and personable as you can, conveying your ongoing interest in the position as well as attributes that you can uniquely contribute to the employer that will add value to its business.