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Follow-Up
after Job Interviews with a Thank You Letter
Your application doesn’t
end after the interview—there’s one more thing left to do.
Sending a “thank you” letter is something that very few job
seekers think to do after interviews, even though such letters
are a great way of making sure that interviewers remember you.
In most situations, a thank you letter won’t be
what gets you the job. However, if it comes down
to a scenario where the hiring manager must choose between you
and another candidate with very similar skills and
qualifications, a follow-up thank you letter might tip the
balance in your favor.
Your thank you letter doesn't
need to
be longer than two or
three paragraphs—in fact, keeping it brief is a good idea. You
don’t have to limit yourself to simply saying thank you for the
interview, though—within those paragraphs, you have a prime
opportunity to remind the interviewer of your professional
skills. Consider using a thank you letter in one or more of the
following ways:
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Demonstrate your enthusiasm for the job
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Remind the interviewer of the particular
skills that make you a good fit for the company and the
position
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To minimize professional weaknesses or for
damage control, if you feel there were some aspects of the
interview that did not go as well as you hoped
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Add new information—if you neglected to mention
something important in the interview, bring it up in the
letter
As a general rule, a thank you letter should be
sent within 24 hours of your interview—ideally you want the
interviewer to receive the letter by the end of the following
day. If that’s not possible, send a thank you letter by email
instead. This is not as good as sending a letter through the
mail, but getting the letter to the recipient quickly is more
important than the way you send it. Consider hand-delivering the
letter if the interview was held locally—this not only ensures
it gets there quickly, but also lets the company know you are
driven and interested.
If there are several people present at
your interview, a letter should be sent to each person
individually. You’ll typically be able to use much of the same
letter for each person but be sure to add a sentence or two to
personalize them.
Still Stuck?
Try using the "The
Job Interview Secret"
Also, please review our Free
Interview Tips section
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