Prepare for the Job Search ~ Interviewing ~ Send a Thank You Letter

Send a Thank You Letter

The most important aspect of a thank you is to send it promptly within three to four days of the interview.  If you do not have access to a computer, then hand write your thank you on a note card.  It is also possible to send it via email if the recipient has offered her or his email address.  The more time that elapses, the less enthusiastic you will be about writing it, and the less impact your letter will have on its reader.

When you have interviewed with a number of individuals in one day, as you might in a site interview, address the thank you to the person who seemed to coordinate the day.  You can make mention of the others with whom you spoke and ask the coordinator to convey your thanks to them as well.  The letter provides an opportunity to continue building the rapport that you began during your initial meeting.

The Letter Is a Vehicle for:

• acknowledging the individual's participation in your interview visit
• thanking them for insights shared
• highlighting a specific aspect of the organization which you admire

You Can Use Your Thank You Letter to Make Any of the Following Points:

• Restate or expand one of your skills or achievements about which the interviewer was obviously interested in learning more.
• Link the values of the organization with your own values.
• Draw a parallel between characteristics of previous organizations in your work history and those of the prospective employer:  clients, services, products, urban/rural/national/international affiliations.
• Reiterate your interest in responding to a problem which the organization faces, and which you and the interviewer discussed.  If possible, try to recall your interviewer's use of examples and language; e.g., an employer describes the worksite as a "seething cauldron of activity," a memorable image to be sure, and one which the interviewee uses to her/his advantage by including the seething cauldron image in the thank you letter.
• Address a perceived roadblock to your candidacy; e.g., the employer is very interested in candidates who have teaching experience with children but your professional experience is exclusively with adults, albeit in the same country and culture.  So, you emphasize your role as a Big Sister/Big Brother, or your childhood as the oldest of five siblings, etc.
• Outline your goals for the first three months in the prospective job.  This strategy can be especially effective if you are a candidate for a leadership position.  You might introduce this option by stating: "If I were to be your project manager (or whatever the job title would be), my major objectives during the first three months would be to . . .
• Acknowledge some positive event your interviewer mentioned, personal or professional.  You don't want to go overboard with this option, but people do like to be recognized.  Remember, the hiring process, even with all the legal safeguards, is still done by human beings with all their subjective biases.  Your comments may be most effective as a handwritten postscript.  For instance, you know your interviewer was looking forward to a weekend of skiing, so you write: "Hope you had a relaxing weekend at Alpine Meadows with your family;" or if you know your interviewer was heading to a major conference: "Best wishes with your presentation in Montreal!"
• Remember, don't procrastinate about exactly what to write; get it on paper minus typos and get it in the mail!  Save a copy of your letters to help generate ideas for future ones.
• Two brief thoughts on special cases.  First, for those of you having telephone interviews in anticipation of on-site interviews, it is advantageous to then mail a note to your interviewer making any of the points cited above—especially if you want a face-to-face interview.  Secondly, if your interview was a disaster, or if you decided post-interview that the job is not right for you, it is still necessary to write a thank you letter to the principal interviewer withdrawing your candidacy if appropriate.  You never know when you will encounter this person in a professional context.

(Material used from comments of Tony Drapelick, Manager of Professional Development, School for International Training; Battleboro, Vermont)

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