As promised, I am enclosing a sample thank you letter that I have crafted and utilized repeatedly. It is short, succinct and direct. It synthesizes your appreciation to the interviewer(s) considering your candidacy while expressing your sincere enthusiasm and interest in the company and the position. Just as important, this is your final opportunity to reiterate why you are the best candidate for the job and to address any potential concerns or reservations raised by the interviewer during your meeting regarding your qualifications and ability to perform at a high level. Ultimately, this is your chance to emphasize your confidence in your ability to add value and make a strong contribution to the company. I would also suggest that you make reference to specific conversation topics that resonated in a positive manner with the interviewer as well. Feel free to utilize as much or as little as you deem fit, as I hope that it serves you as well as it has served me.
Cheers!
How to find me:
My blog: http://yourtopshelf.wordpress.com/
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltfarley
E-mail: mtfarley@msn.com
I agree that a follow-up email to an interviewer, especially if they have not contacted you within a few days, is a good idea. I personally feel that the wording as included here feels way too much like kissing-up, begging, and desperation rather than an honestly-typed “thanks for speaking with me, I look forward to moving forward with soon”.
Warren,
I cannot over-emphasize the need to send a professional thank you letter to an interviewer regardless of whether or not you have heard back from the company. Again, it is most effective if you send it out within 24 hours of the interview. As I concluded in my posting, feel free to use as little or as much of the sample thank you letter I provided.
I appreciate that you prefer to utilize language that suits your own style and preference. However, if you send a thank you letter that consists only of “Thanks for speaking with me, I look forward to moving forward soon,” you are missing out on a key opportunity to further crystallize in the interviewer’s mind why you should move to the next phase of the hiring process.
Do not assume facts that are not yet in evidence. In other words, do not assume that the interviewer already has a positive impression of you. The whole point of the thank you letter is to cement a positive impression. As a hiring manager, I would be disappointed to receive a thank you letter that only consisted of one simple sentence that required little effort to write. This is not the type of job market that you want make assumptions about and take chances. Go the extra mile and write thank you letter that is worthy of your candidacy.
Thanks again for your comments!
-Mike Farley
Thanks for this! When I would interview candidates, the ones who sent Thank You notes always stood out and were remembered longer. Now, when I interview, I have the same habit, knowing the impact it had on me.
Thanks a lot! Also it will be great is someone can share more courtesy letters such as a thank you letter send after a meeting.
Pravin-
I don’t think this sample letter sounds desperate at all. It’s professional and concise.
I do think thank you letters should be personalized to cover something relevant to the conversation you had with the interviewer. Most companies will have you interview with multiple people. It’s critical to send a thank you letter to all of them. I think it’s best if they aren’t all exactly the same.
I’m a marketing exec. If I interview someone for a marketing position and they don’t send a thank you letter, I won’t hire them. My husband is in IT. He rarely gets them and says it doesn’t impact his perception of the interviewee.
I believe that thank you letters are fairly important. Agree with Mikes assessment of the consequences of not using one: missing out on a key opportunity to further crystallize in the interviewer’s mind why you should move to the next phase of the hiring process. By sending one TKU letter you have nothing to lose, but chances to gain the few extra points that could cement your case. I would be needed in fields where interviews are too far and few in between. Also larger corporations with extra layers of scrutiny might need one such note to address the devils advocate.
Roby, some positions in the Medical and IT fields might need a different and might not need one. Of course, Joe the plumber does not need one either. Unless you have someone working for you on the inside, broadly speaking the Engineering sector is so competitive right now, that it is imperative that one buckles down and sends in one of these letters.
I am customizing the sample TKU letter to suit my style right after this note…