You just finished nailing the interview for your dream job. That’s great! But you’re not done yet. Besides the obvious of following up with the hiring manager, writing a thank you email is an important step and something that should not be skipped.
Sending thank you notes is an opportunity to give yourself a leg up on the competition. According to TopResume, 1 in 5 recruiters will automatically dismiss a candidate if they haven’t sent an interview thank you email. So, how do you go about choosing when and how to send a personalized “thank you?” Here are our tips.
1. Be mindful of the organizations hiring timeline
Keep in mind that employers often have busy work schedules, and many times are looking to make hiring decisions quickly. During the interview process, make sure you ask what their timeline is for making a decision and be considerate of that when it comes to when and how you send a thank-you note.
While best practice to sending a thank you note is typically 24 hours after an interview, there may be situations that taking an extra day to send a personalized, hand-written note is better than a quick email.
2. Be concise
A thank-you letter should be concise and less than one page long. Be genuine and thank the person that you interviewed with for their time and reiterate your interest in the position. You don’t want to recap your entire resume, but you can highlight the qualifications that will make you a good fit for the organization. Above all, make sure you are being professional and sincere.
3. Make sure your thank you letter is customized
Be sure to open with a personalized greeting! Address the hiring managers by name and if you were interviewed by multiple people, send a personalized email to each person. This thank you note is a great way to further show your personality, so make sure you make it feel personal. Refer to the topics of conversation that occurred during the interview and make sure the email is providing some value to the interviewer.
4. A strong opening and a strong closing are vital
The initial greeting that recruiters and hiring manager will see is the subject line. Examples of subject lines for a thank-you email would be, “Thank you, [Interviewers Name],” “Thank you for the interview yesterday,” or “I enjoyed learning more about [Company Name.]” Adding your name and the job title you interviewed for is also good practice to make sure your email doesn’t get buried in their inbox.
Your signature should make it easy for them to contact you back. Include your basic contact information, such as your phone number and email address. You can also include links to your professional website (e.g. your LinkedIn or work-related social media pages).
5. Take care of important details.
Always make sure your double- and triple- check for any grammatical and spelling errors. Also, make sure you have the correct spelling for the names of the people you are emailing. A typo-filled follow-up can easily ruin the stellar impression you made during the interview.
Need more recruitment tips? We’ve got you. We are here to help you get your through every step of your job search. Get in contact with one of our recruiters by emailing us at apply@skillstorm.com.