You just had a difficult interview for a dream position in your dream company. You walked out the door while taking in a breath of fresh air then it hit you, should you send a thank you note after your interview?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, if the interview went really well and if you think you had at least an 80% chance of getting the job. And no, if you know you screw it up and you prefer the interviewer wipe the memory of your face and the interview off his brain forever.
Well, if you are confident that you will get the job in your pocket, here are some tips you should know before you pen the thank note.
Electronic vs Handwritten
Say thank you in an email or a handwritten note? Depends on the position you are applying for and how the interview goes. In general, email is the safest route to go. Unless you don’t have the other party’s email address (never send your thank you note to a group or generic email address), you can drop a handwritten thank you note, not by post, by hand. You don’t want your thank you note to get lost in the post, only to have it turned up a few months later.
Keep It Simple
I had once received two pages long thank you letter after an interview. It was full of grammatical and spelling mistakes, you can see an obvious forced attempt to use big words without understanding the meaning of the word. I rather have a heartfelt simple thank you email without the ding-dangs and fireworks. Keeping it simple also means you have a higher chance that the person you dedicated to will finish the letter.
No Mushy Stuff
You think that goes without saying but I can tell you I have received mushy thank you letters over the years of my recruitment. Yes, hugs, cupid arrows and xoxoxo. To tell you frankly, I don’t know how to react to those letters and usually gets the cold shoulder from me.
Quote The Job Title And Application Number
After 30 over candidates I have interviewed for the day, I can be excused for not conjuring up your face in an instant. Hence it would help a lot if you can quote the job title you are applying for and the job application number. That way I can pull out your resume to refresh my memory.
Leave Your Contact
Always leave your contact details. Although it is on your resume, it makes me hesitant whether to reach out to you to thank you for your nice little note. Leaving your contact means inviting me to stay in contact with you….even after the job is filled and your resume is shelved by HR. You might never know if another similar or even better job role will be open up for grabs in the near future.
Have Patience
Once you sent it out, whether via email or snail mail, have patience. The recipient may not have time to reply in an instant or in some cases, he or she might not reply at all. There’s no point pursuing a reply in this case.
Ultimately, the decision to hire you shouldn’t come down to whether you sent a thank you note. Either a bad or a good note will make the hirer take a second look at your resume hence if you decide to go ahead with it, better make sure it is a memorable one!
Share with us on your thoughts on the above topic. Will you send a thank you email to the hiring manager?
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This was very helpful!
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Thank you very much
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Great advice!
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Thanks a lot!
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as always, excellent advice!
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Thank you so much for your everlasting support.
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This is all such great, practical advice. Very easy to put to use, thank you!
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Thank you, Kelsey. I always practice what I preach so that the advices I gave are useful.
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Ah thank you note after an interview…never heard of it. See me with a surprised face…
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Hahahaha. It’s much more common than a lot of people think. Sometimes I get a boxful of them at the end of the recruitment exercise.
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Going to ask my hubby later today, if he ever heard of it, or even got one, being manager and part of the hiring process often. Cause now I am really curious, if people do it over here too…
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Agree with al your points. Except one: even if you think you screwed up, send the thank you note. No need to bury yourself deeper into the ground. Just thank you and outline your learnings. (One does learn best from screwing up)
So you have interviewed many people, right? What is your key question? If there is one and it is not Top-Secret?
Take care
Brian
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Haha. That’s what a lot of people asked me. What is the one key question that determined if I hire the person? Well, it is a scenario based question that breaks out into mini questions depending how the answers goes, basically to suss out the incumbent’s morale standing, determination and ability to withstand pressure. It’s too long a question to pose here, maybe this will inspire me to write a post about it!
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That would be a nice post. Of course, no interview depends on one question. I generally spent 40 minutes at least with any candidate. Strengths/weaknesses, achievements, get them to talk about themselves. But my one-key question, around the end: “Do you have a passion in life? Anything from collecting pre-colonial stamps to playing the drums. A passion?” You wouldn’t believe how many candidates draw a blank there. And fail. No passion? No job. I want passionate people in my company. 😉
Look forward to your post.
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Oh yes. Have an awesome weekend, Brian!
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xie xie. U2
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Thank you for sharing this out!!
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