THANK YOU NOTES
In twenty years of helping people prepare for interviews and secure new positions to start new careers, we have seen and heard a variety of opinions about thank you notes. The fact remains; there is no harm in sending one and only tremendous up side in doing so. It is amazing how many people do not send thank you notes! For this reason alone, they are a great way to separate you from the competition.
Generally speaking these notes should be sent out within 24 hours of leaving the interview and be sent directly to each decision maker at the interview. Be brief and genuine-no fluff. E-mails are acceptable, but hand written notes still far exceed e-mails with respect to impact.
Thank them for their time, reiterate your value to the company and reconfirm you interest in the position.
Be specific as to your main strengths and the most attractive attributes of the position and the company. Make sure you personalize the note while maintaining a professional tone.
This is also an opportunity to articulate anything that you may have forgotten to emphasize during the interview. Let’s face it, interviews can be stressful and it is easy to overlook things in the heat of the moment. While this is a great opportunity to cover your oversights, don’t make the mistake of writing too long a note. Brevity is still critical to the effectiveness of the thank you note
A thank you note is a great way to distinguish yourself from the competition, exhibit the same professionalism that you will bring to the job when hired and address any issues that may have been overlooked or misinterpreted in the actual interview.
Make sure you check the notes for spelling and grammar and if you are sending them to more than one person at the client, you can assume that the notes will be read by the other interviewers.
In order to make the thank you note easier to produce, make sure that you ask each person in the interview for a BUSINESS CARD. This way you can immediately compose and send the notes without any follow-up calls to administrative assistants or recruiter. Finally, enter the date sent into your calendar and follow-up through the proper channels for feedback.
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