Always Send Thank You Notes After Your Interview
Several years ago, I started posting “Nice to meet you!” emails to people after they gave me a postcard at a networking event. By sending a note, their email is added to my inbox so I can find it in a few weeks or years, but I also always thought it was just a great move too. Sending an email indicates that you value the person who took the time to talk to you and would like to stay connected in the future.
Another good idea is to always send thank you notes after your interview.
It seems to me that someone in college told me that you should always send thank-you notes after your interview. I have always done this, and, as it turned out, this is what could have put me in front of others in the past.
This week, Business Insider posted a story by the website ‘s executive editor, Jessica Liebman, who has hired hundreds of people during her tenure. She says that if someone doesn’t send a thank you letter after the interview, she just won’t hire him.
Sending the note indicates that someone is looking to get the job and that they not only have good manners, but they also have the ingenuity to find the interviewer’s email address, which they probably weren’t given, Liebman said.
She goes on to point out that sending a thank you note doesn’t mean they will end up being a successful hiring, but it has been a good barrier to entry over the years for her and probably many other hiring managers.
So what do you put on the thank you note?
It doesn’t have to be a long message; in fact, it doesn’t have to be. In a thank you note, you just want to send a short note 24-48 hours after the interview, thanking the person for taking the time to talk to you and briefly reminding them why you think you are a good fit for the job.
Just like sending a thank you note after someone has sent you a wedding gift or done you a huge favor, it’s just polite. And in the post-interview case, it helps to remember you in the interview, shows that you are interested in the job, and suggests that you are likely to be a positive addition to the team. This means that you are much more likely to be called for a second interview.