Thank You Letters
PURPOSE
A thank you letter should be sent anytime you’ve interviewed with someone, whether it is an informational interview, a job interview, or even a particularly helpful telephone call. The exception to this is that you typically do not need to send a thank-you after a brief on-campus screening interview. While many employers say they don’t consider thank you letters much one way or another, others report that they sincerely appreciate the gesture. The bottom line is that unless you send a letter with typographical errors, sending a thank you will never harm your chances with an employer whereas your failure to send a thank you may be perceived as a lack of enthusiasm or manners.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Typing thank you letters on business stationary or resume paper is always appropriate. Email thank you letters are generally not appropriate following a formal job interview. Some individuals prefer to send handwritten notes on simple stationary following an informational interview.
CONTENT
In the first paragraph of a thank you letter you should express your gratitude for the interview and the employer’s consideration of you as a candidate. You may refer to any conversation that was of particular interest during the interview. In the second paragraph you may reiterate your continued interest and the reasons why you would be an excellent choice for the position. If there are enclosures or other materials that require attention they can also be mentioned in the second paragraph. Finally, in the last paragraph you should and instruct the employer to contact you if they need any additional information or materials.
The letter should be brief and should be sent to the person(s) with whom you interviewed. If you interviewed with more than one person, you may want to send a letter to each individual. Or, if you interviewed with a large number of people, you can send the thank you letter to the person who arranged the interviews and ask that person to covey your thanks to the others. If you do decide to send a thank you to each individual, make sure you make them each a little different, they will all probably end up in the same file and may be compared. At the very least, use a different opening sentence and personalize the letter in some way.
The most important thing is that you keep it short and sweet, and do not have any typographical errors. Make sure you run a spell check and try reading it out loud to make sure it sounds ok, as well as make sure you have the recipient’s name spelled correctly and the right address (both of which can be checked with a quick phone call to the firm).
TIME FRAME
Sending a thank you letter within 24 hours of your interview is ideal. Sending a thank you past 24 hours (a week, ten days later), is still better than not sending one at all.
