Congratulations! You just walked out of a job interview and you nailed it!
However, you’re not done quite yet. We have noticed that most, if not all, hiring managers pay even closer attention to what you do after an interview than during. This is why it is so vitally important to quickly send a well-written thank you letter or email after the interview. Luckily for you, we at Visium Resources have your back. In this article, we’ll give you some of the best advice we’ve found on thank you letters AND even some templates to make writing any kind of thank you letter as easy as possible.
The content following was written by By Susan P. Joyce, of Job-hunt.org, whom Visium Resources highly recommends for a large diversity of educational articles and training related to the job hunt.
Adapt the text in the sample to your circumstances, and customize it as described in Sending Your Thank You’s After the Job Interview. Replace the Italicized text in the sample below with whatever terms are appropriate for you and your situation.
Use the formal business letter format like this:
Your street address
Your City, State and Zip CodeDate of the letter
Name of the Recipient
Job Title of the Recipient
Name of the Employer
Employer’s Street Address
Employer’s City, State and Zip CodeDear Mr./Ms Last Name:
Thank you very much for the opportunity to interview for the position of [job title] yesterday [or today, if appropriate]. I enjoyed speaking with you, meeting other members of the staff, and the opportunity to learn more about this position. I am very interested in this position and the opportunity to join your team.
This job feels like a very good match between my skills and experience and the requirements of this job. As we discussed, you need someone with strong [whatever] skills, and I have extensive experience with [whatever technology or tool that is important to the job and that you have experience using]. In addition, in my current [or former] job as [names or type of employer in your past] has provided the opportunity to polish my skills in [whatever] and [whatever] needed for your [job title] position.
Again, thank you for considering me for this wonderful opportunity. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns or need more information. I look forward to hearing from you next week [or whenever they said they would be in touch] and hope to join your staff soon.
Best regards,
[your name]
[Your tag line, like “eCommerce Customer Support Specialist”]
[Your job search email address]
Sample Hand-Written Thank You
Date of the letter Dear Mr./Ms Last Name, I appreciate your time and the information you shared in my interview on [date] for the [job title] position. I am very interested in this job and in becoming a contributor to your organization. I believe my experience as a [whatever]where I [name a relevant accomplishment or work] will enable me to hit the ground running in this position. [OR, I believe my training as a [whatever] where I learned [a specific skill required for the job] will enable me to hit the ground running in this position.] Please contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you, again, for your time. Best regards, [Your full name]Choose your words carefully and double-check the spelling of anything you are not 100% sure of. When you handwrite a note, you don’t have a built-in spell check to keep you from embarrassing yourself with bad spelling.
What About After A Bad Interview?
You were late, gave a bad answer, forgot to include something important in an answer, or made some other major error.
In this message, apologize for your poor performance, bad behavior, or missing information, and try to recover.
This thank you may save the opportunity. OR, it may remind them when you were less than impressive and end any opportunity you might have had.
If you know for sure that they are not considering you, perhaps a thank you note after receiving a rejection is more appropriate — that thank you note works much more often than you may think. But send it only when you really like the people you met and want very much to work for that employer.
Possible Recovery?
Send this only if you are absolutely positive that you failed the interview. Often, we can be too self-critical as we look back at our performance in an interview.
Apologizing for something that was NOT viewed as a failure and backfire, big time!
However, if an interview scheduled for sixty minutes lasted only five minutes with no business emergency reason given for the shortened interview and no apology or request to reschedule, something was wrong.
Or, the interviewer clearly lost interest and tuned you out, ending the interview with a chilly good bye. Then, you might have a failed interview.
Do's and Dont's
Be very careful when writing this message, you don’t want to draw attention to your error!
DO send this message very soon after the interview, as soon as you are sure it is necessary particularly if you haven’t already sent a standard interview thank you note.
DO use email — probably the best method to use because it is so quick. If the organization is anti-technology or feels extremely traditional, a letter that is delivered quickly (perhaps by hand?) might be a better response. If you do deliver it by hand, do NOT socialize. Just drop it off — be as low-profile as you can be.
DO NOT make this message long or include too many details or apologies. Be brief. Make your point, and end the message.
DO NOT send this message so quickly that you make errors in grammar or facts. Avoid misspellings and sending it to the wrong person. If possible, have someone else proof it for you.
Message if you forgot to mention something at the interview
Subject: Thank you for the [Job Title] position interview on [date]
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:
Thank you very much for your time interviewing me for the position of [job title]. I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about this position, meet you and other members of the team [OR, if only one other person, include that person’s name], and see your facility [OR office, building, location, whatever is appropriate].
After our discussion [OR the interview], I realized that I neglected to include [OR to fully explain OR to describe] something you would probably find useful [OR important OR relevant].
[Now, add a short but clear paragraph that shares the information you mentioned in the paragraph above.]
I hope to remain in consideration for this position because I have [years] of experience with [the technology, tools, or qualification you have that is important to the job] in my position with [name of a current or former employer where you gained the experience relevant to this job]. I look forward to the opportunity to become a contributor to your team.
I know that your time is very valuable, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
[Your name]
[Your job title or tagline, like “eCommerce Customer Support Specialist”]
[LinkedIn Profile URL]
[Phone number — not your work number if you are employed]
Message if you were late and they cancelled the interview or cut it very short
Subject: Apology for tardiness for the [Job Title] position interview today [or date]
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:
My deepest apologies for being late for the interview today. [Unfortunately, we had an emergency at work which needed my complete attention until it was resolved, so I was unable to leave when I had planned OR Being on time is one of my strengths, but an accident caused a traffic jam and trapped me for over 45 minutes with no way out. Unfortunately, my phone was in the back seat, so I was unable to contact you. OR whatever happened that doesn’t make you look like you would be a bad employee.]
I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to interview again. I have [years] of experience with [technology, tools, or qualification you have that is important to the job] in my position with [name of a current or former employer where you gained the experience relevant to this job]. I believe that I could become a useful contributor to the team very quickly.
I know that your time is very valuable, and I promise not to waste it if you will allow me another opportunity to interview for this job. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
[Your name]
[ Your job title or tagline, like “eCommerce Customer Support Specialist”]
[LinkedIn Profile URL]
[Phone number — not your work number if you are employed]
Message if you KNOW (absolutely) that you made a mistake which has cost you the opportunity.
Subject: Thank you for the [Job Title] position interview on [date]
OR, if the failure was clear and obvious
Subject: Apology for the [Job Title] position interview on [date]
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:
Thank you very much for your time interviewing me for the position of [job title]. I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about this position, meet you and other members of the team [OR, if only one other person, include that person’s name], and see your facility [OR office, building, location, whatever is appropriate].
Unfortunately, the fire alarm in our building went off at 3 am [or whatever happened], so I was not at my best during the interview. Consequently, I need to clarify what I said about [whatever it is that you feel needs clarification or correcting.] [Then, make your clarification short and specific.]
I have [years] of experience with [technology, tools, or qualification you have that is important to the job] in my position with [name of a current or former employer where you gained the experience relevant to this job]. I believe that I could become a useful contributor to the team very quickly.
I know that your time is very valuable, and I promise not to waste it if you will allow me another opportunity to speak with you about this job. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
[Your name]
[ Your job title or tagline, like “eCommerce Customer Support Specialist”]
[LinkedIn Profile URL]
[Phone number — not your work number if you are employed]
After the Thank You Is Sent
They may respond and reschedule, or they may ignore you.
Let them decide if they want to give you another chance. Another opening with different interviewers may happen with them in the future, so just chill after you send this message. And, be extremely well-prepared for that next interview, if it happens!
If this is a small organization and you really want to work there, you may consider giving them a call a week or so after you have sent the message to respond, particularly if you sent this message on a Friday or just before a holiday. Don’t be a pest.
