The Post-Interview Thank You Letter: Getting It Right
It's overwhelming how many Job-seekers don't know about the necessary post-interview thank you letter. When associates have interviewed several talented candidates, the thank-you letter is an easy way to detach wheat from chaff. In other words, failing to send a thank-you letter can, all by itself, knock you out of the running for a Job you want, and are considerable for! So don't overlook this foremost step.
The Post-Interview Thank You Letter: Getting It Right
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The Post-Interview Thank You Letter: Getting It Right
The Post-Interview Thank You Letter: Getting It Right
The Post-Interview Thank You Letter: Getting It Right
Send a thank-you letter to everyone you met in your interviews. This is why it's necessary to get a company card from everyone you meet with. If you miss one or two of the company cards, take a guess at the person's email adDress (for instance, if everyone else you met with uses the covention cjones@apex.com or cindy_jones@apex.com, then take a occasion with that custom for the folks whose email adDresses you didn't get) or call your Hr contact and ask for the ones you missed.
Send your thank-you letters by email. Not long ago, the thorough wisdom was that a hand-written note is best. I'd say that's no longer the way to go. For one thing, unless your handwriting is unusually readable and elegant, these handwritten notes often look cramped and amateurish. It's hard to be able to write adequate to carry any cogent Mental without using up more than one notecard. And, it's harder for the reader to make out your handwritten notecard than an email message. So use email.
Here's what you say in the thank-you note: something smart! Don't waste space saying "thanks for meeting with me about the Marketing Director Job, it was spirited to talk with you." Duh! Use the thank-you letter to do these three things:
a) carry to the reader that you absolutely understood the company's challenges in the area of his or her personel focus;
b) also carry that you are well-equipped, by background, talents and temperaMent, to surmount these challenges; and
c) add one pithy, insightful plan that Didn'T come out at the interview, to show that you're still mental straight through the company's opportunities and challenges.
Let's say you are interviewing for an internal recruiter position. Among other things, the company is paying too much money per new hire, because of its heavy confidence on quest firms. They need to start an laborer referral program, and take other steps to sell out hiring costs. So, in your letter, you'll say:
Dear Ms. Jones,
Thanks for meeting with me on Tuesday to speak about your Internal Recruiter opportunity. I was especially intrigued by our consulation of alternatives to quest firm recruiting - as I view my experiences implementing thriving laborer Referral and buyer Referral recruiting programs at Motorola and John Deere Inc. To be among my most necessary accomplishments. (Not only did we sell out recruiting costs and cycle time, but delighted a large amount of employees and customers, to boot!)
Since our meeting, I've been mulling over the internal communication issues we discussed, particularly the challenges of getting the word out to current employees about openings throughout the company. I have some ideas for using mass voicemail blasts, departmental Recruiting liaison/evangelists, and the companywide Administrators Network to make sure the employees are aware of what's open in departments other than their own. I think we could have fun getting everyone on board to bring talent into the company (and make some money at the same time).
I look transmit to further conversations -
yours,
Tracy Beeler
The Thank-You letter is not a tidy bit of paperwork to show your good breeding. It's an necessary follow-on marketing piece that shows how you processed what you heard in the interview, the potential of your thinking, and the brilliance and insight you'll bring the Job if you are hired. It's as foremost to get the letter right as it is to shine at the interview.
But wait a second, you're mental - as far as I can tell, no one even reads these follow-up letters. Why should I waste my problem-solving neurons on reading a letter that might not ever be read? It's a good question. But you have to do it, anyway. As a 25-year corporate Hr person, I can tell you what happens. The company interviews a few good candidates, and then everyone (everyone in the set of new-hire decision-makers, that is) gets busy with other things. A week later, they can't absolutely remember Candidate A from Candidate B. That's just when your pithy and verbalize letter arrives, and - presto! your resume can vault to the top of the heap.
In some cases, it's true, no one in the company takes the time to read thank-you letters, and so your Pulitzer-prize-worthy letter doesn't do you any good. But it doesn't do you any harm, either. And failing to send it in the first place is a mistake that could make the difference between getting a second interview - or an offer - and getting to spend next week trolling Monster.com. Your choice!
The Post-Interview Thank You Letter: Getting It Right
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