Writing the interview thank-you letter

[alibhai]

Keep them concise and short: as in the case of cover letters, thank-you ones also need to go straight to the point in order to clearly emphasize their goal. Try to make them no longer than one page, meaning at most four paragraphs.

Avoid spelling and grammar mistakes: make sure that your thank-you letter is written with attention and without mistakes. In order to avoid the situation in which you send it and after that you realize that you have made some mistakes, read it aloud more than once and make sure you double-checked both yours and the employer's contact details.

Be quick about it: try as much as you can to send your thank-you letter in about 24 hours since the interview. Do not let more than three days pass by without sending one. Polls have shown that sending a thank-you letter is what sets apart the candidates from each other.

Try to write a personalized thank-you note: Even though you can use templates in order to have an idea, it is best that you write your thank-you letter from the heart, but without exaggerating with praise and appreciation.

Write one letter for each person: Usually it is not best to do clearly different letters but it is even worse to do the same one each time. What you need to do is use some common elements. Beside this try to personalize it as you can. Employers respond better to a personal vibe. In order to be able to send it to all of the persons that you have met, make sure you collect all of their business cards during the interview.

Make use of issues not addressed during the interview: considering the pressure of an interview you might forget some aspects. No worries, because you can use the thank-you letter to state what you forgot.

Re-state your interest in the company and in the job: make sure that one of the first things you do when writing a thank-you letter is mention again the fact that you are enthusiast about that certain position and about working in that specific company. Emphasize your interest in the position.

Refer to the misunderstandings: because during some interviews the employer might question some of your qualification (for example not enough work experience) make sure that you set things straight in the thank-you letter. Make the employer understand that you possess the requirements necessary for the job. At the same time, do not go overboard.

Emphasize the fact that you are in accordance with the company: what an employer wants to find out during an interview is whether you fit the company; hence your thank-you letter should most definitely stress this issue by showing the employer the fact that you match with his firm.

Do not forget to give thanks: your last phrase should thank the interviewer for his or her time and should express again the interest in the position.

Thank everyone: remember that you should thank everyone whom you met during the interview and also the persons who gave you references for it.