A sample thank you for interview letter can help you determine the best type of correspondence to send after you go on a job interview. Sending a thank you letter after an interview is not only good manners, but it is also essential to making a good impression with your employer. The right thank you letter can even make the difference between getting hired or being passed over.
Sending a Thank You Letter
Most experts recommend sending a thank you letter within 24 hours of an interview. Ideally, your thank you letter or thank you note should be hand written or typed and sent via postal mail. This shows that you went the extra distance to mail the letter. However, in more modern companies or in companies primarily staffed by technologically advanced employees (such as companies in the computer industry), an e-mail thank you note may suffice.
Styles of Thank You Letter
Your thank you letter must be professionally written and businesslike. It should be organized and free of all grammatical mistakes or typos. You should be formal, yet polite and cordial as well. Most of all, you want to be appreciative of the person's time. The person who interviewed you most likely has a busy schedule and lots of candidates to interview, so be sure to express your gratitude that they took the time to meet with you.
Format
Your sample thank you letter can take several different formats. For example, you can write a letter that:
- Stresses your fit for the position
- Provides more detail or information about your strengths
- Emphasizes new reasons why you believe you are a good candidate for the position that you learned while interviewing
- Builds upon ideas discussed in the interview
- Serves as damage control for an interview that went awry.
The exact style you choose for your thank you letter depends upon the nature of the interview. If, for example, you learned a lot more about the position than you knew before going in to the interview, you will want your thank you letter to mention how you believe that your skills can apply to those duties mentioned.
Elements
Every thank you letter should contain certain key elements. For example
- Mention that you appreciate the interviewer's time.
- Refer to specifics from your interview (i.e. "I greatly enjoyed speaking to you yesterday regarding the Sales Manager position")
- State a time and manner of follow-up. For example, you may close your letter with "I will give you a call on Monday January 3 in the afternoon to follow up on my application and see if I can provide any additional details that you may need." Your follow-up phone call or contact should usually be at least seven to ten days from the time when you sent the letter, and you must make sure to actually follow up at that time.
Sample Thank You For Interview Letter
The following sample thank you for interview letter can provide you with more detail regarding what a letter should contain. Remember, however, that each letter must be custom tailored to the position you are seeking and to the interview you attended.
Sample Letter
Your Name Here
Your Street Address
City, State, Zip
Your Telephone Number
Your Email Address
Date of Letter
Mr. (or Ms.) First Name Last Name
Company Name Here
Company Address
City, State, Zip
Dr. Mr. (or Ms.) Interviewer:
I wanted to thank you for taking the time to speak with me yesterday regarding the Marketing Coordinator position at H&R Marketing and Sales Company. After speaking with you yesterday, I am confident that my skills and abilities are a perfect match for the position.
I appreciate you spending the time to discuss the sales responsibilities associated with the position, and I believe that my strong background in sales and marketing will enable me to excel in the sales duties you described.
I was also very excited to hear about the new marketing management program your company is planning to implement. As mentioned yesterday, I believe my background in the industry will enable me to help your company develop the contacts necessary to implement the new campaign. I further believe that my MBA makes me uniquely qualified to perform the required data analysis and customer feedback surveys required to implement this exciting new program.
Again, I thank you for your time and I greatly enjoyed speaking to you. Please feel free to contact me if I can provide any additional information in support of my application. If I have not heard from you by Monday January 19, I will follow up via email to see if I can provide you with further information.
Thank You
Your Name Here
Analyzing the Letter
The above sample thank you for interview letter provided concrete details about the interview. It thanked the person twice for their time, and it built upon discussions that occurred in the interview. It clearly was designed to highlight the writer's strengths and to stress her unique fit for the position she interviewed for. Finally, it mentioned a specific method and date of follow up that was sufficiently far into the future.
Writing Your Own letter
When you write a thank you letter, make sure to include anything that you want the interviewer to remember about you. They may have interviewed numerous people, so your letter needs to remind them who you are and needs to help you stand out from among the crowd.
