The Power of a Thank You Note

You are finally done with one more interview and honestly think that you are blessed that it is over by now. Is it? Do you think it is good enough only to stand out during the interview and just wait for the interviewer to contact you? According to Amy Segelin, President and co-owner of Chaloner, there is one important step you may tend to forget about: a prompt follow-up.

Is it really that important?
Amy reached out to more than 50 people from different industries who had hired three or more communications professionals in the last year and it turned out that:

  • over 75% of those surveyed did not receive any follow up message from the candidates
  • for 30% of them, no follow up meant no further steps for the candidate

Allow me to re-phrase this for you: 30% of interviewers decided to EXCLUDE a candidate for not saying “thank you” or following up.

Sounds motivating to drop a line after an interview, doesn’t it? So how do you approach an interviewer after the talk? How should your follow-up look like?

Form:

  • email or a handwritten note
  • within 24 hours of the interview

Style:

  • flawless, mistake-free
  • personalized
  • the level of creativity may vary from company to company

Content:

  • thank for the interviewer’s time
  • reassure you are competent for the position
  • (optional) share an event/meeting/article that the interviewer may find interesting

Take a look at the whole article or book the free career session with one of our Career Angels to discuss how you can impress an interviewer before, during and after the conversation.