Are you using thank you notes after your interview?
Most thank you notes that arrive in hiring manager inboxes after an interview get deleted almost immediately. They offer little value and waste words all over the place. Today we’re going to discuss when to send a thank you note, how to send it, who to send it to, and how it could impact your potential job offer.
If you can replicate this thank you email process, or something similar, you’re much more likely to reinforce transferrable skills like attention to detail, follow-through, and communication as well as correct any parts of your interview that, maybe, didn’t go so well.
Do Thank You Notes Matter?
We’re often asked if is necessary to send thank you emails after an interview, especially when the majority of hiring managers won’t respond. There’s quite some debate over this in the career and hiring community. Some individuals say it is a waste of time because you’re simply adding to the email clutter of managers. After all, the average person receives 121 emails every day. That’s a lot of emails.
Others say it does make a difference.
So what do the numbers say? We surveyed a group of OptimResume.com clients and found that the average response to a thank you email after an interview was around 30% with some of their Optim + Coaching clients obtaining as high as a 48% response rate - although that was rare. The facts seem clear, the majority of employers won’t respond to your thank you email, even if a coach has helped you craft it. At best, you can expect a response rate in the high 40’s.
So if no one is responding, why send a thank you? Here are four reasons.
4 Reasons to Send a Thank You Email After an Interview
It shows your character and how you would treat relationships in other situations.
It can reinforce your interview, recapping highlights and further reinforcing your written communication, follow through, and attention to detail.
It can correct an error from your interview.
It doesn’t matter if anyone responds, you are only in control of your actions.
Will a Thank You Email Change Anyone’s Mind?
The cold hard truth is skills land jobs, not thank-you notes. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t reinforce those skills through a strategic thank you note or provide further clarification on a topic that you might have missed during the interview itself.
In over 10 years of recruiting, working with hundreds of employers and thousands of candidates, we’ve never seen anyone change their mind based on a thank you note. If your interview was terrible or you’re simply not qualified, a thank you email won’t change any of that. But, we have seen people change their minds due to a lack of a thank you.
Thank you emails after an interview shows character and how you would treat other situations. If follow through is an important skill for the job, the lack of sending a thank you could harm you. You should be looking for every opportunity to show employers your skills. Actions always speak louder than words.
What to Write in a Thank You Email
If you’ve decided that sending a thank you email after an interview is in your best interest, what do you write? Simply writing thank you isn’t meaningful or impactful enough in many situations. It’s a competitive job market out there. Here are five tips.
5 Tips When Writing a Thank You Note to an Employer
Keep it short, brief, and to the point. Don’t make the reader spend too many brain calories.
Convey value. Show that you are unique and a person of value.
Show off those intangible skills like energy, personalization, communication, attention to detail, and helpfulness. The way you write is as important as what you write.
Be strategic and share any last-minute information or correct things from your interview that didn’t come out just right due to your nerves.
Check your grammar and spelling. Show thoughtfulness and care in everything you do. ‘
The Thank You Email Formula
Those tips are great, but what about the actual content? Here’s the formula for writing a strategic thank you email after an interview.
Thank them for the interview and be specific about the opening you discussed. Hiring managers are pulled in hundreds of directions each day, don’t make them think about the role you interviewed for.
Convey excitement about something specific during the interview.
Reinforce your skills and the value they will add to the role or the challenges you discussed during the interview
Tie in an example of how you’ve solved those challenges and problems in the past.
Plan Right, Before You Write
Trying to recall the necessary information to write a thank you email of value can be challenging. On any given day, the average person is bombarded with over 10,000 messages across social media, personal connections, apps, billboards, this article, and the list goes on. The chances of remembering the information to pull off a strategic thank you letter four hours from now are unlikely due to information overload.
If you’re on an in-person interview, take a few minutes in your car afterward to take notes on the interview. Capture anything that stumped you, that you wished you answered differently, and valuable information that was shared with you about the role, the department, and the company’s challenges and goals. If you’re wrapping up a virtual interview for a remote job, take a few notes before you leave your computer or phone.
Some things you may want to recall later and include in your thank you email are:
The company or hiring manager’s goals for the quarter or the year;
The challenges the hiring manager mentioned stand in between them and their goal;
The skills that will be needed to accomplish those goals;
What the hiring manager is looking for in a candidate. What did they say were the key pieces of knowledge or experience; and
Any points in the interview where you wished you had elaborated more or stated more clearly.
Other Important Thank You Note Questions and Answers
Who do you send a thank you email to?
Anyone who participated in the interview.
When do you send the thank you email?
Within 24 hours of the interview.
How do you find the emails of the interviewers?
If the interview was done via video conference remotely, check the invite ahead of time for the email addresses. If the interview was in-person, check for their business card when you first walk into the lobby or ask for it right before you sit down. Another great tool to find emails for this purpose or your job search activities overall is Hunter.io.
5 Step Answer Guide and Examples