The Power of a Post-Interview “Thank You” Note

Alyssa Perkins-Chatterton, Administrative Assistant, College Team

It may seem like a simple gesture, but it is one that will go a very long way in making you stand out for all the right reasons after an interview. Sending a thank-you note to an interviewer is something that many candidates forget to do. If you take the time to send a quick note, it ensures that you will stand out from the rest of the candidate pool. The other benefit to a post-interview thank-you note is that you get the opportunity to restate your interest in the position and show the takeaways you learned from the interview. You should not use the thank-you note to summarize your interview and the points you made, however, often times we leave an interview wishing we had highlighted a certain experience more than we did. In your thank-you note, you can highlight this experience and expand on it based on what it seemed the employer was looking for, keeping in mind that you should only bring this up in your thank-you if it is an important thing to know for the role you are interviewing for. It is important that the emphasis of the note is still on thanking the employer for their time and consideration. Making the effort to send a quick note also emphasizes your written communication skills to the employer. Besides your application materials, this will be one of the first times an employer can see how you would potentially be perceived when communicating with clients or customers in this role.

The thank-you note should not be an in depth recap of your interview but a brief note in which you sum up and highlight why you would be a good fit for the position. Be sure to follow-up in a timely manner, if possible, in the same day as your interview.

Your thank-you note will go much further than you may think, it could even be the deciding factor whether or not you, or the person sitting next to you, gets the job.

Here you can find Career Services tips for writing a post-interview thank-you note!

 

Author: Alyssa Perkins-Chatterton

Alyssa Perkins-Chatterton is the administrative assistant for the College of Arts & Sciences team in Career Services.

1 thought on “The Power of a Post-Interview “Thank You” Note”

  1. I completely agree! I conduct a lot of interviews and the candidates that always stand out are those who follow up with a thank you email or note after the interview.

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