Landing a job is a competition. You won’t finish the race without a Thank You note
Landing a job offer is all about execution
Executing on your cover letter, resume, job interview and the thank you note is all determination and perseverance. It’s all about grit. Think about all the other candidates that are applying for the same job. At each step of the way, candidates are being eliminated by the competition because of a lack of execution on their part. That lack of execution can be in the form of a typo in the cover letter, formatting error in the resume, or not being prepared for interview questions. Most candidates don’t realize they can make a mistake with their thank you note. Career Trackers tools can help eliminate all of these potential mistakes.
Thank you email mistakes
There are unintentional mistakes that are made on a regular basis when it comes to the thank-you note after the job interview. When it comes to the thank you note, mistakes are usually made because the candidate just didn’t know a thank you email was required. Career Tracker is here to take the guesswork out of your job search process.
Today we list the top mistakes that candidates make when executing on the thank you note after the job interview. These are easy to avoid mistakes and will make a difference in your job search.
The number one mistake
The number one mistake when it comes to thank you notes is not sending a thank you note. Again, this isn’t necessarily the candidate’s fault. Young folks early in their career often don’t know that a thank you note is customary. I just talked with two candidates, one from Berkeley in California and one from William and Mary. Both are top tier schools. I just assumed this common courtesy would have been taught at these school and it turns out it wasn’t. These candidates were not sending thank you emails after the job interview and these candidates struggled with their job search.
No. 2, a timely manner
Send a thank you email in a timely manner. The best time to send a thank you letter after the job interview is the same day of the interview. Ultimately before the end of the business day. When we personally receive thank you emails 3 days to a week after the interview, it feels more like a desperate follow up vs. an extension of common courtesy. Send your thank you letter on the same date as the interview is as professional as it gets.
#3, proofread
Proofread your thank you note. Whether you send a hand-written card or an electronic email, proofread your note. There is nothing worse than creating a beautiful resume, cover letter, having a great interview and then have your interviewer discover a typo. If we are declined because of a typo or grammatical error, we won’t hear “we discovered a typo on your thank you email”. We will just receive an email that reads, “Thank you for your interest in Acme Publishing, unfortunately. . . .”
Quattro: a lazy thank you
Sending a 2 sentence thank you note is just lazy. We receive “token” thank you note messages on a regular basis that consist of only 2-3 sentences. “Thanks for your time, I really enjoyed talking to you. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out”. These generic notes show a lack of initiative and sincerity. This type of note can be sent to any interviewer for any job and doesn’t separate you from the rest of the candidates.
The fifth element: recycling thank you notes
Avoid sending the same thank you email to multiple interviewers. When it comes to the world of interviewing, there isn’t a lower point than receiving the exact same thank you note that your fellow interviews received. We lied. The lowest point is receiving the same 2-3 sentence note that the other interviewers received. Yes, your note is being circulated with the other interviewers.
If you have been landing face to face interviews and not moving forward, it might not be your personal interview. It might be that other candidates were showing they understood this common business practice and we were not. Common courtesy matters and a thank you note shows appreciation for the time the interview took to spend with us.
Key Takeaway: When in doubt, send the email! Show the hiring manager you know how to take care of the customer by taking care of your interviewer.
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