How to write a thank-you email or letter after a job interview

Writing a thank-you note or email after a job interview can be an important step in the job search process. Expressing your appreciation for the opportunity to interview, and for the interviewer’s time and consideration, can go a long way in furthering your candidacy. It’s also a great way to follow up with the recruiter or hiring manager and keep your name in their minds. Crafting a well-written thank-you email or letter doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With the right approach and some thoughtful consideration, you can create an effective thank-you message that will make a lasting impression.

Why you should write a thank-you email

Not everyone does it, but writing a thank-you email after a job interview shows initiative, professionalism, and a desire to follow up on the conversation and get your name even more firmly in the interviewer’s mind. Employers want to know that the candidate they hire will follow up on tasks and make an effort to stay in touch, and writing a thank-you email is a great way to demonstrate that you have those qualities. It shows that you’re invested in the interview process and invested in the company, and that you understand the value of the interview and that you appreciate being given the opportunity. A thank-you email can also be an excellent opportunity for you to follow up on any questions that the interviewer might have left unanswered or give any additional information or examples that might help you to stand out from the crowd. If you have any follow-up questions, now’s the time to ask them.

When to send a thank-you email

While there are no hard-and-fast rules about when you should send a thank-you email, sending it as soon as possible after the interview is a good rule of thumb. Interviewers tend to remember the candidates who send thank-you messages immediately. If they’re interviewing multiple candidates for one position, they will often kind of keep the candidates’ names in a mental “bucket” based on how they left the interview and how they follow up. The job seeker who sends a thank-you email right away (or within a few hours) is more likely to stay in the interviewer’s mind. If the interview was on a Friday and it’s a three-day weekend, waiting until the following Tuesday to send a thank-you email is not a bad idea. If the interview was on a Monday or Tuesday, you could wait until Thursday or Friday to send a thank-you email and still have plenty of time for it to be received and become part of the interviewer’s memory of you.

What to include in a thank-you email

Your thank-you email should be short and sweet, but it should also address the points that you discussed in the interview. It’s a good idea to write down a few bullet points about the interview before you go, so you can refer to them when writing your thank-you email. Where appropriate, you can even include direct quotes from the interview. It’s helpful to include a reference to the interviewer’s name (“Thank you so much, Ms. Brown!”) so that the person reading your email knows exactly whom you’re addressing. Something like, “Thank you for the interview yesterday and for taking the time to meet with me. I really appreciate the opportunity” is a good place to start.

Sample thank-you email

Dear Ms. Brown, Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me yesterday. I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the robotics engineering team, and I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned. I’ve had experience in the following areas: list your relevant experience here> As we discussed during the interview, I’m very interested in the possibility of joining the robotics engineering team at Example Company and bringing my skills and experience to this exciting project. I look forward to hearing from you soon and hearing about the next steps in the hiring process. Thank you again! Sincerely, Jane Doe

Tips for writing a thank-you email

• Be prompt. The sooner you send your thank-you email, the better. If you send it too soon, the interviewer might think you’re too eager and might not appreciate the gesture. On the other hand, if you send it too late, your interviewer might forget about it entirely. Aim to send your thank-you email no later than one or two days after the interview.
• Proofread it. Read your thank-you email aloud and see if there are any typos or grammatical errors. Your goal is to make an excellent impression, and a poorly written email can make you look unprofessional.
• Don’t be repetitive. You don’t want your thank-you email to be a repeat of your cover letter or resume. It should be more personal and conversational than the documents you’ve already written.

How to write a thank-you letter

If you’d prefer to write a handwritten thank-you letter, that’s fine too. Your goal is to express gratitude for the interview and to reiterate your interest in the position. You can use some of the same language that you used in the email, or you can go with a slightly different tone since a letter has a slightly different feel from an email. When writing a thank-you letter, keep it professional, but try to make it sound a little bit more personal than the email. A letter is a great option if you’re hoping to stand out from the crowd. It’s not something that everyone does, and it can make you stand out because it shows that you put extra effort into the consideration.

What not to include in a thank-you email or letter

When writing a thank-you email or letter, it’s important to remember that you don’t want to sound too eager or desperate. You don’t want to “sell” yourself too hard or promise things that you can’t deliver. You want to be careful not to over-promise or over-commit, because that can make it hard for you to follow through on those promises once you’re hired. For example, you might want to say that you’ll follow up in a week, but if you don’t do that, the interviewer might think you’re unreliable.

Follow-up tips after sending a thank-you email or letter

If you don’t hear back from the interviewer after a few days, it’s a good idea to follow up. You don’t want to be too pushy, but if you don’t hear from someone and you have other interviews lined up or an offer from another company, it’s a good idea to follow up with them. You can send a quick email (or, if you sent a letter, follow up with a quick phone call) and say that you appreciated the opportunity to interview for their position, but you’re also very interested in other opportunities so you wanted to make sure they got your resume. If you send a thank-you email and don’t receive a response, follow up again after a few days. If you still don’t hear back, it might be time to move on. It’s frustrating, but remember that you can’t control what other people do. You can control how you respond, and you can control what you do next.

What to do after following up

If you do receive a response after following up, look at it as a positive sign. The employer took the time to respond to you, even if it was just a quick “thanks, but we’ve decided to move forward with another candidate.” Re-read your thank-you email or letter, and think about how it could be improved. Think of ways you can improve it so you’re ready if you ever get another interview like this! If you get a response that the employer has decided to move forward with another candidate, don’t take it personally. This is a common way for employers to reject candidates, and it’s more common than many people realize.