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The interview follow up letter
can make or break your chances of becoming hired. For that reason
the interview follow up letter should become an essential part of
your job hunting tool box, right in there with the other tools you
use: resume, cover letter, thank you note, reference sheet and
salary history.
Think of the interview follow up
latter as a second chance. Some people don’t interview in person as
well as they can write. Living up to the standards your resume set
for you may be difficult. If that is the case, then the interview
follow up letter will improve your appearance after the fact. Other
people interview well in person, and are able to use the interview
follow up letter to reemphasize key points discussed with the hiring
manager, and remind the hiring manager of the good points about the
applicant. In either case the interview follow up letter is
essential and if prepared properly will help the applicant get the
job.
The following sample interview
follow up letter gives an idea of what should be included.
Date
Name of addressee and title
Name of Company
Address
City, State, Zip
Dear ______,
The time I spent interviewing
with you today gave me a clear picture of your organization’s
operation as well as your work environment. I want to thank you for
the thorough picture you painted of your organizational needs.
I left our meeting feeling very
enthusiastic about the scope of the position as well as its close
match to my abilities. I believe the key strengths that I can offer
you are:
· Experience
in dealing with people of all types and backgrounds through my life
experience, education and training.
· Proven
ability to operate a business at a profit, supervise and train
personnel, facilitate activities to improve morale and cash flow,
and interact successfully with both staff and customers.
· Excellent
communication skills—particularly the ability to gain feedback and
summarize succinctly.
With my energetic work style,
strong people skills and attention to detail, I believe that I am an
excellent match for this position. I welcome a chance to meet with
you further to elaborate on my background and possibilities of
future association.
Thank you for your time. I look
forward to meeting with you soon.
Sincerely,
John Doe
You’ll notice that the interview follow up letter is
written in a positive and upbeat style. In sales, many successful
salesmen assume the close. This interview follow up letter does
essentially that. The applicant in writing this letter is
controlling the conversation and steering it towards positive
attributes that he or she possesses, which would make the applicant
appear valuable to the company. In addition, by using an interview
follow up letter an applicant is “walking the walk as well as
talking the talk” simply because most applicants fail to use an
interview follow up letter after an interview. Using a letter like
this shows that the applicant is conscientious, thoughtful,
intelligent, and just the kind of person the company needs. Using
an interview follow up letter will lead to more job offers and more
jobs. |
