I’m amazed I actually have to write this article.Why do more than 90% of all candidates blow off the easiest way to stand out? It’s so simple…the thank you note. Yet so few take advantage of writing a simple thank you…so it’s a huge advantage to those who do.
Why write a Thank You note? Here’s 5 reasons:
- Thank Yous remind the hiring manager who you are
- Thank Yous show the hiring manager that you REALLY want the job
- Thank Yous give you an opportunity to highlight why you can uniquely solve the hiring managers’ problem
- Thank Yous show the hiring manager that you are polite, and starts your relationship out on the right foot
- And the obvious reason – 90% of applicants don’t write Thank You notes
Even if you don’t want the job, write a thank you. Why? Hiring managers talk…if you’ve impressed the interviewer, the hiring manager may refer you to one of his network.
Thank You Strategies – Email, or Letter?
At a minimum, send an email, with the advantage of speed, it can be read that night. A mailed printed letter is the least effective – at best it arrives days after the interview. If you’re set on mailing, do it right…send a hand written letter on nice stationery card stock.
To maximize your effect, send both. You get the advantage of email's speed, but nothing conveys personality like a hand written thank you. Hand written notes show you’ve taken the time in today’s time crunched world to be personal, and handwritten notes come from the heart – they are believable. Better yet, you get to remind the hiring manager who you are - twice. Almost no one uses this tactic, so you REALLY stand out.
That’s why your Mom made you write Thank You notes as a kid…so you'd know how to write them as an adult.
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Guerrilla Job Search Tactics
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1 comment:
You're so right! I always avoided Email thank yous, but the idea of sending both is just brilliant. I completely agree on the hand written thank you. I literally have written them at a cafe across the street and dropped them in the mail on the way home. Some notes arrived the very next day. I'm so surprised to hear that so few people send thank you notes after job interviews. I'm in the entertainment field in Los Angeles and it seems like it's really catching on with casting directors and at the end of commercial shoots and stuff. Just being remembered can get you a job further down the line. I love when I read blog entries about thank you notes. Great post! Thank you!
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