Thank you letters are an important part of an application process, it is more powerful than people think. Find out when the best time to send a thank you letter in this article
1. For My Thank You Letter After Interview, Interviews and
Interviewing, When Do I send it?
There can be many stages of the interview process? When is the appropriate time to send
the thank you letter after interview or interviewing? It depends. If you are having a
phone interview, it is not customary to send a thank you card or letter. At this stage,
which I term the “filter stage”, either a third party or a company representative is simply
asking a few questions to make sure you have the relevant required skills and experience
to compete for the position. If you wanted to request this person’s name and e-mail
address, they may give it to you and you can follow up with a nice e-mail to thank
him/her for their time and to express your interest in moving forward.
When the scheduler calls to make the appointment for the initial interview, inquire as to
how many interviews they expect to have for this position. The answer to this question
will clue you in to how long the process may take and when to send the thank you letter
after interview or multiple interviews. If a single interview, you want to have your thank
you letter or card written within 24 hours of the event. You do not want to take the risk
of waiting until they have a candidate chosen before you get one last shot at stating your
case and making a lasting impression.
If there is more than one round, make sure you continue to collect business cards and
contact information of every person you meet with. You may not know who has more
influence or sway in the decision and you do not want to leave anyone out. Personalize
each note to each specific person thanking them for their time and sharing something of
interest with them about the company that you were not aware of. This demonstrates
your strong communication skills and your heightened level of interest in the position.
When to send your thank you letter after interview or multiple interviews, depends on the
situation. It is important to ask the question up front to control your expectations and to
better ascertain the time frame. During the process, check for understanding to confirm
whether this process is still on track or if they are changing gears midstream. You always
want to be prepared; it’s like making a resume, always be updated on everything.