After the Interview: Follow-up/Thank you Letters

Immediately After the Interview: Take Notes

Take notes about your interview… immediately. Jot down notes in the car or bring your smart phone with you to record your spoken thoughts. Write or speak notes on any/all of the following:

names of people you met
details about projects, departments, goals, etc. the interviewer mentioned
anything important or memorable about the interview (even seemingly personal stuff, for example, if you noticed a Pittsburgh Steelers calendar on the wall and made brief small talk about their playoff chances)
what seemed most important to the interviewer
anything you wished you could demonstrate or show the interviewer (but didn’t have with you, such as samples of your work)
anything you wished you could have expanded on, answered better, been more prepared for, etc.

If you’re like most people, the nerves and adrenaline will make some of the interview seem like a blur, and the feeling of relief after it’s over will make already blurry details even more difficult to recall.

This goes double for anyone with a lot of interviews, particularly in a short time frame.

This goes triple for anyone who is subject to "cattle call" interviews (For example, academics in English all converge in one city for the MLA conference just after Christmas. In addition to an academic conference, it’s where universities meet with prospective job candidates in 30-60 minute blocks, one after the other, to whittle down their list of candidates to invite for on-campus interviews. Newly minted Ph.D.s on the job market can attend up to 20 interviews with different universities over the course of two or three days).

Within Two Days: Send a Thank you or Follow-up Letter

You should send a "thank you" or follow up message within two days of your interview.

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Genre Considerations

Should you send a handwritten thank you card? A professional-looking printed letter? An email?

It depends… on the rhetorical situation and the elements in it. What do you think the audience would most appreciate? What is most appropriate for the interviewer, the position, the company, and your correspondence up to this point? What would be appropriate for the time frame (email is immediate, postal mail is not) and for the number of recipients?

When I interviewed for an office assistant position at a tiny, mother-and-daughter owned insurance agency in a small town, I decided to send a hand-written thank you card (an actual Hallmark card I bought at the store) because I thought they would appreciate it. They did most of their business by phone or in person (it was a VERY small town), knew their clients by name, attended the local church fundraisers, and generally disliked technology. They appreciated a hand-written note.

When I interviewed at FAU (years later), I already knew the committee (and the whole department) was interviewing a lot of other candidates for the position, as well as candidates for other open positions. Because sending every person in the department a thank you email felt creepy (like spamming them), and because postal mail would be inappropriate and take too long, I sent a general "thank you" email to the whole department (via the department chair-person, who could then forward it on to the department), I sent a group email to the committee members, and indivdual thank you emails to people who accompanied me for meals, rides, etc. They appreciated emails (in part, because handwritten notes would seem incredibly outdated and snail mail would take too long… and because most modern day academic departments communciate by email).

Assess the rhetorical situation and make conscious decisions about your genre (typed/printed letter, handwritten card, or email) and then make decisions about content and audience appeal.

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Content & Organization

While your cover letter should use the whole page, after the interview, your follow up/thank you letter should be brief.

Brief does not mean generic or careless. You should make careful, conscious decisions abotu what detail to include, how best to address the audience, and how to make what might be a final pitch for your employment in the position.

In general, post-interview follow-up/thank you letters should include the following content in roughly the same organizational pattern.

Include a greeting and address the interviewer by name (Dear Mallory, Dear Mr. Trexler, Lana, etc.).
Be direct — say "thank you" for the interview and mention the date.
Mention something specific you learned from the interview (something about the position, the company, their projects, etc.) and if possible, be complimentary.
Reaffirm your interest in the position, and if possible, be specific about linking it to your skills, qualifications, or experiences. In other words, reaffirm your interest by reminding the interviewer why you’re a good fit for the position and the company.
(optional) If you promised to provide additional materials, mention them here.
Close by expressing appreciation (again) and end on some forward-looking statement about looking forward to hearing from them. You may also offer to provide additional information if it’s appropriate.
(optional) You may provide your contact info (phone and email address) in the closing, or you may simply include it below the signature block.
Provide a complimentary closing (Sincerely, Thanks again, etc.), "sign" your name (type your full name on the line immediately following the complimentary closing), and if needed, include your contact information below your name.

DO NOT

Don’t call them… they’ll call you

Unless there’s compelling reason to do so, do not tell the interviewer that you will call them to follow up. I’ve seen this advice (less frequently these days) and it’s a product of "How to Succeed in Business by Being Pushy" type self-help books. It’s meant to make you sound confident and to pressure the interviewer into making a decision… and it’s really bad advice.

You should be confident because you’re qualified. You shouldn’t try to sound confident (because trying to sound confident means you’re not confident… and it’s often transparent and won’t work in your favor). And if nothing else, trying to pressure the interviewer isn’t a good idea. At best, it’s over-confident and pushy, and at worst, it’s creepy.

Don’t give them a deadline

Again, unless there is a compelling reason to do so, do not give your interviewer a deadline by which to make a decision. Do not "expect to hear from them by [whatever date]." Unfortunately, they’re in control — not you — and you have to respect that by not attempting to force their hand. If you do, and unless you’re a candidate in high demand, they’re likely to give you a response — but not the one you’re hoping for.

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Thank you/Follow-up Letter Guidelines for the Job Search Portfolio Project

When you’re really on the job market, use whatever genre (handwritten card, note, letter, email) is appropriate. For the purposes of the Job Search Portfolio Project, however, you must write either a follow up/thank you letter (as if you were printing it and sending via postal mail) OR a follow up/thank you email (be sure to include a good subject line). Choose whatever you think would be most appropriate (the content would probably be the same either way).

You’ll probably have to make up the name/address/email address of an interviewer

You may have to make up details about what you learned at the interview, but if possible, integrate real information about the company/projects/environment from your research and existing knowledge of the company (possibly drawing on some of your written interview question responses and/or Google searches).

You should reaffirm your interest in the position by linking it to your real skills, qualifications, and/or experience. Otherwise, you should be able to follow the content/organization guidelines explained above even though you didn’t actually have an interview.