Thank You! Make an Impact in 5 Minutes

[Phil Rosenberg]

I’m amazed I actually have to write this article.

Why do fewer than 10% 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:

1. Thank Yous remind the hiring manager who you are
2. Thank Yous show the hiring manager that you REALLY want the job
3. Thank Yous give you an opportunity to highlight why you can uniquely solve the hiring managers’ problem
4. Thank Yous show the hiring manager that you are polite, and starts your relationship out on the right foot
5. And the obvious reason – 90% of applicants don’t write Thank You notes

Even if you think you blew the interview, write a thank you. Why? The person who aced the interview might be priced out of the company’s budget, or might take a different job.

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.

If you’d like more information, a free 30 minute resume consultation, or some advice about your career transition, just email your resume to reCareered at [e-mail], and we'll schedule a time to talk.

Trackback: http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/03/thank-you-how-to-make-impact...

Phil Rosenberg
President, reCareered & Rainmakers Global
Blog: http://reCareered.blogspot.com

[Diane]

Hi Phil,
I couldn't agree more with your article regarding the importance of Thank You letters after an interview. How would you suggest one recover from sending a Thank You note late? I recently interviewed for a job early one morning and then left for a family vacation that afternoon. My intention was to send my Thank You notes when we arrived at our vacation destination, but truly left all my notes and contact information at home by mistake. I sent my email Thank You notes 5 days later when I arrived home. Should I or shouldn't I have acknowledged the delay? Does the old saying "better late than never" truly apply in this situation?

[Phil Rosenberg]

Tom, Excellent point!

[Tom Ruff]

Phil,

Kuddos to you for posting this. I've been talking about this for 19 years and it's such a great point. I own a pharmaceutical sales recruiting company and wrote a book on how to break into pharmaceutical sales and I wanted to share a short blurb from the book that speaks to this exact same point. Thanks for the great post.

Make sure to send handwritten thank-you notes to each and every one of the people you met with at this stage. Look at it this way: when you open your mail every day, which letters do you open first? If you’re like me, you start with anything that someone took the time to write by hand.

With the dawn of electronic communications, many people thought that handwritten communications would simply disappear. In many ways, they have. But, at the same time,
handwritten letters have taken on a greater currency.

People appreciate the time you take to put your thoughts down in ink on paper, to affix a stamp to an envelope and to drop that note in the mail.

[Larry Megugorac]

Hi Phil,

I must be "Old School" because I always write "Thank You" notes. In the days of E-Mail it's so simple it's ridiculous not to do it!

Just like reading and responding to your E-Mails as a first order of the day...it's part of being human in this 21st century. Also, just like always using spell check to appear professional, acting any other way is plain foolish!

Larry

[Joe Turner]

Hi Phil,
It's great to hear someone else out there talk about the importance of a handwritten thank you note, or even thank you notes in general. A lot of job search "advice" one reads or hears out there today is so much like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Thank you notes work!

[Lucilla Feliciano]

I guess a Thank You note is outdated to some people. Thank you for writing an article about something that needs to be practiced in all facets of life, not just for job hunting.

[Phil Rosenberg]

Lucilla,

Thanks for the comments! Isn't it amazing that so few do something that's so easy? Didn't their Mom's teach them to write Thank You notes?

[Lucilla Feliciano]

Great Article Phil. I can't tell you the amount of excuses I get from people I work with regarding Thank You Notes. I had one girl tell me she did not know the address of where to send the Thank You Note. I told her if she got to the interview, she knows where to send the note. I even told her to send an email. I followed up with her regarding the thank you note, and I don't think she ever sent one. She made up some bogus excuse that she did not know what to say. Some people want the job so bad, they forget about the small details that can turn into bigger opportunities.