How to Write a Thank You Letter After a Job Interview

If you’ve never been in an interview before, the idea of a thank you note might seem a bit silly.

After all, once the face to face interview is complete, it’s customary for both parties to thank each other for their time on the spot—so what purpose does a follow-up email serve?

Sending a follow up thank you letter will reinforce and reiterate your enthusiasm for the open position. Additionally, a thank you letter is a great way for you to remind your interviewer of your talents as well as demonstrate that you’re a professional who is willing to go the extra mile.

However, there is a right and a wrong way to write a thank you letter. In the below article, we provide best practices for writing an effective thank you letter following an interview.

How to Write a Thank You Follow Up Interview Letter

The great thing about thank you emails is that they aren’t too complicated. However, this doesn’t mean they aren’t intimidating. Below is a simple outline to help you get started with writing your post job interview thank you note.

1. Pay Attention to the Subject Line

When creating the subject line, remember to include your name, the position you’re interviewing for, and the phrase “thank you”, as this will help the interviewer remember who you are and what you’re applying for.

2. Include the Name of the Interviewer in the Opening Line

Since this is a professional email, make sure to include a courtesy title (e.g., Mr., Ms., etc.,) and the last name of the interviewer.

3. Thank the Interviewer

Your opening paragraph should consist of a couple sentences that express your appreciation for the interviewer’s time during the interview and your interest in the position/company.

4. Reiterate Your Strengths in the Body

The body of your thank you note is where you will express why you feel that your unique skills and talents would be a great fit for the company and for the open position.

5. Thank the Interviewer Once More

Finally, end the thank you note by once again thanking the interviewer for their time and by briefly reiterating your excitement to work for the company.

Should You Write a Thank You Note?

Unless your interviewer specifically requests that you do not follow up with a thank you note (highly unlikely), it is always a good idea to send a short thank you email after the interview.

Thank You Follow Up Interview Tips

To help you perfect your thank you email, below are some Do’s and Don’ts for writing a thank you email:

Do:

Send your email within 24 hours

Sending your thank you email within 24 hours is important for two reasons: first, the company was willing to give you a shot at the open position, so showing your appreciation is a courtesy that must be extended in a timely fashion.

Second, interviewing candidates is a time-consuming process, and the hiring manager conducting the interview has tasks of their own to complete; therefore, by showing your genuine appreciation, they will be more likely to remember both you and your talents.

Remember to include all interviewers in your email

Many companies use multiple interviewers to evaluate the true fit of a candidate, so sending a thank you note to all interviewers is a good idea.

Restate why you believe you’re an excellent candidate for the position

As mentioned above, it’s critically important that you reiterate as concisely as possibly why you believe your skills and talents are a perfect match for the open position.

Remember, the interviewer reading your email should be able to quickly recognize who you are (by name) and scan your thank you note to see what specific talents you possess.

Make it easy for your hiring manager to find your work

After reiterating your qualifications, provide the hiring manager with links to your portfolio, social media accounts, or personal blog so that they can quickly find your work.

Following this information, remember to include a reliable phone number so the interviewer can reach you if they have any additional questions.

Keep it brief

Interviewers don’t have time to read a short autobiography about your life and work experience, so your thank you note should be no longer than 3-5 short paragraphs.

Don’t:

Harass Your Interviewers

Once your follow up email has been sent, there is no need to send a second thank you note or make a follow up phone call (at least not right away).

The interviewers will likely be busy with their day-to-day tasks and interviewing other candidates. They need time to sort through all the new information being thrown their way, so once your thank you note has been sent, it’s time to preoccupy yourself with other tasks.

After a week or so has passed, you can then consider sending another email or following up with a phone call.

Include typos and grammatical mistakes in your email

Nothing stands out more to an interviewer than a thank you note littered with typos and grammatical errors.

While no human on Earth is perfect, your thank you note absolutely needs to be perfect, so even if it takes reading it over five times before you hit send, it’s still better than sending the interviewer a note filled with glaring grammatical and spelling errors.

Be too casual

No matter how casual your interview might be, your thank you note still needs to be professional and well-thought-out.

Interviewers want candidates who are serious about landing the job, so being informal in any sense of the word is a risk not worth taking.

Come across as desperate

Finally, interviewers are quite aware of the difference between candidates who are motivated and candidates who are desperate.

Don’t be the desperate candidate.

Being desperate makes you look both unprofessional and unqualified. Instead, be cool and confident in the fact that your interview provided a good representation of you as a candidate.

Looking to Streamline Your Recruitment Process?

Are you a hiring manager or recruiter looking to streamline your hiring process? Having an applicant tracking system in place will ensure you never let another follow up email go unanswered or miss an interview due to lack of communication. Candidates are trying to make the best impression on your business, so make sure your business makes the best impression on them.

How Recruitment Automation Can Improve Your Hiring

Using Recruitment Automation to Improve Hiring

Everywhere you look, companies both big and small are making incredible advancements in technologies like robotics, central processing units, cameras and augmented reality.

One area that is also rapidly expanding and growing more than ever is automation.

While the thought of automation may concern some people, it can save companies both time and money that is usually spent looking for the perfect candidate to fill an open position.

There’s a lot to learn about the benefits of hiring automation. In this article we will cover everything from how recruitment automation works to how companies can put it to use.

What is Recruitment Automation?

To understand what recruitment automation entails, one must first understand how a process, or an object becomes autonomous.

In general, autonomy is the process of removing the need for human observation and interaction to achieve the desired result. Recruitment automation is simply the process of removing a portion of the need for human labor to complete the task of onboarding and hiring a new candidate.

Take the autopilot programming that is used on most commercial airliners: the “auto” in autopilot refers to the autonomous nature of the system that is flying the plane, which means that the system doesn’t require the constant attention of the human pilot to operate. However, just like an airplane’s autopilot system, there are certain parts of the process in recruitment automation that still need to be completed by a human being.

Why is this the case?

While recruitment automation can help recruiters sift through hundreds, if not thousands of resumes to find the perfect candidate, it is still ultimately up to the hiring manager to make the call when hiring a candidate.

Therefore, we must look at recruitment automation as an aide to hiring and not as a system to be in complete control of a company’s recruitment efforts.

Types of Automated Recruiting Systems

There are many types of recruitment automaton systems, some of which are listed below:

• Resume Screening
• Chat Bots
• Digitized Interviews
• Reference Checking Software
• Automated Offer/Rejection Letters

Why is it Useful?

Looking at the above list, there are a couple of things that they all have in common: efficiency and consistency.

When a company is looking to hire a candidate, there is a good chance that the individuals in charge of hiring will be overwhelmed with the number of applicants. On average, a typical corporate job will receive 250 resumes; however, some companies receive many times that amount, and without an automated system of some sort, each resume will have to be manually examined so that a determination about the candidate’s potential can be made.

Because of this, most companies simply do not have the time or the resources to dedicate the required number of hours to recruiting and onboarding a new employee.

Besides saving time and resources on recruiting, automation of the recruitment process also ensures that all candidates are judged by the same criterion without human biases getting in the way.

For example, during a manual review of resumes, the individuals conducting the review may push a candidate towards the top of the pile solely based on the school they graduated from. With an automated system, candidates can be judged fairly since the system is not programmed with the innate shortfalls that come with being a human being. Additionally, by having an automated system to screen potential candidates, the company can better track resumes for future hiring efforts.

How to Automate your Recruiting

• Resume Screening – Resume screening tools have been around for quite some time. These tools are a tremendous help in optimizing workflows and sifting through candidates that are not a good fit. Reviewing applications is one of the most time consuming tasks for recruiters and hiring managers, taking away valuable time that could be spent interviewing qualified candidates. Having a resume screening system that integrates with your applicant tracking system (ATS) will be a big plus.

• Chatbots – Chatbots have also been around for some time but have grown much more advanced over the years. Having a chatbot in place that integrates with your ATS will save you both time and also improve the appeal of your company through faster response times and a more personal candidate experience.

• Artificially Intelligent Video Interviews – When it comes to video interviewing, AI is transforming the process by analyzing candidates word choice, speech patterns and facial expressions. This gives you insight into what may be going on behind the scenes and if the candidate would be a good fit for your organization. Take the information gathered from this tool with a grain of salt; it can be hard to tell if the candidate actually exhibits negative traits or they were just nervous/having a bad day.

• Email Automation – Being able to deliver personalized data driven emails is a huge time saver. This tool really shines through when it comes to sending reminder emails or confirming interview times with candidates. Be sure to make these emails as seamless as possible compared to your normal email sends. You want the emails to look as though they are coming directly from somebody at the company.

Next Steps

Recruitment automation is a valuable tool that should not be overlooked, regardless of the type of position that is being filled.

With an automated system keeping tracking of resumes, assessment scores, and interview results, companies can collect valuable data that can not only be used to reach out to candidates that might have been missed, but also to refine the company’s overall hiring practices.

How to Find and Hire Remote Workers

Hiring remote workers is becoming more commonplace by the day. Remote workers tend to be more productive and considerably less stressed compared to their office-bound counterparts. Hiring remote workers also provides companies, both small and large, a big advantage when it comes to the quantity of candidates available for hire.

There’s a lot to learn about remote workers and in this article we will cover everything from the different types of remote workers, to how to find and hire them.

What is a Remote Worker?

A remote worker is a person who works outside of a conventional office environment. This does not necessarily have to be from home; the employee could even be working from a coffee shop or other off-site establishment.

Companies use different names to identify remote workers, some of these include:

• Virtual workers
• Remote employees
• Telecommuters
• Web workers
• iWorkers
• Mobile professionals

Do You Need Remote Employees?

Having access to remote workers can be a godsend, especially when your company needs help filling open positions. However, there are some disadvantages that should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to hire remote workers. Below we discuss the pros and cons of remote workers.

Pros of Remote Employees

• You can hire both foreign and domestic workers from locations outside of where your physical offices are, giving you access to a greater talent pool.
• Using remote workers to outsource certain tasks can save money.
• If managed right, remote employees in various time zones can enhance the ability to ensure work is getting done around the clock.
• Employees working remotely have less workplace distractions and are less susceptible to stress.

Cons of Remote Employees

• If you choose to hire remote workers from overseas, language barriers can come into play.
• Not being able to meet in person on short notice can cause communication difficulties.
• It can be much harder to train and onboard new employees who are not in the office.
• Company culture and camaraderie can suffer from having too many remote workers. Spending time at the water cooler interacting with coworkers is a great way to get to know people’s lives outside of work. This can help nurture better workplace interaction and communication.

Finding Virtual Employees

Where Should You Look?

Although you can find remote workers on a number of major job boards, it is important to note that there are plenty of websites that are designed specifically for remote workers. You are more likely to find suitable employees on these websites with the skills and desire to work remotely. The following are some platforms that are worth considering:

• Upwork
• We Work Remotely
• Flex Jobs

Create Effective Job Postings

You will have to write job postings that get the best remote workers excited to apply for your position. These workers are typically more on the freelance side of business and are usually entertaining more than one job or job offer at once, so creating a job posting that makes people want to work for you is key.

You can achieve this by including your website link, links to various articles that reference your business, information regarding owners and founders, and anything else that can reinforce your reputation/culture as a company. Another good strategy is to include a blurb on your job posting that discusses what life is like as a remote worker at your company. This will let applicants know that you have a fleshed out process for hiring remote workers, making them more likely to apply.

Also important for finding and attracting qualified remote employees is utilizing the many recruiting tools at your disposal. Some of the key resources that should be in your recruiting tool belt are:

• An applicant tracking system
• Social media recruiting strategies
• Performance reviews of past employees to know what works for your company

Interview to Identify the Best Workers

Interviews are always a critical part of the hiring process; however, with hiring remote workers, it’s even more important to get it right.

Draft a suitable email introducing your organization a little more, and ask the candidates to answer about five to ten questions about themselves. Focus these questions on how they will handle various tasks that are relevant to the job. Through these answers you can approximate how eager and motivated candidates are to work for your company.. With remote workers, traits such as conscientiousness, intrinsic motivation and ambition are going to be more important than ever.

With this slimmed down list of remote candidates, it is important to ask the right interview questions. Since these workers will not be under direct supervision, make sure to properly evaluate their abilities, personality and confidence relating to the role. You can ask questions such as:

• How do you schedule and organize your work day?
• How do you manage your calendar?
• How do you organize links, files and tabs on your computer?
• How do you prioritize tasks?

The ability to concentrate in a distracting environment is an important ability that all remote employees must have. Lack of supervision makes people more prone to various distractions, so a strong work ethic is going to be key.

Look for candidates who have been successful in jobs that involved ownership of projects and activities, and unsupervised time at work. This will ensure you hire the best remote workers.

Final Thoughts

Hiring remote workers is an effective method for solving critical staffing problems as well as raising both productivity and employee morale at your organization. However, it’s important to consider the cons of remote workers as well to ensure it is the best option for your company.

Finding, interviewing and onboarding remote workers can be an involved process. Newton Software offers a full service applicant tracking system built by recruiters who understand the hardships of the recruiting process. Check us out and hire the best remote workers in the most efficient way possible.