OH MY GOD whyyyy did no one tell me you’re supposed to send thank-yous after interviews?? Why would I do that???
“Thank you for this incredibly stressful 30 minutes that I have had to re-structure my entire day around and which will give me anxiety poos for the next 24 hours.”
I HATE ETIQUETTE IT’S THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE THING FOR ME TO LEARN WITHOUT SOMEONE DIRECTLY TELLING ME THIS SHIT
NO ONE TOLD YOU???? WTF! I HAVE FAILED YOU.
Also:
Dear ______:
Thank you so much for the opportunity to sit down with you (&________) to discuss the [insert job position]. I am grateful to be considered for the position. I think I will be a great fit at [company name], especially given my experience in __________. [insert possible reference to something you talked about, something that excited you.] I look forward to hearing from you [and if you are feeling super confident: and working together in the future].
Sincerely,
@mellivorinaeTHIS IS A LIFESAVING TEMPLATE
YOU ARE WELCOME
My brother got a really great paid internship one summer. The guy who hired him said the deciding factor was the professional thank you letter my brother sent after the interview.
should it be an email? or like a physical letter?
email, you want to send it within a few hours at max after the interview if you can so it’s fresh in their mind who you are.
Confirmed! I interviewed for a job right after arriving in NY. The interview went incredibly well, and I went home and immediately wrote a thank you letter and put it in the mail. I had a super good feeling about this interview.
I didn’t get the job.
However, a few weeks later, I was called in to interview with another editor in the same company, and I did get that job. I found out later from the initial editor (the one who didn’t hire me) that he had planned to offer me the job, but since I didn’t follow up with a thank you letter, he assumed I didn’t really want it. He offered the job to another contender–but when he got my letter in the mail shortly after the offer had already been made, he went to HR and gave me a glowing recommendation. It was based on that recommendation that I got called in for the second interview.
So: send an email thank you immediately (same day!) after the interview. If you’re feeling extra, go ahead and send a written one too. OR go immediately to a coffee shop, write the letter, and return to the office and give it to the secretary.
Either way, those letters are important.
Pro tip: If you really want HR to develop a personal interest in your application, publicly thank them on linkedin. Just make a short post telling your network about how X recruiter really went above and beyond to make you feel welcome, or about how be accommodating and professional they were, or whatever. Make sure to use the mention feature so they’ll get a notification and see it.
Flattery will get you everywhere… and public flattery that might make its way back to their manager, doubly so.
Obligatory plug for one of FreePrintable.net’s sites: ThankYouLetter.ws. They have a whole section with interview thank you letter templates, and a page with specific tips for interview thank you letters. (There are also tons of other letter templates if you browse around a bit.)
As a former professional recruiter and recruiting manager, I confirm, especially for entry-level positions, where you are competing with oodles of people. This little thing can make a difference. Also the fact that, maybe, you took time to google the “interview etiquette”.
SIGNAL BOOST
Tag: Jobs
today I had an interview, and when the interviewer asked if I had any questions, I actually managed to come up with the most bomb ass question on the spot! So I figured I’d share it with y’all.
Asking good questions at the end of an interview will make you look awesome, and remember – YOU are also interviewing THEM to see if you should work there.
So since there were two interviewers, and both of them would be my bosses (one direct, one indirect), I asked this:
“How do you help dedicated employees develop themselves and their careers, not just when they are doing well but also when they are struggling?”
The answers were incredibly enlightening and told me all I needed to know about their management styles.
One interviewer said “you have to work really hard to get promoted. average people [here] who stay in the middle of the pack do not get promoted but people who bust their ass (sic) and ask for stretch goals will get promoted”
This told me that she only even bothered with employees that performed very well in specific categories and were willing to do extra work without being compensated for it in the hope of getting promoted. AKA a HUGE red flag! I absolutely don’t want to work for someone like that. And her example didn’t even work for the department I was interviewing for…
The second said “I work with employees by doing [basic required training] and [required] monthly one on one meetings.”
So while she at least answered my question, all she told me was that she does the bare minimum required of her. She didn’t describe anything outside of the work that she absolutely has to do as a manager – work that isn’t even so much for my development as to keep managers accountable. So…not really impressive.
Neither of them gave any examples of employees that they had gotten promoted, or helped through difficult times, or anything like that. So they failed my interview and I won’t be working there, because I specifically told them the whole reason I was considering switching to a different job was because I wanted to be more supported by my managers 🙃🙃🙃
You sent your CV and got a call back? Congratulations. But now you’re facing the most frightening part of the job: the interview.
No honestly, I’m joking, this isn’t as bad as we were told. And here’s what I learnt from it.
1. Stay NATURAL
You almost have the job. Don’t try to impress them too much, just stay faithful to who you are. Wear casual clothes, not a lot of make up, tie your hair (or at least brush it) and if you are wearing nailpolish, check that it isn’t cracked. Honestly, wearing cracked nailpolish during an interview just says that you’re messy and not organised. Don’t forget to smile, no one would like to hire someone always grumpy!
2. Do your homework
Remember the description of the job? Well that’s very important, state all the criterias that was asked in the description and make sure to tell your interviewer that you’ve got all the qualities the job requires.
Learn about the company, when was it created, do they have other shops, what do they sell/do, what are the prices and what type of people will you have to face. Google is your best friend for that.
3. Get ready to answer questions
It’s D-Day, you’re sat at the table and the interviewer is here. Get ready for the questions. Nothing exciting to be fair. “Why do you think you’ll be good at this job?” “What brought you to apply to this job?” “Did you know about *the company* before?”
And then they will ask you about your skills. Learn your CV and don’t hesitate to repeat it and add more details. For exemple: “I know how to work in a team very well because ….*add previous experience*”. They sometimes ask you how people would describe you or what are your flaws/qualities. Be honest.
If you don’t have any experience, put everything on your skills and link them to school. Interviewers know if you have experience or not. They will also understand that you’ve been focused on your studies and that’s okay. Don’t try to hide it, be proud of it.
4. Interview your interviewer
Your interviewer will ask you a lot of questions but at some point he will ask you if you have any questions. And now, honey, it will be your time TO SHINE. Fire away, honestly it’s very embarassing to have nothing to say, it’s a bit like “oh well, just taking the job, not really fussed about anything”. Find something! Are you allowed nailpolish, do you have a uniform, what time do they open, are they closed during holiday, what will be your salary, do you have days off, will you have a training session, etc… Ask everything on your mind, it will show your interviewer you’re at least interessed by the job.
5. Don’t rush anything
The interview is almost over. The interviewer might ask you when you can start. Never say “right now”. Say “tomorrow” or “next week” instead. Wait a bit, talk to your family/friends about the job to make sure you’re making the right decision. If you can, wait until you can have at least a glimpse at the contract because sometimes the interviewer doesn’t tell you everything about the job (how many hours, how much you’re paid). Wait for them to call you back. And when leaving, you can mention “that you’re looking foward to hearing from them again soon”!!!
I hope this masterpost was helpful and that you’ll nail your interview. If you have any other questions, you know where to find me! Reblog to help your fellow friends if you thought this was useful ✿
Check out my other masterpost on how to improve your résumé or my masterposts.
– Aly xo
Molly's Monsters 