So you have an interview coming up? That is great! You’ll want to be sure that you follow up that interview with an email to your interviewer(s).
Why is it important to follow up an interview with an email?
Not only is it courteous to thank your interviewers for their time and consideration, a follow-up email also expresses your continued interest in the job. You want to keep your name in the interviewers’ mind. The follow-up also gives you an opportunity to further discuss any items from the interview that you’d like to touch on once more. And by including items discussed at the interview, your follow-up will show that you are a good listener and have further considered the items discussed.
What should be included in my follow-up email?
While there is no single formula for writing an after-interview follow-up email, there are certain items that you’ll want to include:
- Thank the interviewer for his or her time and let them know that you enjoyed getting to know them a little.
- Remind your interviewer that you are interested in the job and why.
- State how you feel the interview went. Admit any mistakes you made or what you might do differently. Or add anything that you didn’t get the opportunity to say during the interview.
- Refer back to one of two main points from the interview and let them know how you see yourself as a great fit for the company, the team, or the position and how you can help the company to address their current challenges.
- If it wasn’t clearly stated in the interview, ask the interviewer what their next steps are in the hiring process or what their timeline is for hiring.
Tips for Writing a Follow-Up Email
- Send your email within 24 hours after your interview. Don’t send a handwritten note as it will make you seem behind the technology curve.
- Your email should not extend a single typed page—no more than 500 words.
- Take notes either during or right after the interview. Items to jot down include all of the interviewers’ names, major points of discussion, the vision of the company, challenges faced by the company, and specifics about the role of the job.
- Send a personalized email to each interviewer. Don’t simply change the name on the email and send the same wording to all interviewers. Create a new message for each member of the interview panel. For example, if you are writing to someone who you might be collaborating with on projects, you might say something positive about their current project or let them know that you are excited about the opportunity to work on a future project with them.
- Give some concrete examples of what you can offer as part of the team or what you can specifically do to address any challenges the company or team is currently facing. Even if you already stated this in the interview, state it again here.
- Don’t discuss salary or benefits in the follow-up email.
