When you receive a gift, you send a thank you letter. So why wouldn’t you send a thank you letter during a job search? Sending a thank you letter is a particularly important part of your job search, so you need to take the time to write a nice letter. Because you don’t need to send a thank you for every job prospect you look into, we offer the following guidelines to help you decipher when you should send a thank you letter and when you don’t need to.
If you have already gotten the job, you do not need to send a letter. You will be seeing the employer in person and you will be able to thank them then, which will mean more to your employer than a letter.
If you have given the company your resume but never heard back (even after following up), then you do not need to send a thank you letter. If the employer didn’t bother to contact you, then why would you take time to thank them for something they didn’t even do?
If you have been contacted, but not given an interview, then you should definitely send a thank you letter. They made the effort to contact you even though you were not the right fit. You should thank them for their consideration.
If you have been given an interview but have not received a job offer, then you should absolutely send a thank you letter. They have put just as much effort in as you have at this point, and you should thank them for their consideration and effort.
Sending an appropriate thank you letter will help to ensure that employers remember you and hopefully think of you if future positions open up. There is nothing bad that can come from sending a sincere thank you letter.
It has happened to all of us. Everyone has experienced a bad job interview sometime in the past. Anything from being late, botching answers to key questions or not being able to show knowledge about the company. Although the proverb is true, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, you do have an opportunity to make up some of what you lost in your bad job interview.
Often, people are their own worst critics, but this can actually be a good thing. When it comes to a job interview, you might be seeing things that weren’t actually there, or at least, that weren’t nearly as bad as you perceived them to be. Try to put the interview into perspective. Obviously, things like arriving late are negatives that will count against you but maybe other issues could be worse. Did you stumble through some questions? Did you fail to impress your interviewer with your knowledge of the company? Are there several things that were on the tip of your tongue that you were never able to express? Answer these questions and you’ll be able to tell yourself whether the interview was as bad as you first thought.
Think of it this way. Maybe that job was not the right one for you anyway. Did you feel like you weren’t able to connect with the interviewer? Did you feel out of place in the office? Were the questions exceedingly simple and not a challenge to you? Sometimes our instincts will show us in subtle ways when something is not right.
If you’ve decided that you did do very badly in the interview but still want the job, you can do damage control. The first thing to do is to analyze what went wrong. Write a thank you note or recovery letter. This is a way to follow up your bad job interview with concrete examples to back up your less than stellar answers to the interview questions. This is your chance to set the record straight and take back the initiative. Put together a concise, hard-hitting letter, using verifiable facts to back up your case wherever you can. When your prospective employer receives the letter, they will know, even if you didn’t show it in the interview, that you very much want the job and further, that you’re uniquely qualified for it.
There are any number of reasons why you can have a bad job interview. Often, it’s not as bad as you thought, or the interview will have given you enough of a perspective to convince you that the job wasn’t for you after all. But if you have a bad job interview for a job you really want, writing a timely, fact-filled and enthusiastic recovery letter can show the employer yet again that you are the best person for the job.
Should You Call a Company After You Sent Your Resume?
You’ve been looking everywherefor, not just a job, but a career, you want to do something with yourself that enables you to pay your bills but also provides a purpose. But, that’s harder than you imagined in an economy that is only slowly making its way back. There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to this question, and there are numerous variables at play that can affect the outcome, and every employer is a little bit different. It seems like it’s impossible to know if you are wasting your time by following up on a resume you have sent, but maybe it’s the thing that will give you a leg up over the other candidates. It really depends… In general, it really does depend according to some experts. It depends on how you sent in your application, if you know or can find a contact person, and just how much you actually want the job – is it really worth all the effort you put in? Here are some suggestions that may help when deciding to follow up on a sent resume. How did you send in your resume?
How did you get your resume to the prospective employer in the first place? Did you have a contact person or did you send it in through an online contact form, or did you send it through the company website job page? If you know someone in the company, you can get help with contacting HR or you can find someone from the company Facebook page and get in touch with them that way. You’re not being creepy, you’re being resourceful. When should you follow up on your resume? Some recruiters and placement agencies will advise you to submit a resume, and then follow up with a phone call or email. It can show ambition and enthusiasm, as well as set you apart from other candidates who do not bother to follow up. Employers will like that you are eager to get started and are interested in the position.
But, it is certainly appropriate to send a letter or an email a week or so after you submit your resume, especially if you have not heard anything from the company. Who knows, your resume may have fallen through the cracks and a phone call is just the thing that they need to know how interested you are. But, if you have done a follow up phone call or email after sending a resume, and you have not heard anything for a few weeks, it would be best to conserve your energy and not waste time on something that probably will not happen. There are other opportunities out there for you, so you just have to go and find them. When you follow up make sure that you are polite. Polite messages reinforce your strong interest in the job, as well as showcasing your ability to handle important topics. Every day people get jobs because they stayed the course and fought for what they wanted, maybe today is your day.
How many times have you found yourself in this situation: several days prior, you had an interview. It seemed to go well and the interviewer informed you that they would ‘get back to you.’ You went home, excited, but as the days passed with no call, you begin to question every aspect of the interviewing, wondering where you went wrong.
This happens more often than many HR professionals would like. Relax. Sometimes a busy schedule of interviews and work sometimes gets in the way of them calling you back. Learning techniques aimed at discovering how to make employers call you back is an easy and beneficial addition to any job seekers trunk of tricks.
Don’t Expect It: Don’t ever assume that you will get a call back. Instead, make it a point to discuss the point of next contact before finishing the interview, meeting or phone call. This can be as simple as asking when an appropriate time would be for you to follow up. Many job seekers are leery of this, feeling that it will make them appear pushy; however, politely asking for a follow up isn’t being pushy. I think it shows motivation and Always ask for a follow up. Never leave it to chance.
You Are Responsible: At the end of the day, you, as the job seeker, are the one responsible for the follow up, after all, it is you that wants the position. Take responsibility for the part you play in follow up meetings and calls by asking for them, being polite is subsequent contact and following through on any promises you make.
“I’ll Get Back To You” isn’t enough: “I’ll get back to you’ may be the five most dreaded words in the job seeking business. Don’t ever leave a meeting or interview on this note. If a potential employer uses this line, ask them when! If they cannot provide you with a specific time frame for a follow up, ask when it would be appropriate to follow up yourself. Again, don’t be afraid to schedule your follow up.
Keep Calling:If you were unable, or afraid, to schedule a follow-up, wait three days and follow-up yourself. Again, many job seekers shy away from this tactic, but remember that the interviewer or HR manager is busy as well and a gentle reminder is not harmful. Be respectful whenever leaving a message and always be consistent.
Getting that all-important call back can be difficult and waiting for it can be even worse. Instead of leaving it up to fate, take matters into your own hands. Be proactive by scheduling follow-ups. Be polite, but assertive, when asking for a follow-up call or meeting. Don’t ever be afraid to follow-up yourself. Waiting is an unfortunate part of finding employment. If you are like me, waiting for anything can be excruciating. You can make this waiting a bit easier to endure by learning how to make an employer call you back. The peace of mind a scheduled follow-up can give you will make the waiting game much easier.
