Always Follow Up After an Interview

If you're pursuing a new job, you'll want to stand out from your fellow job seekers. While researching companies, targeting resumes and preparing for an insightful interview are crucial to landing the right job, there's one more step you dare not neglect.

If you want to be a company's top candidate, you must send a thank you note to everyone who interviews you. Lest you consider this final piece of follow-up a trivial task, don't confuse it with your mother's bread-and-butter note. This letter is a strategic tool to put your name and qualifications in front of the potential employer while she's making her hiring decision. Because so few job seekers bother to write one, those who do automatically move to the front of the pack. If there are two or three strong candidates, you can be sure she who writes the thank you note will get the job.

Like a great cover letter, an attention-getting thank you note has three main points:

Focusing on the company's needs and advantages gets you an interview; then, impresses the people with the power to say yes. Now, it will help you close the deal.

Whether you interview with one person or several, each conversation has its memorable moments. Reminisce about them in your first paragraph. Tell your potential employer why her company is the ideal place to start your career, whether it's her management style, opportunity for growth, exceptional products or services, unique culture or whatever most interests you. Reflecting on the attributes you both appreciate reminds her of the good feelings you've already shared.

Now that she's settling into the warm glow of your admiration, reiterate your qualifications and enthusiasm for the job. Briefly outline the most important reasons why she should hire you. Tell her how you'll contribute to the company and why she'll never regret choosing you.

If you've left the interview uneasy about the company's concern for your lack of experience or specific skills, this is a good time to banish any lingering doubts. Emphasize once again how you have eliminated other temporary deficits through hard work, desire to learn and aptitude for the subject.

If you really want the job, ask for it. Say something like, "I look forward to working with you and your team to build XYZ.com into the powerful resource we all know it can be. Also mention you will be contacting your interviewer to touch base, if you haven't heard anything by the date she promised to call. Sitting by the phone wondering what's going on is both frustrating and depressing. Always give yourself the option to initiate a follow-up conversation.