So, you landed an interview and crushed it? Congratulations, that’s fantastic. Did you email the interviewers within one business day saying thank you? If you didn’t, we have news for you – you didn’t crush it.

While this may seem harsh, it’s the truth. Interviewers are evaluating your candidacy from the moment you apply till you land the job. Every interaction will be scrutinized, and one of the most important of those interactions is the Post-Interview Thank You email. While you could write your thank you on paper or email, you should expect to use email in most situations.

This is the last step, and while it’s relatively simple, it’s crucial to get it right. We’ll go over some tips, the important sections to include in your email, and some templates to customize for your next post-interview thank you.

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4 Tips for Success

Here are four tips for you to remember when writing your post-interview thank you email. You’ll notice that two of these tips you’ll need to be aware of before interviewing. If you’re reading this after your interview is over, don’t worry you can still write a great thank you email. It might just take a little extra effort. While these tips aren’t exhaustive, they are the four most important things you should keep in mind. Let’s get into them.

  1. Always secure the Interviewer’s business card
    1. How would you email your interviewer to say thank you if you don’t know their email address? Believe it or not, this is a common occurrence.
    2. Interviews can be pretty overwhelming. You’re busy trying to impress and maintain focus on their questions, not to mention all of the names you have to remember. While it can be difficult to remember, try your best to always get the interviewer’s email address.
    3. The best way to secure their email is to ask for their business card. If you have multiple interviewers, make sure you ask them all for their business cards as you’ll need to write a thank you email to each person.
    4. What if you managed to get one of the interviewer’s business cards, but forgot to ask the rest?
      1. Simply email that interviewer and kindly ask that they share the contact information of the other interviewers.
      2. Another solution is to send your thank you email and ask them to forward to the other interviewers.
      3. As a last resort, you can also search LinkedIn and see if you can find any of your interviewers on there. We only recommend this if you have a finely polished LinkedIn and feel comfortable sharing your profile with your prospective employer.
  2. Take notes during your interview
    1. Taking notes is a sure-fire method to remember not only the names of your interviewers, but the topics you discussed with each.
    2. This may seem rude, but it’s actually the opposite. It shows the person across from you that you value what they are saying and want to remember it.
    3. Your notes don’t have to be super detailed. Just write down key points or words that will jog your memory when you read them again.
    4. These will come in handy when your interview is over. Especially in an interview process where you speak to multiple people throughout the day. These types of interviews can be mentally draining, and you’ll often find you forget much of the discussions if you don’t take notes.
    5. The primary two things you will want to note in your interview are:
      1. The name of the interviewer
      2. The main point of discussion
      3. For bonus points, you can note a fun fact about the interviewer to mention later. This is great if you’re interviewing for with a more informal, fun company.
    6. Some more items you may want to note:
      1. Opportunities for growth in the position you’re applying to
      2. The specific goals or the core mission of the company.
      3. The words the interviewer used when describing their ideal candidate.
      4. The interviewer’s questions about your resume and experience
      5. Questions about items you discussed with the interviewer.
      6. The major responsibilities of the position and how success is measured for the role.
  3. When should you send your post-interview Thank You email?
    1. While most experts recommend sending the Thank You email within 24-48 hours after an interview, always opt for within 24 hours if you can.
    2. If you send your thank you email within 24 hours, you will be fresh on the interviewers mind and your message will be more likely to make an impression.
    3. If you interview on a Friday, you can send your thank you on Friday afternoon or the following Monday morning.
    4. A good rule-of-thumb is to send your thank you email within one business day following your interview.
  4. Always do your best to be original and stand out
    1. Your thank you email may be the last impression you leave upon your interviewers before the make their hiring decision. That means that your message needs to be well written, authentic, and memorable.
    2. This means that while we’ve provided examples of thank you emails below, you should do your best to personalize your message. Imagine your interviewer finding your thank you email online – they most likely won’t be hiring you. Be smart and customize your email if you use a template.
    3. While it’s easy to write a quick thank you email, you need to remember that this is your final chance to make a quality impression.
    4. Use the information you learned in the interview to help craft you email. This will show that you were fully engaged in the interview and also took your time to write your thank you email. Interviewers will love you for this.

Next, we’ll go over the primary items your next great post-interview thank you email should include. If you’re still struggling with crafting your email after reviewing the sections, we included some thank you emails for you to reference below as well.

>>More: Strategic Interview Questions To Ask Candidates

Sections of the Thank You Email to Consider

  1. Subject line
    1. While this may seem like the easiest part of your email, it is important to start off on the right foot.
    2. Keep your subject line clear and respectful. This is what your interviewer will read before deciding to open your email or not.
    3. Some examples of acceptable subject lines for your email are as follows:
      1. Thank you!
      2. Thank you for the interview, [Interviewer’s Name]
      3. Thank you for your time, [Interviewer’s Name]
  2. Personal greeting
    1. This is where your notes will come in handy. You need to greet your interviewer by name at the beginning of your email.
    2. This will show you cared to remember their name. It’s really the least you could do!
    3. This will add to the personalization of your email.
    4. If they mentioned that they go by another name in the interview, use this name instead. You do not want to accidentally upset your reader.
  3. Express gratitude for their time
    1. After greeting your interviewer by name, tell them thank you. After all, this is your post-interview thank you email.
    2. Interviewers often have roles at the company other than interviewing candidates all day.
    3. This means that they have taken time out of their busy schedules to learn about you and teach you about their company.
    4. Therefore, open with a thank you. Here’s an example:
      1. Thank you for taking the time to interview me yesterday and teach me more about [Company Name]
      2. Thank you for your interview and for sharing your experiences at [Company Name] with me yesterday.
  4. Your Interest in the Role / Company
    1. This is your chance to mention one last time how enthusiastic you are about the role and the company.
    2. Take your time to share your interest with your interviewer and why the interview made you more confident in your desire to join.
    3. Maybe you were interested, but the interview made you feel differently. This is where you can mention that. At the very least, your interviewer will appreciate the time you just saved them.
  5. Refer to something specific from the interview
    1. Again, taking notes will help you with this section. The interviewer will want to know you were paying attention to the things they were saying. Now is your time to show them how great of a listener you are.
    2. For extra points, you can briefly add your experience with the topic you discussed in the interview. This can help further demonstrate your qualifications for the role.
  6. Offer to provide additional info
    1. This is the start of your email closing.
    2. Here, you’ll want to end on a respectful note by offering to provide any further information or documentation that could aid in the hiring-decision process.
  7. Remind them of established response deadline
    1. Typically, at the end of an interview, the interviewer will give you a vague timeline by which you can expect to hear they’re decision.
    2. You should use your thank you email to remind your interviewer of this deadline to establish expectations.
  8. Close with a personal signoff
    1. Here you can say thank you one last time and close out your email with your signoff.
    2. As this is for a formal email, you should typically sign off with “sincerely.”
    3. Feel free to add your contact information here, such as your website or LinkedIn.

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3 Examples of Post-Interview Thank You Emails

Below are three examples of post-interview thank you emails to reference while writing your own. They include an email that’s an option that’s short and sweet, one that’s more formal and a bit longer, and one that’s more informal. You should use your own professional judgement on which example is the most appropriate for your potential employer and role. If you’re interviewing to join a law firm, you should stick with formal. If you’re apply to a sales role in fast-growing SaaS company and you saw people playing ping pong in the office, you may be able to keep it a bit more informal in your email.

Short Example

Hi Robert,

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to speak with me yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the Sales Manager role, and I’m enthusiastic about the opportunity to join the team at 123 Bank. I believe I can help lead the fantastic team of bankers you’ve assembled to best serve the banking needs of our community here in Tampa.

I look forward to hearing back from you soon to learn the next steps. Please let me know if you need any additional information from me.

Sincerely,

Steve

A Longer, Formal Example

Good morning Mr. Sullivan,

Thank you for your time during our interview yesterday afternoon. The experience made me even more enthusiastic about the opportunity to join 123 Bank in the Sales Manager role.

Thank you for your insights about 123 Bank’s treasury management solutions and how you see their role as 123 Bank’s competitive advantage in the current low-rate environment. With inflation numbers as they are, it makes sense to earn and keep as many customers as possible before interest rates rise again. 123 Bank seems like a great place to work. I admire the goals laid out by your company and I’m energized at the possibility of working with the team towards establishing a competitive credit card product for your customers by year-end. In my experience working on a credit card product, I found customers responded 46% better to a points system with exclusive partner deals as opposed to a simple cash-back mechanism.

Please let me know if there’s anything further you may need from me to move things forward. I look forward to hearing back from you in the coming weeks.

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,

Steve

A Longer, Informal Example

Hi Sully,

Thanks for taking the time to interview me yesterday. I appreciated you sharing with me your many years of experience at 123 Bank. I was especially wowed by your role leading a team of software engineers to create the country’s first mobile banking app. What an experience that must have been! I find it hard to imagine a world where my bank account information is not at my fingertips.

I’m excited to potentially join such a cutting-edge company. 123 Bank is exactly the type of place where I want to continue my career in the banking industry. The people I met at the office yesterday seem to be exceedingly bright and a pleasure to work with. I look forward to getting to know them and working with them to achieve the big goals we discussed in our interview.

Thanks again, Sully. If there’s anything else you may need from me, please don’t hesitate to ask. I look forward to hearing back in the coming weeks.

Best regards,

Steve

What if it’s a Second Interview?

If you’ve just completed your second interview, congrats on your success, but the same email rules apply. You still need to send a follow-up thank you email within one business day and that email should include as many sections from above as possible. You may keep it shorter but remember to take your time and craft an email you’d like to receive if the roles were reversed.

>>More: Exit Interview Questions You Should Ask

Conclusion

You should always follow up your interview with a thank you email. Interviewers are not only evaluating you during the interview process, they’re evaluating you after as well. They want to know that you know proper business etiquette. Additionally, they took time out of their busy schedules to interview you, so they deserve your thanks. You should send your follow up thank you email within one business day of finishing your interview.

While anybody can write a thank you email, it is important to take your time and write an email that’s well-written, authentic, and memorable. In order to write a proper thank you email you should collect your interviewers business card, take notes during the interview, follow up in a timely fashion, and try your best to stand out from the crowd.

Inside your email, you should hit on each section listed above as it will give your interviewer the best impression of you as a potential hire. You can make a positive impression by mentioning a specific topic discussed in the interview and relating it to your experiences in your career. This will show that you were paying attention and are ready to add value to the company.

If you’re feeling stuck and don’t know what to write, feel free to reference the examples we provided for you above. With your new knowledge on thank you emails after your interview and the above examples; you should be ready to write a killer email. Best of luck on your interview and remember to always send a thank you email after.