Here are an expert's answers to common anxieties that plague job-aspirants after the interview:
1) Should I Type My Letter Or Should It Be Handwritten?
Typing is always the preferred option. It gives you a chance to auto-spell and accidental clerical errors can be corrected, without smudging the letter. Moreover, a typed letter can be emailed to the interviewer enabling it to reach him within hours of the interview. Mailed letters will take some time to reach and the interviewer may take some time in recollecting who you were and what you had said during the interview.
However, if you had developed a friendly rapport with the interviewer and feel that he may be expecting a handwritten note of appreciation, follow up your typed letter with one. It’s not really necessary, but it will add something extra.
However, you can send handwritten thank you letters, to those people who helped you during the interview. People like the marshal who ushered you to a comfortable seat in the lounge and brought you a glass of water or the receptionist who
filled you on details about the interview.
2) What Should I Say In My Interview Thank-You Letters?
On the onset, thank them for interviewing you. Then tell whatever you had wanted to say, during the interview but forgot. Stress upon your strengths and the potency that you will bring to the company if you are hired. If the interviewer had expressed any reservations, explain in your letter, how you are going to meet those challenges and take them head on. Also mention how your past experiences will stand you in good stead and help propel the company towards its goals and objectives. During the interview you focused on projecting yourself. Do the same again, but from the employer’s perspective. For example your letter should say that the interview helped you understand the company’s goals better.
3) When Do I Follow Up Again?
If there is no response and if the company is expected to hire quickly, a quick second follow-up could come in handy. But say, the hiring manager has gone on leave, or is on a holiday, await his return. On the other hand if you're getting responses from the recruiter or hiring manager, keep following up every week or two.
4) What Do I Write In My Follow-ups?
You certainly don’t want to create the impression that you are the interfering type and are impatient to boot. When the company will take a decision is their internal matter and they will not take kindly to internal meddling in their affairs. Keep the follow up letter short, brevity should be its prime virtue. Just make a polite enquiry about the company’s needs and how they are planning to address a particular problem. You could also suggest a solution. The idea behind the second letter is to refresh their memory of you and inform them of what you are currently doing as you await their decision.
In the meanwhile, if you had the opportunity to go for other interview calls, mention them and tell the company, that whilst your location of choice is your company, you had also been privileged to be interviewed by two other companies. Hiring managers are inclined towards workers who other companies are interested in.
5) Why Do Some Companies Not Respond To Follow-Ups?
The simple explanation would be that it does not matter to them. They are simply being impolite and uncaring. You are one of hundreds. What does it matter to them? However, there could be other things that the company will be loathe to reveal. They may have temporarily shelved plans for new hiring and may be thinking of re-structuring. It is also possible that they have already made the offer to another candidate and you are the second choice. They don’t want to jump the gun, and are awaiting confirmation from their first choice, before telling you sorry mate you’re not wanted.
Just wait. Don’t rush the company. You may blow your chances, if the company assumes that patience is not one of your assets.
