How to Lose a Job with Thank You Note
6 mistakes to avoid for your post-interview thank you notes
1- Not Writing One
Some may find a thank you note antiquated, or even assume that the interviewer knows you are thankful for their time. That assumption is wrong!
Plenty of times I have heard a hiring manager mention that they received thank you notes from 3 out of 4 candidates, or some variation. There is typically always competition in a job interview, you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to remain competitive.
No matter their reason for being on your interview schedule, or if they wanted to be there or not- they took time out of their day to discuss a job opening with you. Everyone’s busy, everyone has outside work obligations and headspace. Thank them for the time, it’s the polite thing to do. Plus it keeps you top of mind for them as they continue with the interview process.
2-Rewriting your resume
A thank you note is a great time to reiterate *briefly* why you would be a solid fit for the job. However, it’s not the time to re-explain your skills or ramble on about a specific project you discussed.
Over-explaining or over-selling yourself in the thank you note, will only lead to a “too long didn't read” dismissal from the recipient. I suggest no more than a sentence touching upon your personal experience. Focus the bulk of the note on your interest in the role and appreciation for their time and expertise.
3-Reminding the interviewer they’re old enough to be your parent
There are *only a few* scenarios here where I think there could be an exception to this rule- but overall, it’s typically not appropriate to address someone as Mr/Miss/Mrs in a thank you note. More likely than not, you’ll be meeting with potential coworkers, who will eventually be sharing office space, meetings, and daily conversations with you. I recommend keeping the note professional, yet not overly formal. Use their first name in the email greeting.
Another thing to keep in mind is nicknames. Address the person by their full first name, unless they introduced themselves as a different name. Example, “You can call me Mike.” Now is not the time to mix in a Benny Benny Boo Boo
4-Not personalizing it
Templates for simple email communication for your job search are a great tool to streamline and save time. (Contact me if you need some!) But it is clear when you are on the receiving end of a run-of-the-mill template. Templates are meant to be tweaked!
Add in something specific from the interview. Did you and the interviewer jive about a specific mentality around teamwork? Did you talk about their weekend plans to see the playoff game? Did you both go to the same school? Did you connect on a specific technical project or improvement area the team seems to need?
Bonus points if the specific topic you want to bring up highlights your skills and reminds them that you’re a great fit for their team! Even a simple line to put a bit of personality into the email will go a long way.
5- Not proofreading!
Please, please, get another pair of eyes on that thank you note before hitting send. I have seen even the most detail-oriented job searchers accidentally send a thank you note with a silly grammatical error.
When you are reading your own writing, it’s so easy to skim and miss a simple error. Also did you *definitely* spell the interviewer's name and company correctly? Funny enough, that is one of the most common errors I have seen.
If you are working with a recruiter, they're a great resource for a quick review (in most cases they might want to send the thank you note directly anyway!). Career coaches (like myself) are also a great sounding board if you have partnered with one!
Or if you don’t have a second person, print out a hard copy- great way to see the note offscreen to ensure it’s perfect. No printer? Read the note out loud –easy final editing trick.
6- Sending a love fern
Although the interviewer might technically enjoy a nice desk plant, now is not the time to send any gifts or tokens of appreciation. At best, it might be seen as overly eager, at worst it could be taken as a bribe. Simple thank-you emails are best.
The handwritten note is certainly a lost art, but with the pace of snail mail, in most cases, I recommend an email for interview thank you notes!
Some of these thank-you faux pas might not *actually* lose a job for you, but I certainly wouldn’t make that gamble. And if you haven’t already caught on to the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days movie references, Andy Anderson’s over-the-top dating antics offer some additional behaviors to avoid.
