| Thank-you / follow-up
letters |
| Thank you letters are critical
to your job search success, and interviews are not the only occasions
to send thank-you and follow-up letters. If you've ever experienced
helping or doing something for someone, and not receiving a thank-you,
you understand how employers view this lack of courtesy on the part
of job seekers. |
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| On this page: |
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When
to write thank-you letters |
|
Hard
copy, handwritten or e-mail? |
|
Samples |
|
|
| When to write thank-you
letters: |
| A thank-you letter should
be written after: |
|
An interview; (See interview
follow-up / thank-you letters) |
|
A contact is helpful to
you in a telephone conversation or e-mail; |
|
Someone provides / sends
information to you at your request; |
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A contact was particularly
helpful to you at a career fair; |
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You visit a contact at their
work site; and |
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Any other contact for which
you want to express thanks and develop a good relationship. |
|
|
| Hard copy, handwritten
or e-mail: |
|
Thank-you letters can be
hard copy typed, handwritten or e-mailed. Hard copy are most formal
and are always appropriate after an interview. Handwritten are more
personal, and can be appropriate for brief notes to a variety of individuals
you may have met during on on-site interview or who may have helped
you in other ways. E-mail is appropriate when that has been your means
of contact with the person you want to thank, or if your contact has
expressed a preference for e-mail, or if you want to send a quick
thank-you to be followed up by hard copy. |
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Also see: |
|
Guidelines for job
search correspondence |
|
Guidelines for using email
in your job search |
|
Email
business etiquette |
|
|
| Samples
(below): |
|
Sample 5.1: Follow-up
to telephone call |
|
Sample 5.2: Follow-up
letter to information-seeking meeting |
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Sample 5.3: Follow-up
to personal contact |
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|
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Also see |
|
Interview
follow-up / thank-you letters and samples |
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| Sample 5.1: Follow-up
to telephone call |
|
30 Academy Road
Blacksburg, VA 24060
(540) 555-3333
mnop@vt.edu
February 1, 2010
Ms. Jane Roden
United Way
2300 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Dear Ms. Roden:
Thank you for talking with me on Wednesday in response to
my inquiry about summer internship possibilities in social
services in the Richmond area. After speaking with you and
another Virginia Tech alumnus whose name I obtained through
VT CareerLink at Career Services, I think I am much better
prepared to pursue internship opportunities.
On your advice, I have updated my resume, emphasizing my
recent hotline volunteer activities. A copy is enclosed for
you. I also plan to contact Deborah Warren as you suggested,
and appreciate your giving me her name.
Thank you for inviting me to visit your office. I will be
in Richmond during spring break, so I will call your office
two weeks prior to see if it would be convenient to schedule
a visit.
Again, thank you so much for your help and advice. I look
forward to meeting with you in March.
Sincerely,
(your handwritten signature)
Morgan Jeffers
Enclosure |
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| Sample 5.2: Follow-up
letter to information seeking meeting |
|
| 23 Roanoke Street
Blacksburg, VA 24060
(540) 555-1123
xyzpdg@vt.edu
November 30, 2009
Mr. James G. Webb
Delon Hampton & Associates
800 K Street, N.W., Suite 720
Washington, DC 20001-8000
Dear Mr. Webb:
Thank you so much for taking time from your busy schedule
to meet with me last Tuesday. It was very helpful to me to
learn so much about the current projects of Delon Hampton
& Associates and the career paths of several of your staff.
I appreciate your reviewing my portfolio and encouraging my
career plans. I also enjoyed meeting Beth Ormond, and am glad
to have her suggestions on how I can make the most productive
use of my last semester in college.
Based on what I learned from my visit to your firm and other
research I have done, I am very interested in being considered
for employment with your firm in the future. I will be available
to begin work after I graduate in May 2005. As you saw from
my portfolio, I have developed strong skills in the area of
historical documentation and this is a good match for the
types of projects in which your firm specializes. I have enclosed
a copy of my resume to serve as a reminder of my background,
some of which I discussed with you when we met.
During the next few months I will stay in contact with you
in hopes that there may be an opportunity to join your firm.
Thank you again for your generous help.
Sincerely,
(handwritten signature)
Ross Vanover
Enclosure |
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| Sample 5.3: Follow-up
to personal contact |
|
909 Prices Fork Road
Blacksburg, VA 24060
(540) 555-1111
abcde@vt.edu
December 1, 2010
Ms. Marcia H. Meeks
30 Locke Lane
Richmond, VA 23219
Dear Ms. Meeks:
Thank you so much for your time and advice during my visit
to your office last week. I very much appreciate your inviting
me to visit since this was my first experience seeing the
hands-on work which takes place in a design department. I
learned a great deal, and hope to share what I learned with
members of our student chapter of the American Society of
Interior Designers.
After January, I will be in contact with you again to explore
the possibility of arranging a summer internship with your
firm. As I mentioned to you when we met, I had an opportunity
to work on an intense, four-day interdisciplinary project
judged by faculty in which my team received top honors. I
gained valuable teamwork, problem-solving and presentation
skills and learned to work effectively with students studying
to enter different professions. I believe my skills would
make me an asset to an organization like yours which often
must produce excellent work under tight time constraints.
Thank you again for all your help, and I look forward to
talking with you in the coming months.
Sincerely,
(handwritten signature)
Charlotte A. Leffen |
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