Should you Send a Thank-You Email after an Interview?

Should you send a thank you note after an interview? Could a simple thank you email improve your chances of getting shortlisted for a job? How should you send it, and who should you send it to? To the HR or the manager who interviewed you?

If you are a job-seeker giving interviews to land the job that fits your skill set and interests the best, then these questions might be troubling you in the head. Keep reading to know the answers.

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If you don’t want to lose the job to someone else for the teeny-tiny reason that you didn’t send a thank you note after the interview, and the other person did, then you must do it. 

The time you put into posting it will be nothing as compared to the efforts you have invested in creating your catchy info graphic CV or the video resume, searching for the opportunity, or for that matter, traveling to the location.

Besides a simple gesture of politeness and good manners, a 'thank you' note can be your way of telling the employer that you are interested in the opportunity and willing to go the extra mile for it. Furthermore, some companies also think less of people who don’t do a prompt follow up after the face-to-face meeting. Therefore, a simple note can make you stand out among the several candidates who applied for the same position. It could serve as your last chance to bring up something that you missed to mention during the interview.

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One might say that a 'thank you' note will not make any difference in the selection process. If your credentials do not meet the job description, the employer is not going to hire you solely because you appreciated their efforts. While it might not, but it could still help the employer decide between two candidates who seem equally good for the job. It could assist the manager in zeroing in on the candidate who is interested and not just wasting their time.

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So, a 'thank you' note for an interview is not just basic courtesy; it also holds a self-serving purpose. If you are taking the interview, just send a short and formal note to the employer appreciating the opportunity offered and efforts put into your interview, and that you are looking forward to hearing from them. However, make sure you send it soon after the interview was held, ideally in a day or day, and do not add anything that makes you look desperate. If you have the email address, send it to the manager who interviewed you since, he, not the HR will be making the final decision on the recruitment.

Should you send a 'thank you' note after an interview or not?! Tell us what you think on the topic through your comments in the dedicated section below.

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