How To Write a Thank-You Email After an Interview

Whether you felt you aced the interview or bombed it, a thank-you note is critical to remain a candidate in competition for a job. I've listened to numerous executives in interview debrief meetings, and the one topic they always mention is whether they received a thank-you note.

Why? Recruiters and executives question a candidate's interest if they don't receive a thank-you note after an interview. But that's not all. A well-written thank-you note could turn around the perception of your interview.

Read on to learn why thank-you notes are important, plus how to write an effective one.

Why You Should Write a Thank-You Email

Thank-you notes—or emails these days—provide an opportunity to re-express your interest in the position and commitment to the interview process. Simply saying, "Thank-you for taking the time to interview me" or "I appreciate your team's investment in my candidacy" demonstrates gratefulness that someone or many people took the time to interview you out of a slew of other potential candidates.

Additionally, some executives may scrutinize your candidacy harder if they believe it will be too hard to convince you to jump to their company. Executives gauge your level of passion for the company, and they want to be reassured through the thank-you note that you still really want the job. A lack of a thank-you note could signal you are more passive in the interview process and passion from another candidate could trump your experience.

Writing a thank-you note also gives you a chance to clarify your skills and capabilities and how they align with the job. Incorporating details from your conversation shows you understand the company's challenges, what the job entails and how your skills and capabilities will bring value.

When executives interview several candidates, details to remind them of their conversation with you or clarify any potential misinterpretations could keep you in the competition and/or set you apart from other candidates.

How To Write a Thank-You Email

Start by expressing your gratefulness for the interview. Next, segue to how your skills and capabilities could fill a gap or alleviate challenges you learned in the interview.

You can also use the thank-you note to clarify answers you provided during the interview.

Here's how to tackle each part:

Subject Line

Write a straightforward subject line: "Thank you" or "Interview follow up." There is no reason to overcomplicate it.

Salutation

Write to each interviewer separately. If you are unable to obtain their emails, then write emails to each interviewer and ask the recruiter to forward them.

Start with Gratitude

Start with a quick one-paragraph lead-in that simply thanks the interviewer for their time. Gratitude goes a long way and shows your gratefulness that you were chosen out of hundreds, if not thousands, of other potential candidates.

Express how your conversation confirmed your belief that you would fit within the company and team culture. Choose one specific discussion point from the interview to anchor one of your values to the company's values.

Personalize Your Qualifications Through the Lens of the Role

Personalize the next paragraph(s)—a maximum of two—to what you learned in the interview and how your skills can bring value to the team to solve a problem for the interviewer.

Here are some tips:

• If the interviewer focused more on strategy, focus on the big picture.

• If the interviewer dug deep into the tactics, provide details of your execution capabilities.
• If the interviewer was a cross-functional stakeholder, explain how you would collaborate with the interviewer's team.
• If you need to clarify an answer you gave to an interviewer's question—or give more information—this is the place to do that.

End with a Call to Action

Thank your interviewer again and prompt them to follow up with additional questions. Include your phone number and email for easy communication. If you were talking to a recruiter who wanted to set up subsequent interviews, provide availability over the next week.

Thank-You Email Templates

Based on the vibe you felt during the interview process, determine if a formal thank-you email or a more casual thank-you note is appropriate.

Here is an example of how to write a formal thank-you note to a hiring manager where the focus of the interview was on mastery of stakeholder alignment and upskilling the teams' capabilities:

[Name of hiring manager],

Thank you again for your thoughtful consideration of my candidacy for the [job title] position. I appreciated the chance to meet the stakeholders I would interact with in this role. Their vision for the department aligns closely with my own values of collaboration, effective communication and inclusive leadership.

My innate curiosity has always helped me create deep relationships quickly through listening to stakeholders' perspectives and finding commonality in alignment with the company's mission. Further, my emphasis on personal and team development will ensure upskilling the teams' capabilities to effectively deliver on the company's goals.

I am very interested in continuing the conversation about this role. I'm confident I can bring value to [name of company] and work well with your leadership team. Please reach out if I can provide any further clarity from our conversations.

I look forward to hearing from you about next steps.

Best,

[Your name]

[Your phone number]

This thank-you note not only confirms the candidate's capabilities to do the job but also shows the hiring manager that the candidate heard the key areas that need focus.

Here is an example of how to write a shorter, more informal thank-you note to a hiring manager:

Hi [Name of hiring manager],

Thank you again for taking the time to interview me for the [Job title] position. I am excited about the possibility of joining your leadership team.

I understand it's important to upskill the team to ensure goals can be met in a timely manner. I pride myself on my coaching ability, which fosters a positive, inclusive and high-achieving culture. Additionally, I have plenty of experience aligning stakeholders to a common goal, which provides a "North Star" for teams to focus on.

Please reach out if I can provide any additional information!

Best,

[Your name]

[Your phone number]

Every thank-you note should be as unique as possible and sent to the applicable interviewer within 24 hours of your interview because they will be forwarded to the recruiter or hiring manager. So you don't want to write the exact same thank-you email to each interviewer.

Follow-Up Email to the Recruiter After Interview(s)

After each interview, take one more step and send a short follow-up email to the recruiter about how your interviews went with each interviewer and express your interest in next steps.

Hi [Recruiter name],

I wanted to touch base after my interviews with [Interviewer(s) names]. I truly enjoyed meeting each [Person or leader] and discussing their specific needs from this position.

The conversations felt organic and solidified my belief that I could collaborate well with [The leadership team / the team] to bring great value to the job and [Company name].

Please let me know the next steps in the interview process for this important position.

Best,

[Your name]

[Your phone number]

Approaching the Interview Process with Gratitude

Writing a thank-you email is critical to your continued candidacy. If you are not a clear and concise writer, consider having someone read the emails before you send them or using AI programs, such as ChatGPT or Swooped, to create a rough draft. Just be sure to edit and personalize it based on the position and information received in the interviews.

About the Author

Marlo Lyons is a certified career, executive and team coach and author of Wanted—A New Career: The Definitive Playbook for Transitioning to a New Career or Finding Your Dream Job. Marlo has spent more than 20 years inspiring, motivating and empowering people to excel in their careers and businesses. She helps leaders at all levels to achieve their desired career goals and empower their employees to reach optimal performance. Marlo developed Career Transition Strategies® from her experience coaching hundreds of clients in many industries, her role as a human resources executive in startups and Fortune 500 companies, and from transitioning from TV news reporter to entertainment lawyer, HR business partner and certified coach. Contact her at marlolyonscoaching.com.