Sending a thank you note after your interview or phone screening with a hiring manager is a crucial step in the hiring process. Apart from the general good etiquette of the practice of writing thank you notes, they are another opportunity to interact with the hiring manager while they screen other applicants and eventually make a decision about whom to hire for the position. Use our Pro Tips as a guide to writing a thank you note following your interview.

Pro Tip: Timing is everything

We at Resume Yeti recommend that you send a thank you note to your interviewer either the very same day or the day after your interview. You’ll want to give them the impression that you enjoyed the interview and that you’d like to move forward with the hiring process. Writing a prompt thank you note to the hiring manager is a great way to prove your genuine interest in the position and company. If a couple days have gone by and you’ve just realized you haven’t written a thank you note yet, you should still send one over. Sending a note a little later is certainly better than not sending one at all.

Pro Tip: Remind them why they should hire you

In your interview you probably made a case for why the company should hire you. When you write a thank you note to the hiring manager, you should summarize this pitch in one or two sentences, alongside expressing your gratitude for their time and consideration.

Pro Tip: Tell AND show

Often during interviews, you talk about successful projects you’ve completed yourself or that you’ve been a part of. Sometimes there is no way to quickly access a project in your portfolio in the moment when you’re talking about it with the hiring manager during the interview. If you discussed any past projects or items in your portfolio during the interview, your follow-up thank you note is a way to provide that access to the hiring manager.

In general, It’s important to have your portfolio uploaded and ready to be viewed online. It makes it convenient for you to share it easily on the spot if you need to. In your thank you note you can say something like, “I wanted to pass along the links to the projects we discussed during the interview. The first project ________ can be seen here [insert URL], and the other one, _________ is available here [insert URL].” Provide the name of the project and the year, as well as a link so the hiring manager can view the projects at their convenience.

If you’re stuck on formatting your thank you note, you can check out these different examples for various purposes. And before you hit “Send” on that email, be sure to read over these quick tips:

Quick Tip: Use your professional email address
In a world where it’s so easy to switch between accounts and be connected across multiple devices, sometimes you can accidentally send a professional email from one of your personal accounts. Do a quick double check to make sure your “sent from” address is the right one.

Quick Tip: Spell and grammar check.
It’s an obvious tip, but you’d be surprised how many people send grammatically incorrect emails with spelling errors. Spell/Grammar check is just as important in professional correspondences as it is in your resume writing.

Quick Tip: Check your valediction
Make sure to sign off cordially, using valedictions like “Sincerely,” “Regards,” or “All my best.”

Quick Tip: Update your signature
In addition to their name and phone number, many people include links to their social media, website, portfolio, current organization, or LinkedIn in their automated signature. Double check the links in yours to make sure they are up-to-date and functioning.

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“What’s your biggest weakness?” is one of the most difficult questions to answer truthfully and genuinely in a job interview. It’s one of the most anticipated interview questions; there’s a strong chance you’ll be asked about your weaknesses. Yet many people feel that it’s uncomfortable and near impossible to answer this question. Why is it so hard to talk about our weaknesses?

No one wants to readily highlight their flaws to a hiring manager. But there is another motive behind inquiring about weaknesses. What the hiring manager really wants is to gauge is whether you’re aware of your own work habits and tendencies that could use some improvement. They also want to see if you know how to take the initiative to address your weaknesses.

Instead of viewing this question as the one where you throw yourself under the bus in front of your potential employer, think of it as an opportunity to show both your maturity and desire to grow as an employee. The key is to state what you believe your “weakness” to be, and then immediately acknowledge that you know how to improve upon it, and that when given any opportunity, you take the necessary steps to correct it.

Below are some examples of common workplace “weaknesses,” and Resume Yeti’s Pro Tips on how to improve these answers if the question comes up in your interview.

Your Weakness: “Sometimes I have been late on assignments because I take on too many projects at once.”

Pro Tip: I’ve always been a great multi-tasker, but sometimes I bite off more than I can chew. There are occasions when I misjudge the amount of time I need to complete a project, and that can throw off my whole workflow. I am working on my time management, though. Once I realized that I could juggle multiple projects, I started building in buffer time to my schedule so that if anything should come up during the course of a project, I have ample time to address the issue and still complete the project in time for the deadline.

Your weakness: “I can be disorganized”

Pro Tip: As a creative person, it’s always been hard for me to stay organized. I’ve been working on my organizational skills by implementing color coding in my calendars and files as well as exhaustive To-Do lists. These strategies are successful because they play into my creativity, and I’ve found that the secret to staying organized is staying consistent.

Your weakness: “I’m bad at public speaking”

Pro Tip: I think to a certain extent, everyone struggles with speaking or giving a presentation in front of a room full of people. Public speaking has always been a skill I’d like to improve, and I know one of the best ways to do that is to engage in it more often. Another way to improve is to make sure that I know the material inside and out. Each time I’m assigned with a presentation or a task that involves public speaking, instead of worrying about the speaking aspect, I pour all my energy into making sure I have everything practiced and memorized. I feel with each presentation my public speaking skills improve.

Your weakness: “I’m a procrastinator”

Pro Tip: When I was a student, I used to procrastinate on assignments. After college, this habit carried over into my work life too. However, I realized very quickly that procrastination hindered my workflow and I figured out a system to budget my time accordingly so that each project could be finished not just on time, but before the deadline.

Your weakness: “I prefer to work on my own because when I work with a team, there are always problems with the project’s final outcome.”

Pro Tip: Delegating tasks on a collaborative project has always been difficult. Yet teamwork is such a crucial part of any workplace and any workflow. To make delegating various aspects of the project easier, I started making spreadsheets to visually divide up the workflow. This visual aid helps to envision the breakdown of responsibilities on the project and also helps avoid confusion if collaborators have questions about what their specific tasks are. It also leaves room to include extra tasks so that if anyone finishes their section earlier than the other collaborators, they will know the next item on the agenda to push the project workflow forward.

Your weakness: “I’m a perfectionist”

Pro Tip: I strive to ensure that every detail on a given project is as close to perfect as I can make it. I know that perfectionism often comes at a price; to agonize over each small detail of a project can also put the project behind schedule because of the extra time it takes to go over everything multiple times. As I’ve grown as an employee, I’ve worked out a system so that I’m nearly satisfied with details the first time around, so I only must check once more before submitting the project to be sure that it’s perfect.

 

Out of these examples, the most important common element is that none of these explanations of a “weakness” are negative. The trick is to express a skill that you’ve been working on or you need to work on in the future, and explain how you plan to go about doing that.

Remember, the best way to have a successful job interview is to practice and prepare for any questions you anticipate. Make a list of questions you think you’ll be asked, and practice answering them in front of the mirror or with a friend. Another great resource is to check www.glassdoor.com/ and see if anyone has listed the interview questions they were asked at the company you’ll be interviewing for.

 

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Whew! You made it through the interview and it might have actually gone well! Great, now what? Post-interviewing protocol is really fairly flexible. At the very least I like to see a thank you note come thru via email. I’ve also had interviewees go so far as to send fruit baskets. Obviously a fruit basket is not necessary, but it is fun and will certainly make you remembered. I’ve always felt an email thank you note does the trick. While snail mail is more sincere and requires more effort, the interviewer may have already decided on candidates to be moved forward before your thank you note is received. Other great post interview ideas include sending portfolios, putting together ideas to advance the company – showing what you’ll bring to the table, and even sending a 3-month/6-month/year plan over revealing what you plan to do for the organization and how you plan to do it.

10 Things To Do After The Job Interview” can give you some great ideas for your next steps!

Join the 20,000+ who have found jobs with Resume Yeti’s help!!! Resume Yeti provides clients with a 65% greater chance of making it through an applicant tracking system.*

Our clients:

  • Are regularly complimented on their resumes by hiring managers
  • Typically land interviews to 1 out of every 3 jobs they apply for
  • And frequently accept higher-level, higher paying roles.*

As you build a resume you will receive pro tips and keyword suggestions to help guide you. You will be able to create a matching cover letter and business card. Additionally, with a professional and lifetime membership, you can create an online professional portfolio – a place to download and share other documents with hiring managers. You will have the ability to make your profile public or private depending on where you are in the job search process.

Head on over to Resume Yeti from a laptop, desktop or tablet to see what all the buzz is about!

*Statements are based on pre-launch research and are not a guarantee. Results may vary.

Interview Tips & Advice | Resume Yeti | Professional Resume & CV Optimization
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Never go to an interview without at least 5 prepared questions! Keep in mind that some of your questions might be answered during the course of the interview so you’ll want to have back-ups so you can ask at least 3 questions at the end. This also means that if you’re interviewing with two different people at two different times you will need to ask six total questions – and I typically advise that you ask each person different questions. It’s best if you can ask some general questions as well as some that are specific to the company and even the hiring manager that’s interviewing you.

10 Job Interview Questions You Should Ask” outlines some of the more general questions you might want to ask during an interview.

Join the 20,000+ who have found jobs with Resume Yeti’s help!!! Resume Yeti provides clients with a 65% greater chance of making it through an applicant tracking system.*

Our clients:

  • Are regularly complimented on their resumes by hiring managers
  • Typically land interviews to 1 out of every 3 jobs they apply for
  • And frequently accept higher-level, higher paying roles.*

As you build a resume you will receive pro tips and keyword suggestions to help guide you. You will be able to create a matching cover letter and business card. Additionally, with a professional and lifetime membership, you can create an online professional portfolio – a place to download and share other documents with hiring managers. You will have the ability to make your profile public or private depending on where you are in the job search process.

Head on over to Resume Yeti from a laptop, desktop or tablet to see what all the buzz is about!

*Statements are based on pre-launch research and are not a guarantee. Results may vary.

Interview Tips & Advice | Resume Yeti | Professional Resume & CV Optimization
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What you wear to an interview matters more than you might think. As a recruiter I can tell you how many times someone would come into an interview wearing a mini skirt and a bright pink top – an outfit that screams “I’m not professional”. Or possibly I’d have an interviewee wearing khakis and a sweater when I made it clear that the dress code was business professional. Either way, what you’re wearing, even down to what colors you choose says a lot about you. Your outfit just needs to convey that you are taking the interview seriously and that your personality will blend well with the company’s culture.

In “The Best and Worst Colors to Wear to a Job Interview” Vivian Giang briefly summarizes what your interview day outfit color choice will convey to your interviewer.

Join the 20,000+ who have found jobs with Resume Yeti’s help!!! Resume Yeti provides clients with a 65% greater chance of making it through an applicant tracking system.*

Our clients:

  • Are regularly complimented on their resumes by hiring managers
  • Typically land interviews to 1 out of every 3 jobs they apply for
  • And frequently accept higher-level, higher paying roles.*

As you build a resume you will receive pro tips and keyword suggestions to help guide you. You will be able to create a matching cover letter and business card. Additionally, with a professional and lifetime membership, you can create an online professional portfolio – a place to download and share other documents with hiring managers. You will have the ability to make your profile public or private depending on where you are in the job search process.

Head on over to Resume Yeti from a laptop, desktop or tablet to see what all the buzz is about!

*Statements are based on pre-launch research and are not a guarantee. Results may vary.

Interview Tips & Advice | Resume Yeti | Professional Resume & CV Optimization
Read More