Interview skills: Writing a follow-up email after an interview

So, you had a job interview and you think it went well. Now what? Awaiting results following an interview can be tough but one way to ease some of your worries and increase your chance of being hired is to send a follow-up email. Let’s look at the most important things to include in your follow-up email.

Summarise the interview

Include the position you applied for, reiterate your key skills, mention two or three accomplishments that are related to the job. Say something that you learned about the company that shows you were listening.

Jog their memory

Remind your interviewer what you said during the interview. Add any thoughts that occurred to you after the interview. Revisit an answer you were not happy with and reinforce what you really wanted to say.

Be a problem solver 

Listen to their problems during the interview and suggest solutions during the interview and in your follow-up email. Mention one or two problems you have solved for other companies and how you could do the same for this company.

Write a proposal

Follow up with a proposal or sample article that shows you have learned about their needs and you can help. Sometimes they have an objection and think you cannot do the job. Show them how you would handle it by writing a proposal and then calling them to set up a meeting to discuss it.

Next steps: Build relationships

You won’t always get the follow-up interview or the job offer. Regardless, it is important to stay in touch with the hiring managers who interviewed you. Contact them once a month. Keep them in your network. Send occasional articles or links to information that would be useful to them. You never know what may happen. Sometimes the person they hired does not work out. Sometimes the hiring manager learns of another position in a different department.