Tip No. 156
Q. I have recently found a new position and have heard that I should send a thank you letter to the people who helped me in my job search. Can you tell me more about this type of letter? Can you help me understand who I should be sending the letter to? Should people that interviewed me be included?
A. It is true that you should prepare a letter to send to all of the people who assisted you throughout your search to thank them for their help. You will also need to tell them of your new position and include all of your new contact information. You should offer to return the favor, or assist them in the future if they have any needs you can help them meet. This is part of planning for your continued career success, by maintaining your network and it just shows them you're a good person. It's simply good manners. The letter should follow regular business format and should be printed on your resume paper. You may even want to include one of your new business cards. This thank you letter you send out needs to go to anyone with whom you networked or from whom you received advice or guidance as you progressed through your career transition, even if you had already sent them a personalized, handwritten thank you letter after you talked with them before. I see no reason why you shouldn't send one to the people who interviewed you for other jobs as well. This will keep them in your network; and if later on they have a position to fill for which you would be a good candidate, they may try to recruit you. It could lead you to the job of your dreams on down the road or allow you to return the favor and refer them to someone who might be interested in the job, if you are not. "Giving back" helps you to maintain your network and if you ever need their help again, it will be easy to ask for assistance. Of course, a letter to those who interviewed you for jobs will be a bit different than a letter to those with whom you networked. For networking, you will be thanking them for their ideas, support, guidance, counsel, and the referrals they provided. For each person, you may want to mention something that was especially helpful to you in your job search. For those you interviewed with, you will be thanking them for considering you for their position and you may want to mention something you found interesting about them or their company, or mention something you learned from them through the interview process. Congratulation on your new position!
CMI Career Management International
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