How To Write A Thank You Email After An Interview (With Examples)

Sending a thank you email after an interview is a great way to make a final good impression on the hiring manager. Your letter should show your gratitude and express enthusiasm for the opportunity. To send this letter, you should first understand how to write a thank you email.

If you’re a job seeker who has some interviews lined up, we’ll go over how to write a thank you email after an interview, we’ll provide some example thank you emails, and some common mistakes to avoid when answering.

Key Takeaways:

• Sending a post-interview thank-you email isn’t just good manners; it’s also your chance to reinforce all the qualities that make you the ideal job candidate.

• To write a thank you email after an interview you should first open with gratitude and express enthusiasm for the opportunity.

• An Accountemps survey said that 91% of hiring managers liked being thanked after an interview.

• When you send your thank you email, make sure you don’t wait too long, don’t be overly eager, and don’t be too casual.

How to write a thank you email after an interview

When writing a thank you email after an interview, you should write a clear subject line that conveys your message and use a personalized greeting with the hiring manager’s name. While this information is largely geared toward a thank-you letter email, much of it can easily be applied to a phone call follow-up, as the same information should be brought up regardless of how you’re initiating contact.

Here’s a more detailed list of how to write a thank you email after an interview to give a final good impression:

1. Clear subject line. Your first step is to create a subject line that easily conveys your message. This should be short and to the point and you should avoid any puns or jokes. Some example subject lines for a thank you email include:

   • Thank you for your time and consideration

   • Thank you for the interview yesterday

   • Thank you for interviewing me for the [job title]

   • Nice speaking with you regarding [job title] yesterday

   • Thank you — [your full name, job title]

   • Thank you, [interviewer’s name]

2. Personalized greeting. You should use a personalized greeting instead of a generic salutation. You should use the name that the interviewer provided you with when you met. This could be their first name or a title. For example, you should use something like “Dear [hiring manager’s name].

3. Open with gratitude. This may sound simple, but make sure that you do in fact say “Thank you,” preferably near the beginning of the letter. Thank them first of all for taking the time out of their day to speak with you, then try to follow that up by mentioning something that you talked about with them.

   Specific details about the position could work here, but even better would be details from a more personal conversation that you may have had during your interview; a shared love of sports, or a TV show you both watched.

   Something that reminds the hiring manager that they liked you and had some sort of brief connection with you as a person, or that makes you stand out in their mind.

4. Express enthusiasm for the opportunity. Next, try to make some kind of impact on your hiring manager by talking about something job-related that you’re looking forward to about the prospective position.

5. Talk about working with them. Mention specifically that you’re looking forward to the possibility of working with them. Of course, if you’re emailing a recruiter or you wouldn’t be working with your interviewer, you can leave this part out.

6. Mention the job. Next, you want to talk about something specific to the job itself. Write about what drew you to the job and reiterate your relevant experience. Discuss what interests you most about the position.

   Anything you can think of that would continue to help humanize you as well as give the hiring manager more context for the experience that they already know you to have would be remarkably helpful here.

7. Wrap things up. Now you can start concluding your letter. What’s important in this section is that you make yourself available to your employer by giving yourself an excuse to restate your contact information.

   The easiest way to do this is to simply tell them that if they have any other questions for you that they can contact you at [insert your email address/phone number/contact info here].

   For most positions, the odds are very low that they will have any follow-up questions per se, but the offer helps make you seem eager for the position while still allowing them the space to contact you at their leisure.

8. Thank them again. If you can think of a non-awkward way to do so.

Examples of post-interview thank-you letters

Here are some example post-interview thank you emails to help you get started on yours:

1. Writer thank-you email example

   Subject Line: Thank You – Larry Burger, Textbook Writer

   Dear Dr. Spaceman,

   Thank you for taking the time to speak with me on Monday about the textbook writing position. I enjoyed our conversation and am looking forward to the possibility of working with you.

   I’ve been a textbook writer at Important Textbook Conglomerate, Inc., for over seven years now, and during that time I’ve contributed work to textbooks in nearly a dozen subjects. I’m very interested in the idea of writing for your company, specifically with the project you’re working on involving marine biology.

   Before our talk, I never realized just how much of a need there was for a textbook focused entirely on the similarities between deep-sea invertebrates and the domestic dog, but since we discussed it I just can’t stop thinking about it. A year ago I worked on a book that compared porpoises and domestic cats, an experience that I believe will help me bring a lot to the table when it comes to this new project you’re embarking upon.

   If you have any other questions for me, or if you’d like me to send you some additional writing samples, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me; my email is larryburger@notareal.email, and you can also reach me by phone at (555) 123-4567. Thanks again, and I hope to hear from you soon.

   Best,

   Larry “The Burgmeister” Burger
   Senior Textbook Writer at ITC

2. Project manager thank-you email example

   Subject Line: Thank You – Kate Grass

   Dear Mr. Marmen,

   Thank you for speaking with me today about the project manager position at XYZ Corp. Learning more about XYZ’s upcoming Big Media project was a real treat, and I’d be ecstatic to work on it and other projects with you.

   My experience in project management extends to tech projects like this, and having a technical background myself makes me confident that I could communicate with such a large and diverse team.

   I appreciate you considering me for this position and taking the time to talk to me this morning. I’m very enthusiastic to work together and look forward to hearing from you regarding the Project Manager position.

   Sincerely,
   Kate Grass

   kgrass@gmail.com
   554-443-3332
   www.linkedin.com/kgrass/

3. Marketing assistant thank-you email example

   Subject Line: Thank you for meeting with me

   Dear Mrs. Sajak,

   Just writing to thank you for taking the time to meet with me about the Marketing Assistant position. It was great learning how ABC’s Marketing and Product teams work together so closely.

   It sounds like a role with a lot of collaboration that would be very rewarding. My background in SEO and copywriting would be an excellent fit for the position you described.

   Thanks again for considering me for the role. Feel free to reach out to me if you need any further materials or have any questions about my application.

   All the best,
   John Timber

   john.timber@gmail.com
   999-888-7777

Why should you send a thank you email after an interview?

Sending a thank you email after an interview allows to you make one last good impression and it’s an opportunity to sell yourself for the job and to make sure the interviewer remembers you. Study after study has been done on the subject, and the numbers don’t lie; it’s always better to follow up a job interview with some form or another.

• A 2011 CareerBuilder survey of hiring managers revealed some interesting details about employers’ thoughts on the subject. According to the study, 22% of employers are less likely to hire someone if they don’t follow up their interview with a thank-you note.

• In a similar survey from Accountemps, it was found that 91% of hiring managers liked being thanked after an interview.

• Of the total amount who were surveyed, 59% rated sending a thank-you note as being “very helpful” in terms of increasing a potential employee’s chances of being hired.

Based on this information, there’s no reason you shouldn’t follow up in some form or another. But is one method better than the others?

Common mistakes to avoid when writing your post-interview thank-you email

Waiting too long to send your follow-up thank you email or sending a generic email are some common mistakes when it comes to sending a post-interview thank you email Here are some more common mistakes to keep in mind:

• Waiting too long to send it. If you fail to send your thank-you email within 24 hours of the interview, it’s probably too late. Refresh the hiring manager’s memory of who you are as quickly as you can.

• Don’t send generic emails. If you meet with multiple interviewers, don’t send the same message to each person. It looks lazy and unprofessional. Get business cards from everyone you meet and mention an anecdote specific to the recipient in each email.

• Don’t be overly eager. Enthusiasm is great, but don’t annoy your interviewer(s). One thank-you email within 24 hours and possibly a second follow-up if they don’t get back to you by the time they said they would.

  You want to seem like a good person to work with, and the person who sends a check-in email every 6 hours is not that person.

• Being too casual. Your interviewer may have been super informal and put you at ease during the interview. That’s great — definitely adjust the tone of your email accordingly.

  But even if the hiring manager is a surfer dude, you should avoid greetings like “yo,” sign-offs like “ciao,” emojis, gifs, and internet acronyms like LOL.

• Having spelling mistakes. Your thank-you letter shouldn’t have spelling mistakes or grammar errors in it. Some of the most common mistakes in follow-up emails would be misspelling the interviewer’s name or company name. Take a few minutes before sending it to read over to look for any errors. You can even have someone else look it over to catch anything you may have missed.

• Making your email too long or too short. There’s a sweet spot for how long a thank you email should be. You want to write three to four short paragraphs. Any more or less than that may not look good on your part. Be sure that your letter is concise and you only include relevant information.

What kind of follow-up should you send?

In the same Accountemps survey, hiring managers were asked about both which methods they preferred to receive follow-ups through as well as which methods were most commonly used. For both of these questions, the top answer was always “email”, followed closely by “phone”.

1. Email. This is faster than sending a letter, and time is of the essence here. Hiring managers and recruiters are used to receiving post-interview emails, so that’s where they’ll expect it.

2. Letter. There are a few situations where sending a follow-up letter might be better. If it’s a very senior position (we’re talking C-suite) or a very traditional industry or company, a card can be appropriate.

3. Phone call. If you decide to go with a phone call follow-up, keep a few things in mind. For one thing, the odds are that a phone conversation is going to be a lot shorter than any sort of email follow-up.

   • It just doesn’t make sense in most follow-up phone calls to talk about the specifics of the position, or to go on at length about things you’re looking forward to.

   • The hiring manager may not have the time in their day to have such a conversation, on top of which there’s the fact that a more natural conversation would just involve you reminding the hiring manager who you are and asking about how the hiring process is going in terms of that position.

   • The phone follow-up is listed a bit lower on the survey in terms of appropriateness, in addition to which you will have a harder time planning out your response in any real methodical way

Thank you letter email FAQ

1. Should I send a thank you email after an interview?

   Yes, you should send a thank you email to your interviewer after an interview. Sending a thank you email after the interview gives one final good impression to your interviewer. It’s also a way for them to remember you over the other candidates who did not send a thank you email.

2. How do you professionally say thank you in an email?

   Some examples of saying thank you professionally for an email include:

   • Please accept my deepest thanks.

   • I appreciate your time.

   • My thanks and appreciation.

   • Thank you so much.

3. How soon should you send a thank you email after an interview?

   You should send a thank you email within 24 hours of the end of your interview. You should send the email as soon as possible but within 24 to 48 hours should be the time limit for sending the email. This way you are still fresh in the interviewer’s mind when they read it.

4. Why is following up after an interview important?

   Following up after an interview with a thank you email can help leave a lasting impression on the hiring manager. It’s also a great way to show that you are interested and engaged in the process. Following up is also another great way to get the hiring manager to remember you over the candidates who didn’t follow up.

Final thoughts

For some people, following up on their interview will be a breeze. It’ll be a natural impulse for them; they’ll knock out the email in a couple of minutes, or make the phone call while barely even thinking about it.

For everyone else, the follow-up email or phone call is a source of much dread and anticipation. Either option may be equally anxiety-inducing, especially if you’re not confident in your writing abilities.

But if you follow our guidelines above, you’ll have no problem writing a perfect post-interview thank-you email. That will help you stand out with hiring managers and land more job offers, according to the data.

References

1. University of Minnesota – Thank You Letters

2. Robert Half – How to Write Thank-You Emails After Interviews

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.