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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Followup Letters Win Job Offers

Follow-Up Letters Win Job Offers

A surefire way to separate yourself from a sea of other qualified candidates is to write a follow-up letter after an interview. Most job seekers neglect to write a letter, assuming that once they leave the interviewer's office the interview is over. Well, it isn't. The interview process extends beyond the one-on-one meeting and it is up to you to keep your candidacy in the forefront of the decision-maker's mind.

An effective follow-up letter serves two purposes: (1) It reminds the interviewer of your skills, knowledge and abilities; with the number of candidates they are interviewing, it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. (2) It demonstrates that you remain interested in working for the company and that you were impressed by the organizational culture.

There are several slants the follow-up letter can take, including the following:

• Thank the interviewer(s) for the time they took to meet with you and for giving you the opportunity to learn more about the organization and the open position.

• Reiterate your interest in the position and draw parallels between what you have to offer and the organization's immediate needs.

• Address a concern that came up during the interview or offer new information to a question that was asked during the interview.

Most job seekers don't follow up because they don't want to do the wrong thing. So instead of risking making a bad impression, they choose not to follow up at all. Common questions most job seekers have about following up include:

1) Should I e-mail, hand-write, or type, print, and mail my follow-up letter?

The answer is, it depends. With so many ways of sending communications, you may feel confused as to how to send a follow-up letter. Send an e-mail when a hiring decision is going to be made within the week. This will ensure that your letter gets read before it's too late. A handwritten note works well if you have nice handwriting and if you're sending a card with a quick note; I wouldn't recommend handwriting a note on loose-leaf paper. My favorite, if time allows, is a typed letter that you send through regular mail. The reason why I prefer this method is that it is easy to for a decision-maker to delete an e-mail but most likely, a snail-mailed letter will end up in your file. Again, a snail-mailed letter is not always possible, so do the next best thing and e-mail the letter instead.

2) After interviewing at a company, should I send a letter to all interviewers?

Yes. You should send a letter to each interviewer because each one has his/her own concerns and reasons for participating in the selection process. For example, a direct supervisor may be looking for a new hire that will make her look good to the powers that be. On the other hand, a peer will be looking for a coworker he can get along with when participating in work activities or when grabbing a beer during Friday night happy hour. Having two different audiences means that you canâ€"and shouldâ€"create two different follow-up letters.

Sample Follow-Up Letter

Ms. Barbara Cortes
ABC Corporation
876 Lakeland Street
Hauppauge, NY 11787

Dear Ms. Cortes:

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me regarding the paralegal position at Collado, Collado, & Fiore, LLC. After meeting with you and discussing the set requirements, I noted several similarities between your requirements and my past experience.

From our discussion, it seems you are seeking a paralegal that has experience in supporting trial proceedings by organizing evidence for case review; preparing exhibits; maintaining relationships with experts; and scheduling witnesses and ensuring they are present and ready when needed. In my current position with Allen & Associates, I am required to perform all those responsibilities in addition to juggling and managing numerous legal tasks.

Be assured that I can be counted on to get the job done under demanding schedules, and I would enjoy the opportunity to do the same for your organization. What you will expect and get from me as a member of your team is dedication, enthusiasm, and professionalism.

Again, thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I remain interested in participating in the next round of interviews. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Michele Martinez

Final thought

Don't underestimate the power of an effective follow-up letter. They have been known to win job offers.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

The Secret to More Winning Trades is as Simple as Avoiding This Common Mistake

If you're a normal human being, your need to feel good about yourself probably causes you to sell your winners too soon â€" and -- your need to avoid feelings of regret, causes you to hang on to your losers too long.

At one time or another, we're all guilty of letting our emotions dictate our investment decisions. But the only way to succeed in the market, is to keep greed, fear, pride and hope away from your trades.

The most successful investors know exactly when they're going to sell a stock, the moment they buy it. Often they use "trailing stops" which move along with the closing price of the stock. It's a purely mechanical decision they make as an impartial observer â€" and never based on feelings or instincts.

How many times has "fear of loss" caused you to sell a stock that brokeout the next day? Have you ever "fallen in love" with a stock â€" "hoping" it would breakout after an initial 10% pullback, only to end up losing your shirt? Has "greed" kept you in a stock where you wanted 50%, not 20% -- only to have the bottom drop out in a week, letting your profit dissolve into a loss? Have you ever held on to a loser because you wanted to prove your initial "instincts" were right after all?

By pre-determining the maximum amount you are willing to lose on a stock or fund, you can't really get hurt. Equally important, this simple, proven strategy keeps you in a profitable investment so you don't sell too soon and miss out on profits.

In a hypothetical example, let's say you begin with $25,000 in a variety of stocks and funds. The first year was good and you made 25%. Now your portfolio is worth $31,250. You do the same the following year and now your portfolio is worth $39,062. Then the third year you lose 50%.

That would put the value of your portfolio back to $19,531 â€" which is less than you started with. Just one year's loss can wipe out two years of great gains.

Now let's say you had used the "trailing stop" strategy during these years...

You had the same $39,062 at the beginning of the third year â€" but â€" you were using a 15% "trailing stop". As soon as the value of your portfolio dropped 15% to $33,203, you would automatically been stopped out, and would have locked in a profit of $8,203. I'm sure you'll agree, that's quite a difference!

Do this with just a few of your stocks or funds, and you can see how you can easily pocket thousands of extra dollars â€" while simultaneously minimizing your losses.

The "trailing stop" strategy is a time-proven tool for completely eliminating any emotions from dictating your investing decisions. The only problem is that it requires a lot of your time and a lot of work on an ongoing basis. If you have 25 different stocks, you may have to make 25 new calculations every single day.

The GOOD news is that now there is a new software program that automatically does all the tedious calculations for you. It can prevent you from taking big hits that can hurt you â€" while simultaneously letting your winners ride. Plus, you can now accomplish all this in about 10 minutes a day.

The program, "STOP-Master Portfolio Manager" is a great time saver. It monitors up to 50 positions in your portfolio. It automatically grabs current stock prices off the internet ... recalculates new trailing stop SELL prices as needed ... and completely updates your entire portfolio. When one of your positions hits your pre-determined SELL price, you are immediately signaled with a Pop-Up Alert. Then, simply instruct your broker to sell. No emotions. No needless losses. Greater gains.

© 2004 Empire Direct, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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