Sample Thank You Letters

Long, clunky thank you letters are a thing of the past. Employers are busy people and e-mail is becoming the preferred medium to deliver thank you letters. Even when mailing out these kinds of letters, you need one that is short, concise and powerful.

In order to write a strong thank you letter, break it up in to three parts:

The first section will be thanking the company/interviewer for the time. Thank them for the opportunity to interview for the position and mention any things you might have enjoyed. Use this section to get the “pleasantries” out of the way.

It’s up to you to be as formal or informal as you want in your letter. This decision will depend on the type of position you are applying for and the culture of the company that you noticed during your interview.

Second is to build the body of the letter. This is the most crucial part of the letter. In this section you want to bring up things that were said in the interview and also refer to your skills.

If possible you should be able to remember specific things from the interview to include.  These would be things like certain skills the employer was impressed with or certain qualities they were looking for.

Reflect on the interview to help you decide which skills are most important to highlight. Your goal is to let them know you are ready and willing to help, learn and grown in their company.

Use these types of phrases in this section –

“During the interview you mentioned____”

“While we were going over____”

“I remember you saying that ____”

“Because of my strong ___ skills I think I would be a great fit to help this company achieve ____ that you mentioned yesterday”

Third, close by again thanking the employer for their time. Mention that regardless of the outcome, you enjoyed meeting and speaking with them.

End your letter in a way that has them contacting you. For example “I look forward to hearing from you” or “I hope to hear from you soon”. Put it in their mind that they should contact you. Make sure to include your contact information in a presentable way that’s easier to read and notice.

Free thank you letters examples:

Dear (insert employers name)

Thank you very much for having me in come in to discuss the ____ position. I really enjoyed speaking with you and learning more about the company. I think the ___ project we discussed is a great step forward for this company.

From what I took away from our discussion, this position seems to be a great match for my skills. Thinking about ___ and ____ that you mentioned, my ____ skills have me extremely excited to show you how I can positively contribute.

Again thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you

(If physical letter, sign your name here)

Your name

Contact information

You can use the following type of letter to express gratitude for someone’s time or perhaps to thank someone for giving you an opportunity.  These types of letters can be well received after volunteer or short term positions.

Generally your tone will be more casual and there isn’t any specific things you need to include.  Try and be genuine and express your gratitude for being able to work & learn with them.

Another example:

Dear ____

Thank you so much for _____.   I had a great time working with you and appreciated all the guidance you had to offer.

Im looking forward to working with/seeing you again. Again thank you for the help/guidance/opportunity, it was greatly appreciated!

Best regards,

Your name

You will need to edit this letter to your situation. Change the language depending on what you are thanking the person for.

The main things to keep in mind are to first thank for the task, highlight some things you appreciated and close by thanking them again.

Sending by email

When sending by email, keep the subject line simple.  Something simple like “Thank you” works fine as a subject line.

Try to keep the length of the letter in check while sending by email. Handwritten letters can be a little longer but since most people skim through their email keep it short and to the point.

You should send off a letter after all interviews, good or bad.  They are great ways to build relationships on the professional side of your life. Use these free samples to help get you started.

 

2 Comments

  1. Patryk Mlynarkiewicz December 8, 2014
  2. Rahul Yadav March 2, 2017

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