Looking for a job is not easy, but you must remember to do after interview follow-up. The follow-up is where you cement a good impression and provide extra support to statements made during the interview. Always remember the phrase – “the dollars are in the follow-up.
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When doing post-interview follow up, you must know how to follow up on email politely.
Sometimes during an interview, the interviewer will ask you for more information, references, test results or school transcripts. On other occasions, the interviewer will send you an email to ask you questions or for more information. When this happens, you must know how to follow-up on email politely. This means you start by addressing the person who sent you the email in your response. Do not just start writing your response. Instead, use a salutation like you would do on a traditional letter. This means you would start the email follow-up with me as follows: “Dear Janeane” or “Dear Mrs. Davis.”
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After you great the recipient properly, explain why you are writing. Use a phrase like, “I am writing to respond to your request for . . . . ” This lets the reader know right away what you want. If the person is very busy or is interviewing several candidates for the position, she may not remember off-hand why you are writing. This simple little sentence started gives your reader a foundation for the information to follows and lets her read your correspondence with ease and comfort rather than the stress of wondering what you are writing about. It is good to give someone who stands between you and the job you want a sense of ease and comfort.
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The old rules for etiquette and grammar still apply.
When corresponding via email, respond in full sentences and be sure to spell each word correctly and check your grammar. It is much harder to believe that you have great attention for details and work diligently to do a good job if your email is riddled with typos and grammatical errors. Your email message is another way of giving a good impression, showing your personality and showing the interviewer your best characteristics.
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When sending a follow-up email is to avoid the texting shortcuts that are commonly used when speaking with your friends. This means you would not respond, “TTYL.” Instead, you would say, “I look forward to speaking with you later.” Texting language and shortcuts are perfectly appropriate for text messaging, but not for email correspondence. Think of email correspondence the same way you think about other forms of written correspondence. Show it the same respect and treat it with the same dignity. After all, email correspondence is electronic and in the cloud so it will last long after the device we used to create it has gone away.