The Follow Up

The job and interview search can be very intimidating, especially if you are a beginner. There are many different methods and advice regarding to how to follow on an interview and it can be a little confusing. Here are some tips in order to follow up on your interview in a successful manner!

There are two ways of following up that are very important – the email follow up and the physical follow up. Bottom line: an email follow up is EXPECTED.

An email follow up is a very simple way to follow up but is crucial for most employers to consider you as a candidate. Make sure that when you are interviewing, you receive a business card from the potential employer as a means of being able to reach out to him or her. After your interview you should follow up in the next 24-48 hours.

First comes the subject line. This can seem tricky, but you really just want to get to the point. It is often appropriate to make the subject line “Interview Follow Up” or “Follow Up for XXXX Position”. This gives the potential employer an idea of what the email is about.

Next, when writing the follow up email you should introduce yourself if you have not already contacted this person via email, then thank the potential employer for taking the time to interview you for the specific position that you applied to.

After that, you may want to mention something that you discussed during your interview such as a skill or quality that you possess and how it directly relates to the position that you are applying for and how you would make a perfect fit for the position.

Make sure to show your enthusiasm through your wording! Let the potential employer know that he or she is more than welcome to contact you with any questions regarding your resume and that you a looking forward to hearing from him or her soon. If there was any small talk that took place or you had something that you both related to (such as you both are NY Giants fans) you can always add in a “Go Giants” near the end of your email.

Close with a professional phrase such as “Best Regards” or “Best” and sign your name.

***BEFORE YOU SEND THE EMAIL DO A SPELL AND GRAMMAR CHECK***

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is sending a follow up email with a spelling error or grammatical mistake. It looks poorly on your part and will show that you are not detail oriented or that you do not have good communication skills.

After you have sent an email follow up, you have the option to send a physical follow up such as a thank you card. Although it is a small token, it really goes a long way and brings your professionalism to a whole new level.

It is less common to send a thank you card as a follow up, but it shows that you are very dedicated to the position. If there is a position that you are applying to that you are very interested in, it would be very beneficial for you to send the potential employer a thank you card.

Victoria Williams
Marketing Intern
Office of Career Services, The University of Tampa