A phone interview is often the initial step to get in the running for a job. If you impress during the phone interview, you can land yourself the opportunity to that in-person meeting. While securing a job offer is a lengthy process with many steps involved, each phase is critical and professionalism should come through at all times. After a phone interview, write an email thank you note to all the contacts you spoke with. According to a 2011 U.S. News & World Report article on acing phone interviews, it should be done fast -- within one to two hours after the call.
According to Forbes, remember to keep track of people you spoke with and their titles. You can simply ask for a business card for an in-person interview, but when it's conducted over the telephone, you can follow up with the receptionist or the main contact you have been dealing with for help to obtain full names, titles and email addresses.
Step 1
Send a personalized email to each person you spoke with on the phone interview entering "Thank you!" in the subject field of your email.
Step 2
Express your appreciation for each person's time for the telephone interview in the email. For instance, "Thank you for speaking with me today regarding the XYZ position with your company."
Step 3
Tell your contact how interesting you found the discussion and highlight one to two key points from it to reinforce what you have to offer in the email. Refrain from using the same message for each contact, according to a 2012 Forbes article on sealing the deal after an interview. For instance, you can state, "I enjoyed learning more about the position and I'm excited about the two product launches timed for the second half of this year. During the past 10 years, I've been involved in the launch of several successful products. I hope to have the opportunity to apply what I have learned from these experiences to your product launches." For another contact, you can tweak it to say, "... This is going to be an exciting year for 123 Company with two product launches. I've successfully launched dozens of products in my career and hope the experiences and skills secured can be shared and utilized with your team."
Step 4
End the thank you email message with a note indicating how you look forward to moving ahead with the next steps of the interview process. You want to reaffirm your interest in the position, according to a 2012 Forbes article on nailing interviews. For instance, "I look forward to moving ahead on the next steps of the interview process."
Step 5
Sign off on the email thank you notice with "Sincerely," and your full name and phone number.
Tips
References
Tips
Writer Bio
Wendy Lau entered the communication field in 2001. She works as a freelance writer and prior to that was a PR executive responsible for health care clients' written materials. Her writing experience include technical articles, corporate materials, online articles, blogs, byline articles, travel itineraries and business profile listings. She holds a Bachelor of Science in corporate communications from Ithaca College.