How to Write a Follow-Up Letter

Video Transcript

"Hi. My name is Pat Goodwin. I'm with PatGoodwinAssociates.com. I'd like to talk to you today about how to write a follow-up letter. A follow-up letter is typically written as a result of having an interview with someone, having a networking meeting, having an informational interview. There's a reason to follow up, because that shows your level of professionalism. You're level of follow through. So, let's look at the components of a follow-up letter. You would want to have at the top of that follow-up letter the same type of information that you have at the top of your resume: your name and contact information. Then to the right you would have the date, the name of the person you're sending it to and then you would have dear, Miss. or Mrs. or the first name. We're going to talk about first about type written or word processed follow-up letter. I would encourage you to say in the very first paragraph Dear Sally or Dear Ms. Smith it was a pleasure meeting you to discuss the opportunities that you have with such and such company. After interviewing with your firm I was more impressed with the culture and the individuals that I met and would welcome an opportunity to have further discussions. I believe or the position for blah, blah, blah is a position that I believe I would bring value to and you might want to bullet a few things that would be; you believe would set you apart. So begin to think about what separates you from someone else. That's what the information you want to send in a cover; or a follow-up level. If you are writing a hand written note, which is also extremely professional you want to make sure that you can have in two or three sentences why you're following up. Dear Miss. Smith thank you for the opportunity to visit with you regarding the project management position. I believe that my skills and expertise would be of great value to your firm. It was a pleasure meeting the other staff and I look forward to hearing you; from you and thank you for your strong consideration. A follow-up letter is extremely important for you to convey your enthusiasm, your confidence, your ability to do the job. So, if a hand written note is not quite long enough then you might want to send or mail a thank you follow letter in the form of a type written or word processed letter. If you find yourself doing that in a, versus email, go ahead and attach your resume, because they may have interviewed five or ten or fifteen people and then they get this email attachment of a thank you note and they read it, but they can't quite remember who you are. Go ahead and attach your resume. Hopefully that will help you to think about the components and some general descriptions of how you can write an excellent follow-up thank you letter."