Increase Your Odds Of Landing a Job Offer...In Just 5 Minutes

Increase your chances of landing the job you want by 20 percent...in just 5 minutes

So, you sent in your resume and were invited to interview for the position. Especially when you think you have found the job that it perfect for you, it's so easy to wish for a magic spell or trick you can do that will increase your odds of getting the job offer.

Believe it or not, there is something you can do that will raise your chance of being offered the job, and it doesn't even take very much effort. And no, it isn't wearing your lucky socks to the interview or wearing a special amulet. To improve your odds, all you have to do is write a thank you note immediately after your interview.

Believe it or not, employers still appreciate the professional courtesy of a thank you for giving you the opportunity to interview for the opening. Not only that, but a thank you note shows that you have a firm understanding of follow through and professional etiquette. When you pay attention to that type of detail, the interviewer gets a lasting impression of you as being someone who is really serious about wanting that particular job.

The biggest question now is, should you send a hand written thank you note through the mail or is an emailed thank you note just as effective?

It really depends on the type of company you are interviewing for and the industry you work in. If you are looking for a job at a company that makes use of social media and has a reputation of using technology to simplify their workload, for example, a company that has a paperless office or other tech friendly policies; an emailed thank you note would be prefered. However, if you are interviewing at a small office that prides itself on providing a personal touch for their clients, then you are better off sending a hand written note.

If you aren't sure which way to go, you should probably opt for the emailed thank you note. Most interviewers aren't opposed to receiving it via email and there are many who actually prefer it that way. Although, if you are interviewing for an executive level position or the like, you may want to send a hand written note on nice stationery.

Even though the job market is slowly improving, there is still a great deal of competition for every job opening. The job market is definitely an employers market right now, and job seekers are having to work harder than ever to stand out.

When you are writing your thank you note, be sure to briefly restate your qualifications and your excitement about the job opening. You can also include anything that you forgot to mention during the interview. For example, if after you left, you regretted a certain answer or felt that you didn't mention something that was important to your candidacy, you can touch on that as well. Even with all of that information, you still want to keep the note very short and to the point. Remember, it's a thank you note, not a thank you short story or thank you novel.

The easiest way to keep it short and sweet is to write down all the things you want to say, and then edit it down to the basics. Once you have come up with the text of your thank you note, proofread it several times. Double check to make sure that you have spelled the interviewer's name and the company name correctly. You can prepare ahead of time by asking the interviewer for their business card at the end of the interview, or if you don't have a card, check out the company's website or their corporate directory.

If you opted to send a hand written note, try to mail it out on the same day that you interviewed. It's a good idea to keep some professional stationery, pens and a book of stamps on hand so that there won't be any delays in getting it out in the mail.

Once you send the email or drop the letter in the mail, you can breath easy knowing that you did all that you could to land the job.

Do you typically send thank you notes after interviews? Let me know in the comments.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for PhillyJobsBlog, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.