Re: Interview Etiquette

[David Locke <dlocke -at- BINDVIEW -dot- COM>]

The primary purpose of a thank you letter isn't to thank them for
interviewing you, but to sell. Most of the content needs to be directed at
reiterating your strong points and overcoming objections. You can tack on a
thank you as a last paragraph.

One thing we tend to forget to do during an interview is to close the sale.
We need to be more aggressive about taking a sales approach to getting a
job. Use the telephone to find businesses that need technical writers. Use a
telemarketing script. Write down what the people tell you about their
current and future needs for technical writers.
And, even if you are not a consultant and that is what they want, take notes
and share the information with other technical writers in you network. Don't
just wait for the job bank, the newspapers, or the search engines. Once you
get an interview, think of it as a sales opportunity. Frame everything you
discuss relative to the customer's needs and build a buy. Then, right before
you leave, ask for the sale. And, follow up with a letter reiterating the
offer.

I actually got another interview six months later, because of the "thank you
letter." And, in another job, I discussed how to proceed and time frames as
if I already had the job. And, yes, I got that job.

David W. Locke

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Allard, Patricia [SMTP:Patricia_Allard -at- TVRATINGS -dot- COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 1999 10:06 AM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Re: Interview Etiquette
>
> I just can't resist replying to this one!  I always wrote thank-you notes
> immediately following an interview until I was hired by a boss that said
> "Never write a thank-you note for an interview.  You are thanking the
> interviewer for doing their job and it is condescending and ingratiating."
>
> I'm not quite sure how she found it condescending, but I learned a
> valuable
> lesson.  She nearly didn't hire me based on that factor and it turned out
> to
> be a great job and a great experience.  Just in case there are other
> prospective employers out there who are highly offended by thank-notes, I
> have chosen not to write them.  Maybe others have had the same
> experience.....or maybe you just can't win!
>
> Pat Allard
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
> =
>
>

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=