Career aspirations are a topic that will come up often during a job interview. But unfortunately, many applicants are not prepared to do this! This guide will help you respond to âWhat are your career aspirations?â in an effective way. Not only will you learn how to answer this question, but youâll also get examples […]
The post “What Are Your Career Aspirations?” Answer Tips & Examples appeared first on Career Sherpa.
Companies are increasingly relying on project managers to not only manage projects but contribute to their organizational sustainability.
Where are the leaders?
In the past 30 years, the project management profession has evolved from more of an operational function to that of a true business leadership role. This has been brought about by targeted efforts from the Project Management Institute (PMI), but also by those organizations who realized that their non-project-related business processes were not as effective as they thought. This, coupled with a leadership vacuum that continues to plague our society in almost every area, has elevated the importance of project management to fill this void.
One of the key trends affecting companies’ ability to recruit, staff, and maintain leaders is the change in organizational design, not to mention the remote work reality. Managing an ever-changing organization is now increasingly dependent on leaders’ ability to adapt in an agile way to meet ever-growing client expectations and faster-evolving technologies.
Companies can leverage their multi-disciplinary project managers to not only meet this challenge but also contribute to business strategies, over-arching risk management, and long-term sustainability, whether in a direct project management role or not.
I myself have ping-ponged back and forth between commercial management, general management, and project management roles over my career, successfully utilizing proven project management techniques in each one. This allowed me to develop and grow at arguably a faster pace than I would have without this foundation.
As an expat for more than 20 years, the project management skill set was also quite useful to help my employers navigate the complexities of working and leading teams in such challenging countries as Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
This is why the profession continues to be one of the top transferable skill sets and why project managers are more in demand than ever. According to a recent study, there will be a worldwide shortage of project managers to the tune of roughly six million positions by 2030.
It is true that managing risk is a fundamental pillar of project management; however, many companies fall short of exploring risk management techniques as well as applying the risk management process to their business models.
In one instance, the company I worked for applied a simplistic heat map approach to managing risk which relied mainly on biased judgments from those whose inputs were based on historical data and their âgut feeling.â After all, as business leaders, they were paid to use their expertise and relationships to identify their risks and subsequent risk response strategies. They also only involved the project team once the project was awarded by the client.
While this has merit, it is a limited and purely qualitative approach that does not actually evaluate the risks based on their likelihood to manifest, the corresponding consequences, and associated monetary values. It also does not consider the cost to mitigate these risks nor the other types of risk response strategies such as sharing, avoiding, or transferring them. Finally, it does not calculate the residual values of the risks as some cannot be fully eliminated by employing one of these strategies.
On the same project, the company was very surprised that the sum of all of these values was almost double the amount of contingency that had been considered during the proposal phase.
A key value-add for project management is to perform risk reviews as early as possible, even before the commercial or bidding stage of the project so as to detect any potential risks, from proposal to project close-out. Both risks and opportunities need to be captured in all functional areas, as well as with key suppliers and select customers. In this way, the same risk register is used during the complete cycle and then serves as a lessons-learned asset for future business.
I have worked for a number of companies with varying degrees of maturity in project management yet I am still amazed by those who struggle to define what work is actually required to manage a project. Aside from not adequately listing the tasks, deliverables, and time frames, they also sometimes misalign or intermingle project activities with operational activities. This obviously creates confusion and additional stress for everyone involved.
Project management provides the work breakdown structure technique (or WBS) which covers 100% of the work and deliverables, but in a more manageable way, while also assigning resources and dates so that proper planning can occur. A project manager’s real worth is in developing and adapting the WBS to both the project requirements and organizational structure to cover the complete project cycle.
The project managers are also challenged to define clear roles and responsibilities for each task (RACI) so as to align the stakeholders. This will not only drive accountability but also more effective project execution.
While this sounds very easy and straightforward, the process can be a bit challenging when there is organizational misalignment, frequent client scope changes, and project teams scattered across locations, despite the remote team structures and technologies available.
I have seen cases where even those companies with robust ERP systems such as SAP and ORACLE struggled as they depended on the systems to effectively manage and integrate all of the project and operational activities. Without a skilled project manager and effective proper project set-up (WBS), even the best systems will not miraculously manage the projects by themselves.
As such, adaptability and the ability to quickly change courses (agile) are key skills the project manager should have to optimize project performance while maintaining strong leadership and client satisfaction.
One area of project management where a project manager really shows his/her value is stakeholder management. It really is an art form that requires not only a structured technique but strong business psychology acumen.
Since the project manager has a complete view of the project, they are in the best position to provide continuous leadership throughout the process so as to effectively align expectations, provide analyses, make more strategic decisions, and contribute to business continuity.
The key to effective stakeholder management is to not only develop a complete list of the key stakeholders but also evaluate the levels of power, influence, and stake that each has in the process. This is where business acumen and, notably, psychology are crucial as reliance on organizational charts alone may not tell the complete story, despite the hierarchy.
I have seen cases where the person at the highest level of an organizational chart had little or no influence at all on the project. The client’s technical subject matter expert was actually the one with the true power on the project; by ignoring or understating this fact, the project was blocked on a number of occasions.
Project managers can really add value in the process by becoming involved at the early commercial phases so as to understand the business context, top people involved, as well as the negotiation strategies employed which will be very valuable during identification and processing of Management of Change (MOCs) events.
Networking and interpersonal skills are crucial for a project manager’s success as they are usually the single point of contact that most will go to at any given point in time. This can provide invaluable opportunities to gauge real customer satisfaction and identify additional upselling opportunities as well as any potential risks or threats that may impact the project.
The main challenge here is to target the key stakeholders as it is impractical to interface with every single stakeholder on the project. A focused risk and opportunity-based filter would then provide the guidance needed to effectively identify the target groups.
As the old saying goes, change is a constant. Most project managers are particularly uncomfortable with change as it disrupts the great project plans they developed. This is where a mindset shift can really transform irritating project changes into business opportunities by removing the negative emotion and focusing on the real impacts of the changes.
I worked on a project where a client changed the part number and schedule sequence on a large industrial valve order which was being manufactured by our plant in Italy. The project manager at the plant simply refused to process the change, then arbitrarily issued a 50% processing fee with a six-week schedule impact to dissuade the client from implementing the change, rather than take a level-headed approach to see what other opportunities this could have created for us.
In this case, the change was clear; imagine situations where the change was not even detected by the project team and processed without any charge or schedule adjustment. This happened on another project I worked on where the company did not have a robust WBS nor clear scope to deliver. They preferred catering to the client’s needs rather than upsetting them by evaluating the change and determining any impact.
Finally, I worked on a project where the company was extremely well organized and immediately flagged every change, submitting variation order requests to the client. We probably received more than 50 changes on the project and the client became quite irritated at receiving 50 change order requests, rather than grouping the requests together and negotiating fewer amendments.
The MOC process is where a project manager can really shine as it does involve strategic negotiation skills which could impact the long-term relationship with key clients, not to mention operational planning and, frankly, the bottom line.
When involving a project manager during the initial commercial phases, practical MOC language can be introduced to cover how changes will be processed, including agreed time periods and approvals to proceed. The project manager’s knowledge of the scope, client, business context, and organizational fit of the project should guide the strategy during execution.
Everything is a project!
This may seem contradictory to what I mentioned earlier about mixing project and operational activities; but it really means that any specific business endeavor, whether internal or external, can and should be treated as a project, as long as there is a specific deliverable and target date identified.
Many companies have an internal project team or do consider initiatives such as plant expansions, asset pool management, and new office locations as projects that could be managed as projects. This can also be applied to process improvement initiatives which may target all or specific processes and parts of the organization; techniques such as Lean Six Sigma can be quite effective when working directly with the project teams to achieve the desired results.
Personally, I have been involved in a number of internal projects and they have been just as rewarding an experience as client-facing projects. The biggest challenges to internal projects are to ensure that each has a sponsor, a charter is issued, and a dedicated project team is assembled to drive the initiative. Even with these controls in place, accountability always seems to be an issue, mostly due to conflicts with the business, as business continuity cannot suffer as a result of the project. There also may not be a firm budget or hard schedule from which to work, making it difficult to show real progress and evaluate project performance.
In many cases, internal projects are also change management initiatives that require specific skills to successfully implement. Project managers have techniques and actual specific certifications which target organizational transformation and this is a trend that has picked up considerable speed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Forward-thinking organizations will and should rely on the project managers to thus manage these initiatives with these proven techniques while also challenging their top management to be accountable for these results.
As our profession continues to gain visibility and acceptance, the boardroom has now opened up for project managers and we have jumped right in to show our value to the organization!
One of the most rewarding aspects of my career has been the opportunity to participate in boardroom discussions regarding medium and long-term business strategies. When companies have asked for my input, I have been more than willing to apply project management techniques as well as my experience to contribute to the strategy.
As project managers, we have a natural tendency to walk people through a detailed process so as to gain buy-in, but also to show our level of competency to a certain degree. As natural communicators and, in an effort to ensure the entire situation is properly explained, we sometimes cannot see the forest from the trees.
At the boardroom level, the challenge is to be analytical and strategic while driving our point home in 2-3 PowerPoint slides (the 3 Cs: crisp, clear, and concise). This requires targeted stakeholder management, but also a deep understanding of the intended business objectives. We need to apply the risk management lens, lessons learned techniques, and, yes, not be afraid to question strategies.
We are quite effective at leading brainstorming workshops as we ensure there is a scope and time element to each one, along with the expected outputs (deliverables). The frustrating part can be the desire to get to the finish line in one or two sessions, whereas some initiatives may require several sessions to complete the roadmap.
The other advantage to the board is that we are an external element, yet part of the same company, so we can provide a more objective assessment of the topic or strategic component. The key here is for the project manager to stay on topic yet include a parking lot for issues to be addressed in a different session.
A recent trend is the creation of the chief project officer role which really ties all of this together, including the PMO, to the rest of the organization and those companies who have pursued this are reaping the full rewards!
Value-add has never been more important for companies and project managers can fill many of the current leadership gaps while also leveraging their interdisciplinary skill sets to drive organizational performance and sustainable change.
For those blindsided by a layoff or new to job search, you have some new skills to learn. Technically, we now are all faced with learning a new skill, AI. In this week’s summary, I share articles about: These carefully curated articles are written by talented authors! Follow them. NETWORKING Unlocking the Power of Connections: […]
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In the competitive world that we live in today, businesses that want an advantage over their competition need the best-trained and well-skilled staff, meaning that such employees are in high demand in different industries. Couple this with a tight labor market, and you can see why ensuring employees are happy and satisfied with the workplace […]
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Personal trainers embody key aspects essential for achieving successful fitness outcomes, including mentorship, motivation, and education. They play an integral part in supporting clients to discover their untapped potential for achieving optimal physical states. Examining the range of diverse responsibilities assumed by personal trainers offers insight into this complex yet fulfilling profession where success thrives […]
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The average full-time employee spends more time at work with co-workers than at home with friends and family. This can make for an unpleasant situation when we have one or more co-workers that we dislike.
It’s in everyone’s best interest to try to reach some common ground and make the work environment at least tolerable. So, how can you deal with difficult co-workers?
Here are five tips to help you deal with the difficult co-workers in your life:
If you find that a co-worker is always breaking bad on other employees and has a proclivity for office politics and gossip, try to distance yourself from that person. If you happen to share an office with the scandalmonger, try to only talk about work-related topics that are not personal attacks on other colleagues.
No one wants to be around someone who’s always negative and in a bad mood, so even if your difficult co-workers try to bring you down, think about the positives in your job.
If you’re struggling to see the silver lining, think about what this job allows you to do outside of work. Perhaps your income provides you with a few discretionary dollars that can be spent on a favorite hobby. Or maybe you have a real opportunity to grow your career at this particular company, and dealing with a couple of difficult co-workers is worth it to achieve career success down the road.
We’re at work to do a job, so focus on the tasks that must be accomplished and network with other people at your workplace who aren’t quite so difficult to be around.
It’s important not to be rude. Just try not to engage in more conversation than you need to.
Sometimes people don’t realize that they are perceived as being negative or a gossip.
In a non-confrontational way, pull the person aside in private and tell them that you’re really trying to be positive at work and could use their help. This tactic might be subtle enough to invoke a change in their behavior.
There’s no rule that we have to be best friends with our co-workers. You may find that you work with someone who you just can’t grow to like and that’s okay.
However, come to the realization that you do need to try to be professional and treat the difficult person with respect and civility. Continue to focus on your work and see if there’s something that you can learn from the difficult person, even if it’s just the fact that you don’t want to ever act like them.
We’ve all known the pain of dealing with a difficult co-worker. With these tips, we hope you can handle all the difficult co-workers you’ll come across in your career in a professional and effective way.
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As a career success coach, I’m always looking for new and different ways to get across my common sense ideas on life and career success.
I found some great career advice in a Denver elementary school a couple of months ago.
I was invited to see the Go For It! Institute’s program in action at a school in Denver. The institute teaches kids the value of things like a positive attitude, believing in themselves, positive habits, goal setting, and persistence.
Their work is based on ideas created by Judy Zerafa.
Success Tweet: Vision without action is a daydream. No matter how big your plans and dreams, they’ll never become reality until you act on them.
Zerafa has created Seven Keys to Success for young students. Check them out below!
Learn what attitude is, what aspects of your life are controlled or directed by your attitude, how to determine your attitude at any given moment, and what specific strategies make a positive attitude a permanent habit in your life.
Understand the nature of human potential through a simple process of identifying your personal talents and abilities. Develop academic strengths and personal interests to create personal fulfillment and economic opportunities for your future.
Understand the process of how habits are created. Learn to identify and remove self-defeating habits and create habits that will make all aspects of your life easier and more successful.
Learn the dramatic relationship between any current circumstances in your life and the choices that created these circumstances. Develop a personal proactive plan for desired outcomes through conscious, wise choices.
Recognize the difference between a wish and a goal. Make a commitment, plan, take action, and recognize completion.
Extend your physical ability to accelerate problem-solving and goal achievement in all areas of your life.
Track progress, develop the focus and determination required to succeed, create an attitude of gratitude as the access to fulfilling your dreams, and link the Seven Keys to Success together in everyday life.
Whatever you do, persist. Keep working toward your goals and dreams, and you will find career success. It’s only common sense.
The Go For It! Institute is in business to bring these keys to young people and their parents. But as a career success coach, I think they are important ideas for anyone interested in achieving career success.
The Seven Keys to Success bear a remarkable similarity to the ideas behind one of my four keys for career success: commitment to taking personal responsibility for your life and career success. Since we’re at Tweet 40 (of my book, Success Tweets), it makes sense to do a quick overview of my four keys to life and career success.
The “4Cs:” Clarity, Commitment, Confidence, and Competence.
Here they are in a little more detail…
Zerafa developed the Seven Keys to Success on which the Go For It! Institute’s program is based after interviewing 35 Horatio Alger Award winners. I think this is a brilliantly simple success formula. She is taking her positive message to kids and parents in an attempt at starting the success cycle early in life.
Successful people are self-confident and are committed to taking personal responsibility for their lives and careers. The Go For It! Institute’s Seven Keys to Success is all about taking personal responsibility for acting on your plans and dreams.
You will succeed if you have a positive attitude, believe in yourself, build positive habits, make wise choices, set and achieve goals, use your imagination, and persist.
I’m glad I was introduced to the Go For It! Institute and the great work they are doing with kids. I think their message applies to all of us. If you incorporate these seven keys into your life, you’ll be well on your way to creating the life and career success you want and deserve.
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
The organization invested in some expensive technology. Everyone was initially trained, but now it seems like certain groups arenât leveraging the system as well as they could be. Do you have a comprehensive training program?
Continual training is important because it provides employees with the knowledge needed to effectively use the systems. Proper training helps employees understand and stay current with the latest features, functionalities, and best practices of the system. This can lead to increased confidence and productivity to streamline their work. And when employees understand the system, they are more likely to use the system correctly, reducing the risk of mistakes and errors.
Did you know that individuals typically only remember a fraction (as little as 10% after two weeks) of the information from a training session? Everyone is unique and learns differently so offering a variety of training options can make the training program more inclusive. Plus, having multiple options is great for reinforcement learning. Also, individuals may be working remotely, or the organization operates in multiple locations. Some training options you may want to consider are:
1. Instructor-led training â recurring scheduled training sessions in a classroom setting where there is an instructor allowing for direct interaction with the students. These sessions may be in person or virtual.
2. Web-based training â training sessions such as videos that are recorded so that employees can access them at their convenience. This is great for employees who work âoff hoursâ or outside the main office. Some options are:
3. Written materials â some employees may prefer to read training materials on their own. This includes user manuals, online help, quick reference cards, or cheat sheets.
4. Train the trainer or SMEs (subject matter experts) within departments who can provide more customized training, especially for new employees.
When new employees join the organization, there are many concepts including systems, processes, and policies that they need to become familiar with. A lot of new information is coming at them and they will probably benefit from some ârefresherâ training for reinforced learning. Having training options that accommodate how they learn best can help them ramp up and become more productive faster.
Besides reinforcement learning, other times when employees benefit from training are when there are changes. When employees get promoted or transferred to a new department, theyâll need training to acquire the new knowledge needed to be successful in their new role. Also, most software vendors will produce a major release annually. You want to ensure employees can leverage the new updates which could be compliance or regulatory related.
Cybersecurity threats are still on the rise so make sure you have a rigorous security training program. It may include phishing awareness, social engineering awareness, and the importance of using strong unique passwords.
Create a specific training site on your intranet so the training resources are in one central location and are easily accessible to all employees. Itâs an easy way to make sure everyone has access to the most current versions of the training materials.
When the organization offers a comprehensive training curriculum, it shows that investing in the employeesâ personal development is important. They provide employees with the tools and resources needed to excel in their roles. Employees will appreciate these efforts, which can lead to increased employee morale and motivation.
For more information on investing in a comprehensive training program to maximize the use of your technology, follow me on LinkedIn!
When you work in an office, you’re used to seeing your co-workers every day. But when was the last time you bonded with them? What team-building activities have there been to strengthen your connection and improve the workplace culture?
If your office hasn’t made team-building activities a priority in the workplace, don’t worry. With more sunshine and nicer weather, summer is a great time to bond with your co-workers.
Here are five fun summer work activities that will bring your office together:
Everyone loves ice cream! While it may not be the most unique suggestion for a fun workplace activity, an ice cream party doesn’t require a lot of planning (or funds) and it’s always guaranteed to be a hit.
On a hot day, bring the office together with some sweet treats. Sit outside and soak up the rays while cooling off with a cone. To make sure no one feels left out, take note of any allergies or sensitivities your colleagues may have and offer enough safe options.
The great thing about this fun workplace activity is that it can easily be something you do regularly. Make it a monthly tradition to celebrate your co-workers and all of their hard work!
One of the best things about summer is the fresh food! Have fun and bond with your co-workers with an office bake-off (or cook-off) using whatever is in season. Whether it’s from a local farm stand or a personal garden, this activity will not only make you feel connected to your colleagues but to your whole community.
Want to make it more interesting? Make it a competition! Encourage everyone to bake or cook something, and then have people vote for their favorite dish or dessert. The winner could get a gift card, an extra vacation day, or just plain old bragging rights. You can even set some rules for everyone to followâdepending on how competitive your co-workers are.
Lots of fresh summer food and a fun competition to bring the office together? Sign us up!
Keeping with the food trend, a classic BBQ is the perfect activity to get to know your co-workers better. You could either do this at work or at someone’s house and have everyone bring a dish and their favorite lawn games.
If you decide a weekend day is the best time for a summer work party or BBQ, you can also invite family members to join in on the fun. While this type of activity requires more planning and resources than most other summer activities, it’s also probably the best way to bond with your co-workers outside of the office.
Think you might want to host a work party this summer? Don’t hesitate to send out your invites! Your co-workers won’t want to miss out.
Most people take a vacation during the summer months. So, why not use that as an opportunity to start a photo contest?
Whether it’s pictures of animals, family, nature, beautiful cities and landscapes, or adventures, have your co-workers submit a photo or two from their vacations this summer for a chance to win the office photo contest. Winners could receive a monetary prize or (with their permission) have their photo posted somewhere in the office or on the company website.
A fun activity like this lets employees show off their creative side, and it might even compel them to travel more and use up those vacation days they’ve been hoarding all year.
No other activity can help you bond with your co-workers quicker than playing a team sport together. If your company doesn’t already have a few sports teams you could join, start one yourself!
Common team sports like softball/baseball, soccer, basketball, and even dodgeball are all great options. Not only will playing a team sport with your co-workers strengthen camaraderie, but physical activity will help everyone stay in shape, which might in turn help job performance and employee health. Depending on how big your company is, you could form different teams for each department and play against each other or battle it out against other teams in your community.
Sound like fun? Grab your sneakers and gym bag and get your team together today! You won’t regret it.
Summer is the perfect time to bond with your co-workers over seasonal activities and fun competitions. If your office could use some fun team-building activities to boost morale, try one of the five summer activities above. Your teams will be stronger because of it!
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Your resume is the most important document to advance your career. And given employers will only scan it for about 7-10 seconds, you need to make sure you scream, âHere’s what I can do for you!”
There’s a difference between a resume that only showcases your personality and characteristics and one that demonstrates specific achievements and accomplishments. Unfortunately, too many resumes are filled with fluff statements anyone can say and they don’t really distinguish you as a top candidate.
A resume filled with terms such as “visionary” (how many of these do you really know?), “motivated,” “team player,” “problem solver,” “results oriented,” “dynamic,” and many other phrases are examples of overused words.
To avoid creating a resume complete with fluff, try to turn to marketable facts and quantifiable accomplishments.
Replace the use of terms that describe character with specific content to demonstrate how you accomplished or achieved something. Shed some light on your method of execution. A resume should not include soft skills.
For instance, to show you were “results oriented,” indicate on your resume how you increased sales in your department by XY percent within a year or increased the number of attendees to an annual conference by XY percent compared to previous years.
If you don’t actually have numbers, you can approximate percentages: “Introduced new procedures that slashed cycle times approximately 20%.”
These are examples of quantifiable accomplishments. Don’t be afraid to quantify your results on the job and prove you’re the best fit for the position.
Numbers and symbols quickly jump out at employers so use them whenever you can. Resumes have their own special rules and always show all numbers as digits as they catch the eye. Percentages are always best as they show the impact of your efforts.
For example, saying “increased sales $750,000 over prior year” is nice but to some companies that is petty cash and your company might not like your giving out their private information. It’s better to say, “Increased sales 43% over prior year.”
Simply avoid words that aren’t specific, such as “many,” “few,” and “several.”
The problem with writing responsibilities you held on the job is it doesn’t tell an employer how successful you were at executing your plans. An employer only cares about how good you did your job and how what you did can apply to the job they are offering.
Rather than list responsibilities, demonstrate your performance.
Statements like “consistently recognized for delivering quality results at less cost than budgeted” showcases your effectiveness, especially when you back that statement up with approximate numbers.
Today’s employers expect candidates to know basic computer skills and programs, so only list specialized technical skills that are relevant to the job. An employer does not need to see you know programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
Also, when you do list any technical skill, tell an employer how well you know the specific program by detailing what you may have created or done with it. Simply listing a specific program will not help an employer understand how well you know it or what your capabilities are.
Fill your resume with performance statements instead of fluff and you will see a dramatic improvement in your job search results.
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âWhat obstacles have you overcome?â is an interview question that trips up many applicants. But once you know what the interviewer is looking for, itâs actually quite easy to answer. This guide will teach you how to come up with an effective response to this question.. Why Interviewers Ask, “What Obstacles Have You Overcome?” Interviewers […]
The post “What Obstacles Have You Overcome?” Tips & Examples appeared first on Career Sherpa.
Sending a thank-you note to the hiring manager after a job interview is not only a kind thing to do but also a job search best practice. However, what you write in your thank-you note can significantly impact your chances of moving on in the hiring process.
If you make common thank-you note mistakes, the hiring manager might note consider you for the job. And there is one job interview thank-you note mistake that you should avoid at all costs…
@j.t.odonnell No. 1 Job Interview THANK YOU NOTE Mistake #thankyounote #thankyou #jobinterviewthankyounote #jobinterview #jobinterviewtips #interviewtips #interview #interviewtipsandtricks #mistake #mistakesweremade ⬠original sound – J.T. O’Donnell
The number one mistake that people make when writing a thank-you note is recapping everything they talked about in the interview and trying to resell themselves to the hiring manager.
In your thank-you note, you do not write an epic novel. You don’t tell them why you think you’re the best candidate for the job. And you definitely don’t mention something you forgot to talk about in the job interview.
A thank-you note is to do one thing: give thanks.
Here’s the simple thank-you note formula you should use after every job interview:
Dear [hiring manager’s name],
Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you about the XYZ position. I really enjoyed talking with you about [something you specifically talked about]. If there’s anything else I can provide to further my candidacy, please let me know because I would love to work with you.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
That’s it. Three sentences.
And just in case you’re wondering, send a thank-you note to everybody that you met with during the job interview.
Since your thank-you note is only three sentences long, you have the time and the ability to personalize that second line where you talk about what you enjoyed speaking with them about. If you met with three people, send three thank-you notes that are short and sweet, like the example above. You are showing your follow-through and your consistency, but also respect for the fact that your time to sell yourself was in the interview.
Your thank-you note is for showing appreciation. Don’t make the mistake of recapping the interview and trying to resell yourself. If you follow the formula above, you’ll write a thank-you note that will surely get you bonus points during the interview process.
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