An Interview Strategy That Impressed Me

Let's face it. No matter how great your resume is, if you don't interview well, chances are you won't get the job. There are many tips and strategies to help a person ace his/her interview, but there is one strategy that impressed me so much, I still remember it -- 10 years later.

Last year I was reminded of this strategy when I was asked to serve on an interview panel at a local university. During the session, we panelists were asked if there was anything that really stood out during our experiences interviewing candidates. I immediately thought of an individual I interviewed about 10 years ago while serving on an interview panel comprised of about 6-7 individuals. A couple days after this person's interview, each panel member received a personalized, handwritten thank you note. However, it wasn't just a generic thank you note; in each person's thank you, this candidate specifically mentioned something that each of us had asked her during the interview.

We all know the importance of a thank you note, but the fact that this person wrote each of us individually and wrote a personalized note to each of us was noteworthy. So noteworthy, that I remember it 10 years later!