本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛大家都知道，面试后回到家中，应该立即给面试你的hiring manager写一个Thank-You Note，再次推销自己。对申请竞争激烈的中、高级技术或行政职位的人来说，Thank-You Note尤为重要。

来自国内的专业人士，英文口语大都较弱，但英文写作大都不差，为了弥补面试中口语表达的不足，就更应该重视这个面试后的Thank-You Note。一个漂亮的Thank-You Note，可以使你stand out of other candidates，不仅有利于加强hiring manager对你的信心，有时还能在面试后起到“扭转局面”的作用，成为你获得职位的关键因素。

然而，大部分求职者的Thank-You Note都有一个通病：过于简短，结构和用词落入俗套，内容干瘪，仅仅是直接或间接地重复resume的内容。这样的Thank-You Note不如不写，因为它除了费你一张邮票或让你跑一趟腿，基本不会对你获得职位起到作用。

据一位hiring manager说，每逢hiring season，他们都会收到不少这种Thank-You Note，基本上他们不会去读，而是直接丢进废纸篓。

怎样才能写出不会被直接丢进废纸篓的Thank-You Note？很遗憾，这没有固定模式，而要分析你的具体情况，然后充分发挥你的想象能力和写作天才，“八仙过海，各显其能”。但在写Thank-You Note时，请注意以下几个tips：

1．以personal letter的形式，将Thank-You Note写成Thank-You Letter。

篇幅过长（例如超过3页）固然不好，篇幅过短（不足1页）更是浪费时间。合适的篇幅应为2到3页左右。这里强调“篇幅适中的personal letter”，是因为，据一位hiring manager说，“As an interviewer myself, I share the experience with other interviewers. When I receive thank-you notes, I throw them away immediately. When I receive real letters, I can’t help opening and reading them…”。Personal letter的形式可以起到沟通感情、建立rapport的作用。

2．对未来老板的工作成绩或事业成就表示赞赏，这样能进一步沟通感情、建立rapport。但要发自真诚，恰到好处。切忌说过头话。

3．找出和未来老板的共同之处，更深一步地沟通感情、建立rapport。共同之处可以是shared vision、philosophy、work style等等。

4．清晰无误地列明你对该职位及其职责范围的理解。

5．再次强力促销你的soft skills （communication skills, personal skills, self-promoting skills and personalities etc.）和hard skills（工作经验）。如同在面试中回答behavioral questions一样，在推销自己时要举例子，例子不能和所申请的职位不搭边。关于如何应对behavioral questions，可以参考贴子“如何在北美找工作面试”。

6．再次表达你对获取该职位的热情。

Thank-You Letter的重中之重是要设法与未来老板沟通感情、建立rapport，这样就能使其在作hiring 决定时向你倾斜。对自我感觉在面试中发挥不太理想的人来说，就更应该写好这个Thank-You Letter。

再次说明，Thank-You Letter没有固定写法，要具体问题具体分析，要充分发挥你的写作才能。要逻辑严谨、用词得当、结构清晰，不要有语法和拼写错误。

下面是一封为hiring manager所接受的Thank-You Letter（摘自"55 Interview Traps"，下载网址：http://www.onlinetestprep.com/interview.html），以期激发灵感、抛砖引玉。这封Thank-You Letter的作者（中国同胞）申请的是北美一家上市IT公司的business analyst职位，她在竞争激烈的面试中表现平平，本来很难得到该职位，却得到了该职位，后来她的老板告诉她，是她的Thank-You Letter最终改变了他的hiring决定。请注意她在信中是如何对面试她的人表示赞赏，如何试图与面试她的人沟通感情并建立rapport，如何列明她对该职位的清晰的理解，如何表达她对获取该职位的热情，以及如何用一种轻松愉快的语调配以具体事例来强力促销她的soft skills和hard skills。

Dear Mr. [??? Last Name],

Thank you for spending time interviewing me yesterday. I very much enjoyed our pleasant meeting and am looking forward to the opportunity of working with you at [Company A].

I am most impressed by the amount you have accomplished in such a short time as the General Manager of Information Technology who heads up five divisions. This morning, I looked at the company's Web site again. The worldwide fiber optic network that [Company A] is planning and building brought me a strong feeling of connectivity, especially when I was looking at the network plan to connect China where I was born, and North America where I received my higher education. I remain very interested and enthusiastic about the business analyst position and believe that my education, professional experience, leadership competencies, and strong work ethic will definitely be great assets for [Company A].

I understand that you are seeking a business analyst/project manager who shares your vision and is open to implementing creative and cutting-edge changes. I share your vision and am looking for such a professional opportunity in the telecommunications field. I am looking for one that will allow me to create and implement policies and procedures to ensure the efficient use of internal resources, to refine and improve internal processes and to coordinate and build relationships at all levels including operations, enterprise planning, IT systems and corporate senior executives teams. I will be supporting internal IT projects, analyzing business information, gathering/documenting requirements and specifications, creating work plans, directing technical resources, tracking the progress of projects, communicating results, preparing ongoing assessment summaries for the senior management team and ensuring all projects are completed within the allotted timeframe.

My formal education and training in engineering and business management, particularly in telecommunications, together with my working experience involving almost every aspect of the business cycle including design, production, business analysis, project management, sales, and marketing have equipped me with strong interpersonal, facilitation, negotiation, leadership and written communication skills. I understand business/technical concepts and terminology, possess the ability to quickly understand and articulate business issues and goals, and effectively build up relationships at all levels of an organization and am able to manage multiple projects concurrently.

I share your philosophy about the importance of communication skills. I understand that in business, good communication skills are not only the way that we express ourselves, but also, more importantly, the way that we work with people. I would like to share with you some of my philosophies that have evolved from working at [Company B].

I helped start [Company B] from the ground up and expand the company into one that provides 13-language Website translation and promotion services to clients worldwide. Our continuously improving communication skills play an important role in this progress.

One of the skills that I have learned from work is the importance of keeping clients informed.

One example is when we were working on the project for [Company C], a logging equipment manufacturer in the UK. One of our translators in Argentina experienced an emergency in the middle of the work and it became impossible for us to deliver the service within the time schedule. Thanks to the telecommunications industry, I was able to call and email the client, keeping them informed of our progress. Although our work was delayed for a few days, the client understood our situation, and as a matter of fact, was quite satisfied and returned for more service. He told me that what made him happy was the way I kept them informed during the process. I believe that keeping people informed helps establish close client relationships. I also ask my employees to keep me informed so that I know what they are doing, where they are heading, and how I can integrate their individual work into my planning.

Another important skill I have learned is to put myself in somebody else's shoes when communicating with them.

One of our largest clients is [Company D] located in New York. They made an inquiry about our service, indicating that they planned to get part of their 500-page Website translated and promoted in three languages. The challenge was that they had a tight budget for the Internet marketing campaign. I organized a team of people analyzing their business and market needs and made a proposal. We earned the initial business and went on to receive repeat business. Later, the marketing director told me that they actually approached a few of our competitors before coming to us. What made us earn their business was neither our price nor our résumés; we won their business because we put ourselves in their position by analyzing their business and translating the needs into a proposal that worked within their budget, while other companies only submitted their quotations or pricing information. This experience taught me the importance of understanding the client's perspective and is something I use to guide my work on a daily basis.

Establishing personal relationships with clients is another communication skill I have learned through experience. As a manager, I truly understand the importance of this skill. [Company E], an Internet company based in Victoria, British Columbia, is one of our largest clients. I regularly visit with the managers even when there is no urgent business to discuss. Personal visits show my respect to them and help me to establish a good working relationship. The close personal relationship smoothens our business relationship and makes my daily work much easier.

One of my strengths is the ability to motivate staff from different cultural backgrounds to work together to achieve a common goal. At [Company B], I manage 26 translators, eight proofreaders and five programmers who are based in different countries. Working with translators from one country requires a different strategy than working with translators from other countries. When I tell an American translator to correct a mistake, he/she may delightfully follow my instructions and make the same mistake the very next time. If I tell a Japanese translator to correct a mistake, he/she may feel embarrassed about the mistake and then quit the job. If I tell a German translator to correct a mistake, he/she may become angry and argue with me for the rest of my life. If I tell a Mexican translator to correct a mistake, he/she may simply ignore me until I threaten to fire him/her. I have realized that my level of cultural familiarity and ability to keep an open mind has helped me to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.

My greatest success has been in transforming individuals into a working team and turning new programs into highly effective operations. Maintaining an attractive and stimulating physical environment is one of the keys to the success of the operations.

I like the dynamic and fast-paced environment in your IT group. Though working at a big start-up company could be frustrating sometimes, it is also challenging and rewarding. I would appreciate you giving me the opportunity to work with you and to grow with the company. I enjoy learning and am looking forward to the possibility of this challenge.

Thank you very much again for considering me for this position.

Best regards,

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