Should you send a thank you note after a job interview. heck, ya! One way to make yourself stand out during the recruiting process with a German company is to send a short thank you note after you’ve completed an interview. Some people claim that their well-written thank you note helped them to land their jobs! Some companies even consider it bad form if you don’t send a thank you note either.

Recommended Reading: Our guide to acing German job interviews.

So why should you send a thank you note after a job interview? While it’s not mandatory, expressing your appreciation shows that you’re interested in both the role and the company and are keen to move forward. Best of all, it will help you stand apart from other candidates. Your interviewers will remember the gesture and positively associate it with you.

Thank you notes are good for other reasons, too. You can also use them as an opportunity to ask further questions, advise of your availability, and provide additional feedback about your interview experience. They also show that you’re a polished professional.

Much different than cover letters, thank you notes are short, sweet, and easier to write.

When Should You Send A Thank You Note?

It’s best to send a thank you note only when you’ve done a more in-depth interview with the company’s people team or the hiring manager. There’s no need to send it after the first screening call or at every stage of the hiring process.

Imagine if you have five rounds of interviews and you send out five thank you notes. Saying thank you so many times will be too much and worse yet, make you seem too pushy or insincere.

Use Our Thank You Note Template

Send a thank you note after a job interview in Germany by using our template. To make things easier for you, here’s a sample thank you letter that you can use as a basic guideline to copy and paste and then customize as needed:

Hi <insert name>,

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I’d like to say thank you for such a great interview today.

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I enjoyed meeting the team, learning more about the job and company, and seeing the office space. I was especially impressed to observe the team working together, the high levels of collaboration, and the open feedback culture. I remain quite interested in the position and being part of your organization.

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I can be available anytime for a call or in-person interview provided I have at least 48 hours’ notice. If you have any other questions or concerns, let me know and I’ll get back to you right away.

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I look forward to hearing back from you.

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Kind regards,

<your name>

The Structure Of A Thank You Note

To break it down, here is the structure of a thank you note:

1) Begin with a salutation. You may need to be more formal here and follow formal German greetings and begin your note with “Dear Herr Scholz” or “Dear Frau Merkel”. Trust the German language to be difficult to navigate, as it gets even more complicated when someone is a doctor. Read this Lingoda guide for the lowdown on German letter writing. 

2) A general thank you for the time they spent with you. Let them know that you appreciated the interview and learning more about the team and the company.

3) Tell them exactly how much you enjoyed the experience by mentioning specific things that impressed you or resonated with you. You could mention that you liked their inspiring office space, how the team works together to build new products, or how the company takes care to ensure that all employees have a work-life balance. 

4) Ask further questions and/or provide feedback (optional). If you have any more questions about the next step in the recruitment process, the role, or the company itself, this is the chance to ask for more information. If there was something about the experience that you think the company needs to hear about, you can talk about that. 

5) Inform them you remain interested.

6) Let them know about your availability.

7) Say that you welcome feedback, and invite further questions or any remarks about how you did. 

8) Close with something like – regards, kind regards, sincerely, etc., as well as your name. Note, there is no need for a signature, even a digital one. 

Thank You Note Tips

Other things to consider when writing a thank you note after a job interview:

1) Get that message out the door as soon as possible. Send it within 24 hours of when you’ve had the job interview. 

2) Send the thank you note to the hiring manager and not to the recruiter as you can’t always be sure the information will get to them. As such, it’s best to ask for the hiring manager’s contact information during the interview. If they are hesitant to provide these details, it’s no big deal – just send your message to the recruiter.

3) If you have feedback on the interview process, make sure it’s constructive and keep it polite and professional. Face it, not all interview experiences are good and if something doesn’t feel right, you should let the company know. I once took part in an interview where one of my colleagues made the candidate cry because of their badgering question style. Being a skilled interviewer is not something that comes naturally to everyone! I had to take over the situation and steer it back to a productive state. While I made sure to never involve that colleague in future interviews, if I’d been that candidate, I would have provided some constructive feedback to the People team. 

4) If you don’t hear back after a week or so, follow up to find out where they are in the decision process and indicate your interest. Whatever you do, don’t follow up too many times, as this is again something that will be perceived as too aggressive.

5) If you receive a rejection, thank them one last time and ask them to keep you in mind for future opportunities. Conclude your relationship on a positive note, as you might want to apply for another job there at a later date.

Sending a thank you note is just one part of your job search strategy. Read more on our Your Career in Germany page.

While a thank you note may feel old-fashioned or too formal, you can’t get away with not sending one these days. After you’ve rocked your interview, close the deal and send the hiring manager a thank you note.