Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Table of contents
Introduction
An informational interview thank you email is not only common courtesy, it’s an opportunity to remind the person you interviewed that you exist, and to pass on your contact details (including your LinkedIn profile) in a low key way. Not enough people do this.
The simple manners you learned at kindergarten apply to grownups too
From experience, when I’ve helped people and never heard from them again, I feel a little bit “used”. A few months ago, someone asked me for help. By chance they caught me when I had a window of spare time to help them. I not only helped them with their immediate problem, I also offered to coach them. And, crickets! That’s what you hear in the bush at night when nobody’s talking. Last week they sent me an “urgent” request for more help. Guess what they heard from me? Crickets!
So, you need to understand that the people you interview have feelings too. They might be billable at hundreds of dollars per hour. They’re likely to be busy. They have invested some of their precious time and expertise in you. You need to give them a return on their investment. There’s no greater compliment than knowing that someone has listened to your advice, acted on it, and that it played a role in their success.
So, keep the people you interviewed in the loop. It’s not just common courtesy, its a way to build a team of people who “champion your cause”. Think about it. How do you feel if you show the kid next door how to throw a ball or ride a skateboard, and they take your advice and improve because of it. Or you recommend a book to them and the next time you see them they’re reading it. Feels good right? Yep. It’s that simple. The simple manners you learnt in kindergarten apply to grownups too.
Writing style for an informational interview thank you email
I’m not a fan of the old fashioned formal business letter. I don’t think people write like that anymore. And I don’t think that people like to read formal business letters anymore either. These days, people are used to scanning blog posts and online news headlines.
For me, many of the b-grade old fashioned canned responses you find around the web are shallow, cliché, meaningless, not genuine and just sound cheezy. Yes. In case you were wondering. I do have an opinion on that!
The trick is to not be too “familiar” and to convey respect and gratitude while at the same time being friendly. That sounds hard, but it need not be.
Here’s a strategy for writing an informational interview thank you email.
Is there someone in your life that you really respect? Put a photo of them in front of you while you write it. Imagine you did your informational interview with them. Look at their photo and imagine you’re writing your thankyou email to them!
Informational interview thank you email example
Here’s an example of what an Informational interview thank you email could look like…
Subject: [Your name]— Informational interview thank you
Dear [person’s name]
Just a quick note to thank you for taking the time to speak to me yesterday. I really appreciate it.
It was useful to gain a better understanding of the way your business has implemented [topic 1] that I learned about in college.
Some of the aspects of [topic 1] that you spoke about confirmed what I had already learned in another information interview. I have already updated my LinkedIn profile to reflect my experience with that.
[Topic 2] was new to me. On reflection, it’s logical that would be important to a business in [sector name]. It is clear that I need to develop a better understanding of that. I have already found a video training course that I hope will bring me up to speed. Being useful aside, I think it looks really interesting!
I shall keep you updated with my progress. Thankyou once again.
Regards,
[Your name], email, LinkedIn, cell phone
That’s it. Your informational interview thankyou email done!
See also:
What is an informational interview?
How to prepare for an informational interview.
Informational interview email followup
How to conduct an informational interview