Recent Master of Public Health Graduate Searching for Jobs; Need Advice on Second Post-Interview Follow-Up Email

[PublicHealthGrad123]

Hi! I am a recent Master of Public Health graduate on the search for jobs. I had my second interview for a position I really want a little over two weeks ago (let me know if it would be helpful for you to know what the position was). I sent my interviewers a "Thank You" note immediately after I interviewed with them . They replied back thanking me for my time and for interviewing for the position and that I should hear back from a team member after they have completed the interviewing process. During the interview, they said that I should expect to hear back in a few weeks either way. I have not heard back since their reply to my "Thank You" email. I am planning on following up with them this week, but I would like some feedback on my follow-up email.

My draft email is posted below:

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Subject: Thank You: Following Up Regarding Interview

Dear [INTERVIEWER 1] and [INTERVIEWER 2],

I hope you had a great weekend and that this email finds you well. Thank you again for considering me for the [NAME OF POSITION] position at [PLACE OF EMPLOYEMENT]. I want to follow-up regarding my interview and candidacy for this position. During our interview, you mentioned that I should expect to hear back either way in a few weeks. I want to express my continued interest in the [NAME OF POSITION] position. What excites me most about this position is having the opportunity to learn about both global and domestic public health initiatives while sharpening my data management and analysis skills under senior biostatisticians. I would like to reiterate and emphasize the following skills and attributes that I can bring to the position and the [NAME OF TEAM] team.

· Detail-orientation necessary to query data for completeness and accuracy and to prepare data and databases for statistical analyses

· Experience creating surveys and entering survey data in REDCap and moving a project from Development to Production ([NAME OF EXPERIENCE] experience at [PLACE OF EMPLOYEMENT]); eagerness and aptitude for learning new programming languages and databases (SQL and Oracle)

· Problem solving skills to understand and debug programming code

· Scientific writing skills for contributing to data reports and statistical methods and results sections (Wrote Results section for [NAME OF STUDY] study and Results and methods sections for [NAME OF STUDY] study)

· Organizational skills and ability to submit high-quality deliverables in a timely manner (Student Consultant roles)

If you require any other information from me to help with your decision making process, please let me know. I can be reached at [MY PHONE NUMBER] or via email at [MY EMAIL ADDRESS].

If I don't hear from you in another week or so, would you mind if I send another follow-up email?

Thank you once again for your time and consideration,

Sincerely,

[MY NAME]

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A person who suggested this template suggested that the subject line be:

Follow Up to [INTERVIEW DATE] Interview

However, I thought that reminding my interviewers of the date I interviewed with them would sound a little pushy, especially since I mentioned in my body that during the interview, that they mentioned that I should expect to hear back either way. Any thoughts on this? 

Any feedback regarding the content of my email will be appreciated!

Thank you for all of your help, and thanks for reading!

[PublicHealthGrad123]

I cleaned up the email since I last posted. Here is the latest one: 

Dear [INTERVIEWER 1] and [INTERVIEWER 2],

I hope you had a great weekend, and I hope this email finds you well. Thank you again for taking the time to meet with me on [DATE] and for considering me for the [NAME OF POSITION] position. I want to follow-up regarding my interview and express my continued interest in this position. Through my research experiences and consulting coursework, I developed a passion for collaborating on multi-disciplinary teams and providing support in research methods and data analytics to improve the health care of pediatric patients, their families, and various populations.

I would also like to emphasize the following contributions that I can make to the position and the [NAME OF TEAM] team.

·       Experience creating surveys and entering survey data in REDCap and moving a project from Development to Production; eagerness and aptitude for learning new programming languages and database systems (SQL and Oracle)

·       Programming and problem-solving skills developed from manipulating data and conducting statistical analyses in a variety of data sets, the largest being one with over 20,000 responses, using arrays and macros in SAS

·       Scientific writing skills acquired from writing Results and Results and Methods sections of two separate manuscripts.

·       Scheduled calls as a student consultant with teammates and the client to ensure that deliverables were to the client’s satisfaction. Kept teammates in the loop on project objectives and ensured that team deliverables were handed in on time.

If you require any other information from me, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at [PHONE NUMBER] or via email at .

Thank you once again for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Name]

If you have any advice regarding my email, please comment on this one. Thanks! 

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by PublicHealthGrad123

[juilletmercredi]

I don't know if you've sent the email yet, but for posterity, here are my thoughts. I am a hiring manager in industry.

1) The entire email is unnecessary. They haven't forgotten that you interviewed, and if they have not contacted you yet, that means that you haven't gotten an offer (yet). The best thing to do after having already sent a follow-up thank-you email is to move on until/unless the company contacts you.

2) If one insists on sending a follow-up email, it should be short. If I'm hiring for a position, I am doing that on top of my already demanding job, and my time for reading emails is limited. Not going to lie, if I opened this one, I'd very quickly scan it then immediately close it. (Or if I have time, I might respond with a quick "Thanks for your contact, no decisions have been made yet, sit tight until we reach out.")

I know that this is contrary to what a lot of career sites say, but in my experience as an actual hiring manager, these second follow-up emails are never helpful. I already know that you're qualified for the role; we interviewed you. I don't need people to reiterate the skills that they would bring to the role especially after we've already interviewed them, because we've already made a judgment on that either way. Presumably, all this was either on your cover letter or resume when you applied and/or we talked about in your interview. Ironically, the only thing that is useful in the mail is hearing that are you still interested and excited in the position (e.g., you don't have another offer that I have to worry about competing with somewhere else, or that this is still a role at the top of your list.)

If you insist upon sending a follow up, I'd suggest that you cut it to this.

 

Dear [INTERVIEWER 1] and [INTERVIEWER 2],

I hope you had a great weekend! Thank you again for taking the time to meet with me on [DATE] and for considering me for the [NAME OF POSITION] position.

I wanted to follow-up regarding my interview. I so enjoyed getting to know your team and learning more about the role; I am really excited about the prospect of this position. May I inquire as to when you might have a decision? <- because let's be real, this is what you really want to know.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions! I can be reached at [PHONE NUMBER] or via email at .

Thank you once again for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,