Use This Email Closer After a Job Interview to Up Your Chances of a Reply
You know the drill: You get all dressed up, show up prepared as ever, nail your interview (thanks, in part, to these killer HR tips), and then… nothing. You send a thank you email, but it seems to be to no avail: That once eager headhunter is NOT getting back to you.
You’ve followed all these steps, so you know they at least READ it… so what gives? According to a new study by Boomerang, it may be that you simply didn’t leave a lasting enough virtual impression.
In an analysis of 350,000 emails from 20 different online communities (sheesh!), Boomerang found a direct correlation to email closings and response rates. Of the eight most popular sign-offs in a formal situation (no “Love you baby”s here!), one closing in particular outshone the others in the top spots by as much as 14.5 percent. Check out the difference below:
RESPONSE RATES OF EMAIL CLOSINGS
8. “Best” – 51.2 percent
7. “Best regards” – 52.9 percent
6. “Regards” – 53.5 percent
5. “Kind regards” – 53.9 percent
4. “Cheers” – 54.5 percent
And the top three?
3. “Thank you” – 57.9 percent
2. “Thanks” – 63 percent
1. “Thanks in advance” – 65.7 percent
Notice a trend here? As Boomerang notes, “Closing with an expression of gratitude… correlated with a whopping 36.5 percent increase in average response rates (47.5 percent) compared to signing off another way.”
What’s more, a similar study in 2010 entitled “A Little Thanks Goes a Long Way” saw 69 students being split into two groups to write an email requesting help with a cover letter. One half was instructed to include the line, “Thank you so much!” while the other half did not. Guess which side got double the responses?
Huh. Who knew that all our potential employers (and everyone else) were after was a little thanks?
How do you close your emails? Tell us over @BritandCo.
(h/t Refinery 29, photos via Yuri Acurs/Getty)