MBA Interview Preparation Part 4 – How to Thank Your Interviewer

4th in a 5-part series on MBA interviews

By the time you’ve finished your final interview, we are sure you would have heaved a huge sigh of relief, thrilled to be done with this long and exhaustive MBA application process. But before you close the door on your application, there is one last thing you should think about–thanking your interviewer.

This action, while simple, can end up confounding many. Some applicants end up sending out a convoluted thank you note, or an overly eager page-long email that negates their positive interview, while others don’t send one at all.

While not a requirement, sending a thank you note is a gesture that shows you appreciated the interviewer’s time and valued the experience. It’s also a chance to cement their impression of you and to follow up with questions.

Let’s talk about how to ace that thank you note so you can finally relax.

1) Brevity is the soul of wit:

Your thank you note should be succinct and to the point. Think sonnet, not Hamlet. Be direct, sincere and well-spoken, just like you were in your interview (hopefully!)

2) Connect the dots:

If you spoke about something personal, you can (briefly) refer to it. If they mentioned something you hadn’t heard of, you can talk about how, post the interview, you researched it. Be specific to your conversation. Include a detail that stuck with you, something that interested you, or something you bonded over. Don’t just say “I’m so glad we both love cricket”, but do include something like, “Our conversation about monetisation of sports stuck with me as I watched this weekend’s match.”

3) Punctuality is the politeness of princes:

Send your note within a week of your interview. Don’t do it immediately after you leave, in the cab or on the way home, but don’t wait a month, so they assume you’ve forgotten to send one or, worse, are so ill-mannered that it didn’t occur to you to send a note.

4) Avoid innumerable questions:

Ask questions if you have them, especially if they are a follow-up to a topic you discussed or something specific to the programme. Don’t ask general questions and don’t feel the pressure to make up something if you feel like you have nothing to ask.

5) It’s a thank you note, not a love letter:

Resist the urge to gush in your thank you note. Any overly dramatic, hyperbolic, or sentiment-driven statements are bound to be treated with suspicion or dismissal. Lines like “I will always remember our conversation fondly” or “Your kind words meant the world to me” should be edited out. Although you might really feel that way, you run the risk of sounding insincere, which is the last thing you want for your application.

The post-interview thank you note is an act of courtesy, but it’s one worth making in order to maintain the image you have projected of yourself as a business leader and future alumni of the business school. So be specific, be succinct and make sure you send it!

While you’re preparing for your interview, read about how to approach the ‘tell me about yourself’ question here, find out how to prepare for the team-based interview here and figure out the difference between admissions committee and alumni interviews here. For some general interview tips, read this blog.

If you require any more guidance, get in touch with us.