You spent weeks polishing your résumé, days writing your cover letter, and countless hours preparing for the job interview.

You ace it — and you walk out feeling confident and relieved, like your work is finally done.

But it’s not.

You can’t just go home, sit back, and wait. You need to take one last crucial step: send the follow-up note.

“The best timeframe to send a thank you email is within 24 hours after your interview,” says Whitney Purcell, associate director of Career Development at Susquehanna University. “It should be sent during business hours — no 3 a.m. emails that make your schedule seem a little out of whack with the company’s traditional hours.”

And note: A simple “Thanks for your time!” won’t do, she says.

Your follow-up email (yes, experts say most hiring managers prefer email over hand-written notes) needs to stand out from the crowd. It should highlight the best parts of the conversation you had with the interviewer, and a final reminder as to why you’d be perfect for the job.

Dr. Deborah Good, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business, says the following is an ideal follow-up letter because it possesses six important traits:

Hope Restle contributed to this story.

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