Congrats!  For you accounting students, you just survived your first career fair and came away with twenty-five business cards from managers, senior associates, associates, recruiters, and even a partner or two.

At this point you’re probably ready to crack open a “cola”, tune into Dirty Dancing:  Havana Nights (on ABC Family right now – we’re tuning in), and relax for the night…and this break is well-deserved.

Just remember that tomorrow you have to wake up and write thank you notes to each of the individuals you spoke with at the career fair.  Seriously, this is a must if you want them to remember you a month from now when it comes time to apply for an interview.

So, how do you write a professional thank you note?

I’m going to lay out some basic guidelines and then provide you with an example:

• Use a subject line of ‘Thank you’.
• If you are writing a thank you note to someone who is a manager, senior manager/director, or partner, address with ‘Mr.’ if male, and ‘Ms.’ if female.  If senior associate or associate, use first name.  Seriously, it’s okay.
• Keep it simple and conversational, and add in one unique item you discussed with the individual at the career fair.
• Close with a thank you.
• Include your full name, email address, and phone number in your email signature.

How this looks in practice:

Subject: Thank you

Beth,

It was great meeting you at the career fair yesterday! I found the innovative approach you told me about that [Beth’s firm name here] has adopted to identify new clients and business opportunities to be incredibly interesting.

I look forward to hopefully being in touch with you and other members of your team throughout the recruiting process.

Thank you,

Brad

Brad Hughes
brad@rocketgrad.com
(804) 513-2185

Final note

While this may seem short and concise, keep in mind you’re dealing with incredibly busy professionals. They love seeing the ‘thank you’ notes, but keeping it simple and concise is a great way to show you ‘get it’ and respect their time.