How Should You Send Thank You Letters

취업 준비

Lesson 43

How Should You Send Thank You Letters

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Lesson 14

HOW SHOULD YOU SEND THANK YOU LETTERS

Give advice and talk about obligations

Job Preparation 25 min Speaking 75%
3 min

Warm-up

Talk about these questions with your teacher.
선생님과 이야기해 보세요.

  1. Have you ever sent a thank you letter or message after a job interview? If so, how did you send it — by email, handwritten note, or another way?
    면접 후에 감사 편지나 메시지를 보내본 적이 있나요? 있다면 이메일, 손편지, 또는 다른 방법 중 어떤 방식으로 보냈나요?
  2. In Korea, sending a thank you letter after an interview is not very common. Do you think it could make a difference in getting hired? Why or why not?
    한국에서는 면접 후 감사 편지를 보내는 것이 흔하지 않은데요. 이것이 채용 결과에 영향을 줄 수 있다고 생각하나요? 그 이유는 무엇인가요?
4 min

Vocabulary

Listen and repeat after your teacher.
선생님을 따라 읽어보세요.

reading /reading/
a key word from this lesson  |  reading
Find and practice this word in today's reading.
read /read/
a key word from this lesson  |  read
Find and practice this word in today's reading.
passage /passage/
a key word from this lesson  |  passage
Find and practice this word in today's reading.
teacher /teacher/
a key word from this lesson  |  teacher
Find and practice this word in today's reading.
send /send/
a key word from this lesson  |  send
Find and practice this word in today's reading.
typewritten /typewritten/
a key word from this lesson  |  typewritten
Find and practice this word in today's reading.
5 min

Reading

Read the passage with your teacher.
선생님과 함께 지문을 읽어보세요.

Should I Send It Typewritten, Handwritten or via Email?
There are many opinions about the presentation style of a thank you letters. We generally recommend typing the letters in a standard business-style format (much like your cover letters), triple-checking for typos and grammatical errors. You are being evaluated as a professional and typing it confirms that this meeting was important enough to take the time to present yourself in a professional manner.
There are times, however, when it may be appropriate to send a handwritten thank you letter. If someone you know "pulled some strings" to get you the interview or there was a mutual acquaintance of some kind; if you personally know the interviewer; or if the interviewer was an alumni of your institution. Many students choose institution-specific postcards or stationary from the college bookstore. Be sure your handwriting is legible and neat. If you need to expand on some of the issues presented in the interview, then a more lengthy, typewritten letter is better.
Generally speaking, we recommend that you type your thank you letters.
Sending thank you letters via email is fine as long as it fits the "culture" of the organization and is used appropriately. If an employer has an email account on his business card or the school district is very technologically oriented, sending the letter this way may be appropriate. Be sure there is no doubt as to the email address (you may or may not be informed that the message was undeliverable). Format your letter with all the same formalities as a regular thank-you letter. Email tends to make us a bit less formal and you do not want the note to be overly friendly. Try to keep the message to one screen length; employers appreciate brevity. Hard copy will generally be placed in a file, whereas email has a tendency to be read quickly and deleted. You may consider following up the email letter with hard copy.

3 min

Korean Trap! / 한국인 실수 교정

Common mistakes Korean speakers make.
한국인이 자주 하는 실수를 알아봅시다.

❌ "Thank you for giving me a chance to interview."
✅ "Thank you for taking the time to interview me."

한국어로 '면접 기회를 주셔서 감사합니다'를 직역하면 "giving me a chance"라고 쓰기 쉽지만, 영어 감사 편지에서는 상대방의 시간과 노력에 초점을 맞추는 것이 더 자연스럽고 프로페셔널합니다. "Taking the time to~"는 면접관의 바쁜 일정 속에서 시간을 내준 것에 대한 감사를 표현하는 비즈니스 영어의 정석 표현입니다.

5 min

Discussion

Share your thoughts with your teacher.
선생님과 의견을 나눠보세요.

  1. How would you apply what you learned today?
    오늘 배운 것을 어떻게 활용하시겠어요?
  2. What was the most useful part of this lesson?
    이 수업에서 가장 유용한 부분은 무엇이었나요?
  3. Can you think of a real situation where you would use this?
    이것을 사용할 실제 상황을 생각해 볼 수 있나요?
  4. What would you like to practice more?
    더 연습하고 싶은 것은 무엇인가요?

Lesson Summary / 수업 요약

Today's Topic: HOW SHOULD YOU SEND THANK YOU LETTERS

Level: Job Preparation (JOB)

Review this lesson before your next class! / 다음 수업 전에 복습하세요!