vyquemendoza Job Search Writing Conventions
Rules for drafting anything Victoria sends to a recruiter, hiring manager, or interviewer: thank-you notes, follow-ups, cover letters, outreach, and LinkedIn messages.
Hard rules
Never use the word "today" in a thank-you note. Notes are often sent the next morning, or read days later. "Thank you for the conversation today" is wrong by the time it lands. Use "thank you for the conversation," "thanks for the time," or reference the substance instead of the timing.
Avoid AI tells generally. No em-dash overuse. Never use these constructions:
- "But here's the thing:"
- "Then I realized:"
- "The result?"
- "Hot take:"
- "but here's what nobody's saying"
- "fluff" / "delve"
- "It's not just [X]. It's also [Y]"
- "No [X]. No [Y]. Just [Z]."
- "From X to Y:"
Thank-you notes
- Short. Three paragraphs maximum, roughly 150–200 words.
- Pick one thread from the conversation, not all of them. A note that revisits everything reads like a summary. A note that picks the single most important thread reads like someone who knows what matters.
- Lead the chosen thread with a specific, memorable proof point rather than a claim. A concrete story ("I found a bug in Sprinklr's reporting that was affecting the entire platform before they had") beats an assertion ("I'm a power user").
- Place the most memorable detail at the end of its paragraph so it lands.
- Close briefly. No elaborate sign-offs, no restating enthusiasm twice.
Voice
Direct, concrete, warm, lightly wry. Numbers attached to stories, stories attached to numbers. No corporate filler, no throat-clearing, no over-explaining. Short declaratives are fine. Read it aloud — if it sounds like a comms team wrote it, rewrite it.
Signs it's working: it sounds like a competent person talking, not like a candidate performing.
Reference details
- Sign-off: first name only