Should You Thank Employer for Interview If You Don't Want the Job?

Jon writes:

I have a question that wasn’t answered in the section of your article on post-interview thank-you letters.

What if I am not interested in the job? I had gone to the job interview, and realized that I would like a job somewhere else. I would still like to send a letter to maintain good relations with the company, but I was looking for some guidance on how to go about doing that.

The Career Doctor responds:

It’s still common courtesy to thank the employer for the time spent. You also don’t want to burn any bridges in case you ever pursue a different position at the same company. Just use some of the basic thank-you material from our sample letters, but leave out the parts where you further try to sell yourself. You could also choose to include a line like: “Although I have concluded that this position is not a good fit for me, I truly appreciate the time you spent interviewing me.”

OR you can simply wait to see if you get an offer before rejecting the employer.