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Yes, Not Sending A Thank You Note Could Cost You
“We interviewed [x] candidates, and we received [x/2] thank you notes – th(ose) who sent thank you notes [moved forward]…we debated between two c\par ]]>\par
\par This is a quote from an employer who participated in OCI this spring. I thought it was particularly important to share with you, because it is a real world example of something we often describe in hypotheticals or in the abstract. It also wasn’t the only time an employer made reference to who had sent thank you notes and who had not, as Angela mentioned in a March 5th Facebook CDO Group post:\par \par“An employer who recently interviewed several Baylor Law students mentioned to us that only two students sent him a thank you note after the interview. It made an impression on him and not in a good way.\par I recommend that you always send a thank you note after an interview. It may not make any difference in the hiring decision, but it is a professional courtesy to the employer who took the time to meet with you.\par We have thank you cards in the CDO. Please help yourself to them!”\par I agree with Angela, that generally the thank you note will not make the difference in the hiring decision. More specifically, thank you notes won’t likely overcome a poor interview or inferior credentials (all other things being equal). However, I do think thank you notes can make a difference when there is a multiple-step interview process, and the employer is deciding who to move through to the next round. And as in the example above, if the margin between two candidates is razor thin, whether or not candidates sent a thank you note may go on the big board of pros/cons for each.\par \par If you don’t take anything else away from this post, please remember to send some type (hand-written or email) of thank you note to any employer who interviews you. Interviewers have taken some amount of time out of their day to consider you for a position in their organization; that alone deserves your respect and gratitude. When you can do the right thing and benefit from it (or at least not do harm), what possible reason is there not to do it? None is the answer you’re looking for.\par \par I mentioned the option of hand-written or email thank you notes, and I’ll close with a brief note about that since it is a frequently asked question. We’ve heard a wide variety of opinions on this topic from employers, so it seems clear that the form preference is a very personal thing. Without a general rule to follow, it’s going to be up to you to determine the best approach based on what you learned about the interviewer. That said, we do know that some employers (especially big firms) move very quickly after on-campus interviews. So to the extent a thank you note could impact your candidacy, email is the only safe harbor. My personal practice has been to send emails to interviewers after round one/on-campus/telephone/Skype interviews, when you know there is another round of interviewing still to come. I would then send handwritten thank you notes to interviewers after callback/in-person/comprehensive interviews. At the end of the day, don’t let these small practical issues paralyze you from sending something; anything is better than nothing. \par \par If you’re in the habit of sending thank you notes, keep up the great work. If not, start now. There’s simply no reason to let an employer pass on you because you failed to do so.\par \par Connect with Daniel at Daniel_Hare@Baylor.edu and/or @BaylorLawDaniel on Twitter.\par \par Job of the Week: Each week I highlight a job in Symplicity you might be interested in but may have missed. This week's job is: Summer Associate at Sprouse Shrader Smith PC (2L, Amarillo) Log in to Symplicity to view this job and apply. \par ]]>\par