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Old 01-16-2014, 02:05 PM
 
17,815 posts, read 25,574,545 times
Reputation: 36267

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Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathGreetsMeWarm View Post
I met with a career counselor today. She was really pushing the thank-you letter thing. In fact, she said I could email one or send it in the mail. Not sure which century she's from. I'm trying not to be obstinate, but I just don't see how a thank-you letter helps. Do you think a business that interviews you is going to think, "We really liked that guy. He seems smart, reliable, and has the experience we're looking for. But since he didn't send us a thank-you note for interviewing him, I think we'll go with someone else." ??? I'm guessing that most hiring managers just roll their eyes at thank-you emails and in fact the candidate looks worse because now he/she looks to be trying to courier favor or play on emotions. Maybe it helps in some sectors, like maybe Sales, but I doubt it does for technical roles, where skills are all that matter.
It's called having some manners. You know like when people would hold doors or someone sneezes and you say "Bless You".

Don't know how old you are but having some manners goes a long way in life. When you say "please" and "thank you" especially dealing with people in service industry jobs you tend to get better service.

I once got a free beer on flight, the flight attendant said to me "the Heinken is on me, you're only the 2nd person who has said thank you".

It takes less than a minute to send out a thank you email. Will it impact the hiring decision, probably not, but it certainly won't hurt.
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Old 01-16-2014, 02:48 PM
 
Location: Camberville
15,836 posts, read 21,369,827 times
Reputation: 28134
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4 View Post
Is this a new generation thing?
Only pathetic, needy, desperate people bother to have manners?
When I hire, I notice all sorts of the "little things." It says so much about the person.
And send a CARD (unless it's unclear if they will get it - big organization, mail could get lost easily) to EACH interviewer. Otherwise email.
I don't know that it's a generational thing, although part of me hopes it is. I am 26 and write a handwritten note on a card just for that purpose to every interviewer after every interview. If others in my generation aren't doing that, then the better for me.

I previously mentioned how in my old role, I was involved with the hiring process and that those who did not write thank you notes generally did not make it to a final interview. Since then, I've moved to a different, more corporate unit within my organization. We're hiring a new videographer and what do you know - while talking about who to bring back for a 2nd interview, thank you notes were brought up. Our SVP only wants to meet with 2 people at maximum. There were 3 contenders. Guess who didn't get called back?
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Old 01-16-2014, 03:04 PM
 
Location: Squirrel Hill PA
2,195 posts, read 2,580,243 times
Reputation: 4553
Last September I interviewed for a job that I really wanted on a Monday. I forgot all about sending a thank you note until the end of that week. At that point I had not heard anything and I really felt that they had chosen someone else. However I also remembered that I had not sent a thank you so I sent an email on the following Monday thanking everyone in the department for taking time out of their day to interview with me on that date. I expressed my enjoyment of the meetings and excitement at having the opportunity to work with them. I also gave a brief summary of the points which had come out and appeared to particularly please different members of the interview process.

The following day I received a thank you email back for my staying in touch and a request for further references which they called within the hour. The following day I received a job offer. I was hired over several candidates who had either more experience or educational qualifications that I lacked. I a really loving my new line of work.

If had ignored the people coaching me on how to apply for and interview for a better job I might not have gotten that one small detail that probably tipped the scales in my favor.
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Old 01-16-2014, 03:39 PM
 
5,724 posts, read 7,462,499 times
Reputation: 4518
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathGreetsMeWarm View Post
I met with a career counselor today. She was really pushing the thank-you letter thing. In fact, she said I could email one or send it in the mail. Not sure which century she's from. I'm trying not to be obstinate, but I just don't see how a thank-you letter helps. Do you think a business that interviews you is going to think, "We really liked that guy. He seems smart, reliable, and has the experience we're looking for. But since he didn't send us a thank-you note for interviewing him, I think we'll go with someone else." ??? I'm guessing that most hiring managers just roll their eyes at thank-you emails and in fact the candidate looks worse because now he/she looks to be trying to courier favor or play on emotions. Maybe it helps in some sectors, like maybe Sales, but I doubt it does for technical roles, where skills are all that matter.
I do not think it makes a difference. I would not bother. If they are interested, they will call.
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Old 01-16-2014, 05:23 PM
 
Location: San Francisco
2,279 posts, read 4,733,896 times
Reputation: 4026
I'm curious about something, since 1-2 people have specially mentioned handwritten notes or cards rather than typed or emailed thank-you notes.

Maybe my perspective is different because I work in high-tech, but something about a handwritten thank-you note seems almost luddite to me. I think I'd almost be concerned that someone who did a handwritten note wouldn't be able to keep up with changing technology. And something about the idea of receiving a handwritten note several days after the interviews were completed seems odd to me. We've usually made our decision by then.

Also... What do you do when you don't have the appropriate contact information for the hiring manager and other members of the hiring committee? (At my company, we typically don't hand out business cards to people we interview; we don't want to expose our work email addresses, mobile/pager numbers to someone who may decided to repeatedly contact us, over and over and over again. Yes, this has happened. I've even gotten 4 am angry drunken phone calls from rejected candidates before.)

Most places I've worked, candidates have the phone number and email address for the recruiter, who acts as the go-between. They don't always even have the last names of everyone who interviewed them. Do you write your dozen or so thank-you cards and stuff them into a large envelope sent to the recruiter, asking him/her to please pass these along, or what?
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Old 01-16-2014, 07:24 PM
 
874 posts, read 1,261,236 times
Reputation: 1603
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life View Post
Sending one will not hurt.

It's not that hard to do. It would take you probably 4 minutes to email one.

No one is so "skilled" that they can't be courteous.
This.


While it may not be a total deal breaker, sending one - and doing a good job of it (i.e. mentioning something you and the interviewer touched on) - will set the right tone if you ultimately get the offer and take the job.
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Old 01-16-2014, 09:03 PM
 
7,915 posts, read 7,775,284 times
Reputation: 4152
"Maybe my perspective is different because I work in high-tech, but something about a handwritten thank-you note seems almost luddite to me. I think I'd almost be concerned that someone who did a handwritten note wouldn't be able to keep up with changing technology."

Huh?

Anyone can send an email. Things are more memorable when you write them down just ask anyone that has ever studied for a test. Have you heard of anyone ever typing things over and over to learn it?

Now if it's business cards on the other hand that's just odd


American Psycho -Business Card Scene - YouTube


Your business card is CRAP! - YouTube
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Old 01-16-2014, 09:26 PM
 
1,500 posts, read 2,895,223 times
Reputation: 3608
I'm always so surprised at the people who spend more time and effort trying to justify NOT sending a thank you note, when they could just send one off in a fraction of the time.

People!
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Old 01-19-2014, 07:40 AM
mcq
 
Location: Memphis, TN
337 posts, read 671,693 times
Reputation: 307
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wry_Martini View Post
I'm curious about something, since 1-2 people have specially mentioned handwritten notes or cards rather than typed or emailed thank-you notes.

Maybe my perspective is different because I work in high-tech, but something about a handwritten thank-you note seems almost luddite to me. I think I'd almost be concerned that someone who did a handwritten note wouldn't be able to keep up with changing technology. And something about the idea of receiving a handwritten note several days after the interviews were completed seems odd to me. We've usually made our decision by then.

Also... What do you do when you don't have the appropriate contact information for the hiring manager and other members of the hiring committee? (At my company, we typically don't hand out business cards to people we interview; we don't want to expose our work email addresses, mobile/pager numbers to someone who may decided to repeatedly contact us, over and over and over again. Yes, this has happened. I've even gotten 4 am angry drunken phone calls from rejected candidates before.)

Most places I've worked, candidates have the phone number and email address for the recruiter, who acts as the go-between. They don't always even have the last names of everyone who interviewed them. Do you write your dozen or so thank-you cards and stuff them into a large envelope sent to the recruiter, asking him/her to please pass these along, or what?
I've noticed this too. In some cases, I am able to find at least the email address one of the people I interviewed with on LinkedIn or something. I will send the message if I'm really interested, though a part of me wonders if they'll find it creepy that I came up with their email address without having explicitly been given it. I would assume that as long as I found it publicly online, it is fine (if they remember putting it out there!). I'm not the type to harass anyone, but I can certainly see the concern an interviewer may have and why they may not want their contact info out there.
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Old 01-19-2014, 08:53 AM
 
22,284 posts, read 21,659,779 times
Reputation: 54735
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcq View Post
I've noticed this too. In some cases, I am able to find at least the email address one of the people I interviewed with on LinkedIn or something. I will send the message if I'm really interested, though a part of me wonders if they'll find it creepy that I came up with their email address without having explicitly been given it. I would assume that as long as I found it publicly online, it is fine (if they remember putting it out there!). I'm not the type to harass anyone, but I can certainly see the concern an interviewer may have and why they may not want their contact info out there.
This is why you always collect business cards from the people you meet with in the interview. If they don't have one (which would be weird in itself) you ask how you can contact them if you have any questions.
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