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I work in a blue collar industry that also has white collar workers, I only hire on the blue collar side, but we let you know if you got the job.
Since we have a practical test and a work test along with the interview we can quickly determine who is good and who is not.
The white collar side, also has practical tests like Excel, typing, accounting math, workplace law. So again we know very quick who we want and who we don't. We also have times where we pick 3 people to take the tests and they do so poorly no one is hired.
Our company does not care if you follow up but I assure you it has zero impact on the decision.
My wife's company (property management for multi family and commercial properties) is different, its a mix of blue and white collar as well. They have a similar hiring process with practical application tests but they do appreciate follow up, since almost anyone who is fairly smart can work there regardless of education.
I guess what I am trying to say is you need to decide how to best approach it. It just depends on the company.
Long story short it can't really hurt you to follow up, neither myself or my wife have ever discounted a hire because of a follow up or lack of follow up.
From everything I've seen on forums and throughout my own personal job hunting, a follow-up/thank you letter after an interview is basically worthless. Especially if you're in a highly skilled technical field. I'm sure there's some hiring managers that will appreciate it personally, but unless you are the best candidate it isn't going to change anything regarding whether you get hired or not.
I used to fuss over it before getting some experience in my industry, but over the past few years I haven't even given typing out a note a second thought. It has never impacted me getting an offer one way or the other.
Handwritten notes or phone calls creep me out big time. And never, ever text me just because my cell number was on the business card I gave you. I seriously had that happen!!
The only true impact is doing it wrong, like via text. Failure to followup with an email thank you will certainly tip the scales against you if it's a true dead heat between candidates ...though it's never a true dead heat between candidates.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I won't respond, by policy any communication with an applicant is from HR until the offer is accepted. By the time anyone would follow-up the decision has been made, so it won't matter anyway. I always make my decision after the last interview, except for the rare case when no one is suitable and we re-open the application period.
I tell all applicants during the interview not to follow up, and that I will not respond to any attempts to contact me.
Because of this I view all follow up attempts negatively. I won't eliminate a candidTe for a thank you message, but it won't help either. As with Hemlock (I say that a lot) I tend to make my decision promptly after the last interview, so there is usually very little time between the interview and the offer or rejection.
I tell all applicants during the interview not to follow up, and that I will not respond to any attempts to contact me.
Because of this I view all follow up attempts negatively. I won't eliminate a candidTe for a thank you message, but it won't help either. As with Hemlock (I say that a lot) I tend to make my decision promptly after the last interview, so there is usually very little time between the interview and the offer or rejection.
As do we. We sit down and decide after the last candidate walks out the door.
I'm pretty much in the same boat as Hemlock and Fishbrains (sans telling them not to contact me). I appreciate a thank you email after a meeting but it's not mandatory and doesn't help a candidate who's not going to move forward anyway. What it does do is show me the candidate is courteous and professional.
Inquiries about the status of their candidacy, next steps, etc have to go through HR. I don't appreciate those and they can have a negative impact. Especially if made by phone.
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