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I know it's been discussed on here before...but how important are they?
I've had interviews where i sent thank you's and didnt get the job. I've had interviews where i sent them and did get the job.
What i'm struggling with is finding people's email addresses. Many people don't have business cards. i can find people on linkedin but not an email. Is it worth it reaching out to the HR person to ask??
Is it creepy to send someone a thank you on linkedin?
If i dont follow up after an interview could that cost me the job? I've heard that it can...and that part of the process is to send thank yous/follow up
Today for example i had a phone screen and was going to send a thank you. Before i had a chance to I got an email invite for an onsite...so not sending a thank you didnt prevent me from getting to the next steps.
Look at it this way: you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by expressing appreciation for the interviewer's time and consideration. It doesn't make you "seem desperate" -- it makes you seem professional and courteous.
I know it's been discussed on here before...but how important are they?
I've had interviews where i sent thank you's and didnt get the job. I've had interviews where i sent them and did get the job.
What i'm struggling with is finding people's email addresses. Many people don't have business cards. i can find people on linkedin but not an email. Is it worth it reaching out to the HR person to ask??
Is it creepy to send someone a thank you on linkedin?
If i dont follow up after an interview could that cost me the job? I've heard that it can...and that part of the process is to send thank yous/follow up
Today for example i had a phone screen and was going to send a thank you. Before i had a chance to I got an email invite for an onsite...so not sending a thank you didnt prevent me from getting to the next steps.
Unfortunately - these questions are like asking "what's the best movie" or "what is the best color"?
The answer depends on who you ask as well as what the position is for. I've always followed up with a quick thank you. Earlier in my career - it was the prescribed paragraph or two that actually highlighted some of our conversation. In the last decade or so - it's become a very short note that simply thanks them for their time and provide my contact info if they have further questions. I may add a personal comment if we had similar interests during our conversation.
From the other side of the table - A quick thank you is nice. It tells me that you are interested. However, I'm not going to read a three paragraph thank you letter. Does it help at the end - I can't remember ever making a hiring decision on whether or not I got a thank you letter. BUT - I'm sure someone out there has/will.
The question is - would you want to work for someone that uses that criteria for hiring decisions?
As for getting the contact info - From a hiring manager perspective - I always provide a business card. It is a two way street. If you are a top candidate, I want to make sure you have a good way of reaching me directly. As a candidate, I would ask the hiring manager (and anyone above them that I talk to) for one if need be.
Thank you's are overrated. It makes the person seem desperate. If they want you, they want you. I learnt this over the years.
No, this is wrong. It is a professional courtesy. It also gives the candidate the opportunity to express their interest in the role and highlight their experience now based on what they obtained from the interview. Simply showing up to an interview doesn't communicate that. You might very well walk out of the interview thinking you aren't interested, they aren't mind readers. The people who don't know how to write and express themselves in a professional matter to what is appropriate for the situation, are the ones who think this isn't necessary. You don't have that skill, then you better learn it if you want to work at the better places. Headhunters who place people for six-figure jobs always advise the candidates to write thank you letters. They coach them on doing this as part of the process even before the first interview.
We have never hired anyone who has not sent us a thank letter after the interview. It has helped us know several things. One that this person is very interested in the job and working with us. It also shows this person knows how to present themselves in a professional manner and that they can express themselves in writing. It shows they did their homework and followed up with more details based on the interview, which is very important because we want to hire people who are intelligent, thoughtful and take the initiative in an appropriate way. It definitely distinguishes them from those we don't hear from after the interview. I can't remember anyone making the short list who didn't send a thank you note, because their note keeps them top of mind.
Those that don't have the skills to write a thank you note should learn them, because not doing it puts you at a disadvantage for the better higher paying jobs. The 10 minutes writing a good thank you note is a good investment of your time.
I know it's been discussed on here before...but how important are they?
I've had interviews where i sent thank you's and didnt get the job. I've had interviews where i sent them and did get the job.
What i'm struggling with is finding people's email addresses. Many people don't have business cards. i can find people on linkedin but not an email. Is it worth it reaching out to the HR person to ask??
Is it creepy to send someone a thank you on linkedin?
If i dont follow up after an interview could that cost me the job? I've heard that it can...and that part of the process is to send thank yous/follow up
Today for example i had a phone screen and was going to send a thank you. Before i had a chance to I got an email invite for an onsite...so not sending a thank you didnt prevent me from getting to the next steps.
If you need to do this in a timely manner, use e-mail. If you don't have their e-mail address, you send e-mail to HR and ask, "Please forward to ..." and they will take care of it. It is one of the few things HR actually does do all the time from my experiences.
Linkedin isn't a good idea, because some people use a different e-mail address of it, or it gets filtered and they don't read it often. Also Linkedin e-mail communicates at a glance don't look important, so you can't expect someone to treat it like direct e-mail to their work e-mail address. It isn't creepy, they just might not read it in time to be of any help to you.
You can still thank the phone screener too. Once you get the next step, you can send the phone screener e-mail thanking them for their time. Sometimes people who did the phone screener have to work out of normal business hours and it is common courtesy to thank them for their time. After all, they work in HR and most people think much of them, so showing you appreciate anything they do can only help you.
Even contract houses (staffing firms) ask candidates to write thank you letters.
If you have one email address for the company you can probably guess at everyone else's, assuming you know their full names (full vs. nickname for first name (Joe vs Joseph) may be tougher if full names instead of initial are used in the email convention, so maybe try both).
I agree with the earlier poster that said there's nothing to lose with an email thank you. Just don't write it in a groveling way in order to avoid the appearance of desperation as warned by another poster.
There's always the chance that you are essentially tied with another candidate and the courtesy of a thank you note is what makes you stand out in the end.
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