Most managers still want a thank-you
August 4, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Assessing the right candidate, In This Week's E-Newsletter, Interviewing, Latest News & Views
Many traditions and courtesies have come and gone, but there’s one that’s still going strong:
The post-interview thank-you note.
More than 80% of recruiters say the thank-you note is a critical part of the interview follow-up, according to a recent survey by the Career Exposure Network.
Sometimes, it can even make the difference when managers decide whom to hire.
How about you and your managers? Does not sending a note mean the candidate doesn’t get the job?
Let us know by dropping us a comment.
Tags: courtesy, interview, thank you note
August 5th, 2008 at 9:04 am
It’s definitely true that a post-interview thank you note can give you an edge over competing job-seekers. While most people concentrate on hiring managers when sending out thank you notes, I would recommend this practice when dealing with recruiters as well.
A recruiter will often spend weeks or months building contacts with prospective employers. When he or she sets up a job-seeker with a great interview, a thank you note is definitely in order, whether it results in a job offer or not.
Many would be surprised at the number of job-seekers who DON’T do this.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Having been a Director of HR & Recruiting for numerous years now in the IT sector it always amazes me as to the discourteous nature of most candidatres. The time and energy spent on scheduling interviews and keeping a pool of candidates interested is often not rewarded with a simple thank you note. I’ve had highly skilled folks be repeat offenders to re-schedule or even be a no-show.
Those that take the few minutes to write a simple note of thanks via email or postcard does show a level of professionalism that makes a world of difference! For most of those folks I have actually gone the extra mile to ensure that they are hired on a contract.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I actually acquired my starting position simply due to the fact that I was the only one who sent a Thank You letter. It does help!! That was 12 years ago
August 8th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
It doesn’t make a difference to our hiring managers. This seems to be a past practice, and I’d say most candidates (99% in our industry) do not write notes. In fact over my 20 years of interviewing I’ve only received a handful of Thank You notes. While appreciated by myself, I do not take them into consideration when looking at the candidates.
August 8th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
On the contrary, I rarely see thank you cards. It is more common for our interviewers to send thank you emails, and even still, that is not a deciding factor. We rely heavily on technical and behavioral skills.
August 8th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
On a contrary point, I have heard of situations where applicants interview with companies (some rather household names) only to never hear anything in response ever. The point of the article is that the thank you is important, but I seems there are offenders on both sides. We send a thank to every person interviewed.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Sometimes I’ve used the sending of a thank you note as a final tie-breaker so to speak, when I have more than one qualified candidate to chose from.