businessinsider.com: I'm the Managing Editor of Business Insider, in charge of all our editorial hiring. I wrote a post last week about the number one mistake people I interview are making these days: They don't send thank you notes. If I don't get a thank you note, I assume the person doesn't want the job, is disorganized, and I'll likely forget about them.
Friday, March 02, 2012
ANSWERED: Should You Send A Handwritten Or Email Thank You Note After An Interview?
businessinsider.com: I'm the Managing Editor of Business Insider, in charge of all our editorial hiring. I wrote a post last week about the number one mistake people I interview are making these days: They don't send thank you notes. If I don't get a thank you note, I assume the person doesn't want the job, is disorganized, and I'll likely forget about them.
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8 comments:
Yes! She is correct. Email is so much easier and convenient for both parties involved. Also even though it might not feel quite as personal, a hand written note seem much to formal now a days. I mean who sends cards anymore, you send hand written thank you cards to your grandparents or after your wedding or bat mitzvah. Both of those are much more formal then a job interview. Thank you's are great, everyone likes you better. I sent a thank you email to Peter Cooke one time and he sent me back a personal email about how happy he was that I thanked him. So I don't really see why anyone wouldn't send thank you's, especially by email, they are fast, easy and make you look good!
I have to take an opposite stance on this one! I feel that taking the time to actually write a note is so much more personal and more meaningful. I see what she means about it varying by the industry. More formal/business/computery driven industries probably call for a thank you email. It is also more useful to send emails in instances where it will not get to your recipient quickly enough. But I really think that if you have the capacity to drop off a thank you note it makes so much more of an impact than does an email, which can be written off so quickly. You can also show a lot more personality in a hand crafted note than in an email, in my opinion. Also, after just having finished run crew last night, (hooray!) I can say that receiving hand written thank yous from certain people involved made a huge deal to the crew. It just seems much more thoughtful to me.
I mostly agree with Reilly-I think that in this age, a handwritten note can make you stick out even more because it shows that you put the time and care into doing it. There is certainly an argument that none of that matters if it means losing time on getting the note out, and I see that side of the argument as well. However, as Reilly mentioned, in situations where a drop-off is possible (so that your letter still gets there when your email would have), the handwritten note can be a better way to show some real personality (in your handwriting, card choice, text, signature, etc) and have the recipient know that you put some genuine time and effort into acknowledging or helping you in whatever way they did.
Like Zoe and the author, I agree that e-mail is easier for people on both sides of the interview table. It's interesting that the author, Jessica Liebman, finds hand-written notes too formal. I thought that seemed odd at first, but when you think about today's technological climate, it makes sense that a hand-written note would seem formal because much more effort is put into it than a quick thank you e-mail. E-mail sometimes seems impersonal, but in today's age it is easy, appropriate, and the most convenient method of communication for pretty much everyone. I'm glad I read this article and will certainly take this advice into account.
I agree with the author, even after having been raised from the cradle to believe that email is rude, impersonal, insincere and generally evil. However, I always appreciate emailed notes, because I tend to end up with a zillion and a half cards at the end of the year, that I feel like I shouldn't throw out, because someone took the time to write to me, but I don't have the space or mental energy to clutter up my life for all the paper! I think that the author makes several excellent points about the benefit to email, and I'd also just like to add that the value of not adding to your interviewers pile of crap is one that is often overlooked by well-intentioned writers. However, I think the most important take home for this article is that, regardless of the method in which it's written, a thank you note is an absolute necessity for following up on an application.
I feel like, if you write an email, the effort is +5 points and the appreciation is also +5 points.
If you write a handwritten note, the effort you put in is +15, because you have to deal with actually mailing it and finding nice stationary and annoying things like that. But, because it's so rare and so thoughtful, the appreciation would be more like +25.
Randy Pausch mentioned in his book that a student got accepted to the ETC just because she took the time to handwrite a note thanking someone for their time.
That doesn't mean I'm going to write personal notes, because I'm lazy, but if I got one for any reason, that person would stick in my head much more strongly and longer than someone who emailed me. And I assume the same is true for recruiters.
I think that freelancers in particular are no longer very good at coping with large amounts of paper, but I appreciate the argument in favor of the note and do not think that the author gave it enough time.
I also think that when it comes to content, the author left some things out; the thank you really should address specific things from the interview to show that it is a thoughtful response rather than a canned one.
Zoe, I think you need to send a handwritten letter to Peter Cooke in a similar situation and firstly see if you get a response and secondly compare the two responses.
First, I totally agree that a thank-you note should be written as soon as possible. Secondly, I agree that an email is a better choice. I want my potential future employer to know as quickly as possible that I appreciate their time. Most of us have constant access to email so this is definitely the better way. I think a thank-you note is a way to keep your connection with the interviewer so they don't forget about you.
I agree with the article when they say a written note could be delayed or even lost. A written note is a nice touch for a close friend or family member, but I don't think it is the best choice in the interview process.
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