Is sending a thank you note after a job interview really perceived as courteous, or is it desperate butt-kissing?

I don't claim to know the answer to this but if I was an employer, I would hire the person with the best skills, not the one who sent me a thank you note.

Ever wonder why your career counsellor works as a career counsellor? It's because they couldn't get a proper job either. Do the opposite of everything they say.

... ... ... wrote:

I don't claim to know the answer to this but if I was an employer, I would hire the person with the best skills, not the one who sent me a thank you note.

My thoughts exactly. Even if a thank-you note was considered polite, or if lack of one was considered impolite, the fact remains that every person I know who has marketable skills and also happens to be rude or borderline-autistic, is gainfully employed.

On the other hand, what if you and someone else are in a deadlock tie for the job? A quick "Thanks for meeting with me today, please met know if there's any additional clarification or information I can provide regarding my candidacy. I look forward to hearing from you regarding the position" could be the lean at the line that gets you the W (or the J, I guess).

Just don't be obsequious in the email.

I would say do it, but only if it was a stretch to get you an interview. If you were clearly a viable candidate and nobody went out of their way to get you the interview, no thank you is needed.

My experience is that it is best to send a short thank-you email a day after the face-to-face interview to the person who did the majority of your interview.

Both of the people who hired me said they appreciated the thank-you email as it demonstrates the level of courteous professionalism to which most offices expect their associates to adhere. Also, there are usually a decent amount of people interviewing for the same job you are, and it is easy for you to get lost in the bunch. Interviewers usually take notes on each candidate, and basically have a little file they refer to whenever you are the topic of conversation. You want good notes in that file not a series of blanks where others have checks.

My professional jobs have been with large corporations and you would be surprised at the amount of "useless" emails that get thrown around.

jamin wrote:

... ... ... wrote:

I don't claim to know the answer to this but if I was an employer, I would hire the person with the best skills, not the one who sent me a thank you note.

My thoughts exactly. Even if a thank-you note was considered polite, or if lack of one was considered impolite, the fact remains that every person I know who has marketable skills and also happens to be rude or borderline-autistic, is gainfully employed.

Not saying skills arenot important, BUT soft skills are often very important too. My office is going through some hireing right now. About 89 applications for one job. The top 20 or so were very qualified.

Much of the decision came down to who would fit in best.

One qualified candidate did not make the cut because she did not appear (I think this was the wrong assessment of her) to really want the job. A "thank you I am very interested in the job" letter might have had an effect in her case.

Shameless

jamin wrote:

the fact remains that every person I know who has marketable skills and also happens to be....borderline-autistic, is gainfully employed.

;) I know who you are talking about.

In some jobs, your ability/propensity to follow up is a part of the necessary skill set. If you're a financial modeler who is going to sit in an office and run numbers all day, a thank you note probably isn't all that important. If you are a project manager whose primary responsibility is to communicate with third parties, it's a good idea to show that you're the type who will keep in touch after a meeting to make sure that the issue under discussion doesn't get dropped.

Ken Osha wrote:

Not saying skills arenot important, BUT soft skills are often very important too.

And I don't think that being able to type up a thank-you note is a demonstration of soft skills. Any idiot can sit behind his computer, take an hour to type out a thank-you note and have his career counselor proofread it before he sends it to the interviewer.

from the burbs wrote:

;) I know who you are talking about.

I'm talking about most of the Math majors I knew in school.

Courteous.

Grow up.

To me it seems like desperate butt-kissing, if you were courteous during the interview and thanked the person for seeing you then. I refuse to send thank you notes - not because sending a thank you note is inherently difficult - but because, if I'm a hiring manager, I'd rather hire somebody who prioritizes doing useful work rather than wasting their time obsessing over their appearance by sucking up. Then again, I'm an introvert and not a hiring manager. I tend to think that extroverts are more into the whole butt-kissing to get ahead rather than actually demonstrating quality work scam.

it's becoming clearer to me now why no one will hire you kids.

jamin wrote:

I already make sure there's a polite sendoff at the end of an in-person interview. I shake the interviewers hand and tell him/her that I'm grateful they took the time to interview me and that I hope the interview was informative. My career counselor tells me that I should also take the time to write up a thank-you email or actual thank-you note when I get home. To me, that seems like it crosses the line into blatant @$$-kissing.

Yes, you should a follow-up e-mail after a job interview. Think of it like a thank-you note for a gift. The essence of a thank-you note is telling the gift giver "got it. liked it. thanks." The essence of an interview follow-up note is telling the person who interviewed you "enjoyed meeting you. thanks for your time. remain interested in the job."

I've worked as a head hunter for 16 years and trust me, sending a [short, sensible] follow-up note often helps and can't hurt whereas not sending a note can't help and often hurts.

jamin wrote:

Ken Osha wrote:

Not saying skills arenot important, BUT soft skills are often very important too.

And I don't think that being able to type up a thank-you note is a demonstration of soft skills. Any idiot can sit behind his computer, take an hour to type out a thank-you note and have his career counselor proofread it before he sends it to the interviewer.

If it takes an hour, the person is not qualified.

It is not the ability to send the note that demonstrates these skills, it is the fact they actually did so.

Did you send a thank-you note to Google after the interview you had there?

I think the real question is not whether it's courteous or desperate butt-kissing, but whether it works.