Last Friday, Jessica Liebman posted The Number One Mistake People I Interview Are Making These Days at Business Insider.
So, apparently now (spoilers ahead), not sending a thank you email after an interview is a mistake; and not just any, the one that tops the chart.
For Jessica, the basic guidelines for a thank you email are these:
- Thank you for meeting (or talking) with me.
- I really want this job. (ed. note: duh!)
- Quick plug about why I’m perfect for it.
- I assume you don’t want the job
- I think you’re disorganized and forgot about following up
- There is a much higher shot I’ll forget about you
- So no email means I don’t want the job and that I lack organizational skills… are you always that fast to jump into conclusions? Based on what, you conclude this; on the fact that I don’t worship you?
- If I need to evaluate “follow up skills”, then I’d probe that during the interview, just like with any other skill that is deemed relevant for a given position. A good and well trained interviewer knows that you have X amount of time (screening/interview) to gather all relevant material for further analysis. After that, the next step is on you, to follow-up with the candidate about how the process continues, or ends.
- You’ll forget me faster if I don’t schmooze you… even if I rocked the interview, was the most polite and well rounded candidate ever…but I didn’t send you an email to satisfy your ego? Doesn’t sound like a very professional attitude…
Escalating the rant
Now, leaving Business Insider’s article aside, I’m actually fed up with this “I’m king, adore me” stance that some companies/managers have.
Companies/reps expect candidates to send a thank you email but very few -speaking about organizational skills- follow up to inform the candidate that he/she didn´t get the job, and that’s without mentioning all the other forms of disrespect that some have to tolerate in order to get a job.
What do you think?
Edit: the post has sparked a very nice conversation on Linkedin and Reddit.
Image credit, Space for Inspiration
Article by Fernando
The guy in charge of this blog - husband, Psychologist, former Manager, Blogger, Job Coach, Recruiter and Information Junkie. Yes, I am all that.
Fernando has written 254 awesome articles for us at FT Careers
Twitter: @ftarnogol | Facebook | Google+ | Blog → I'mpossible - Personal Blog
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with everything mentioned in this article. Indeed, a thank you email is very important in my opinion, it shows respect which is a great thing that must be used in businesses/jobs/everywhere. Thanks for sharing!
Twitter: ftarnogol
February 28, 2012 at 6:43 am
George, I think you are either on the wrong website… or you didn’t read the post ;)
No, I’m on the right website but I agree with you but also I have my own opinion as I said. Indeed, it’s too mainstream to send a thank you email, but that’s showing respect, that’s showing appreciation. I also agreed with what you’ve written, it’s too mainstream, already have an overloaded mailbox and so on, it looks like a “cheap” thing, but it isn’t. At least, that’s my opinion.
Twitter: ftarnogol
February 28, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Heh, thanks for the clarification, now your words make sense to me ;) Language barrier maybe?
I didn’t mean to be rude, but with the crapload of comment spam that we are receiving it’s getting very hard to tell which ones are legit and which ones are bots or commenters that just drop a few words to get a back link.
Fernando, I agree with your assessment. There is a fair amount of well intentioned “guidance” on the ‘net that puts some guilt on you if you are not ‘Kowtowing’ to the interviewer, especially after the fact. Part of that is probably due to the unbelievably bad economic situation we are in (and I can say that and not specify where in the hell “we” are because it is ALL bad), but I don’t think Ms. Liebman is speaking for the majority of employers. Some of that feels “old school”-and that might not be a bad thing- but we all need a smaller inbox population, and I don’t see that it should be a mandatory obligation. If you felt that things honestly went VERY well during the interview, and/or there was a definite connection with the organization, or the interview was a result of a personal referral then yeah, a follow up email is probably warranted. Otherwise, use your creative talents on generating more interviews. JMHO…
Twitter: ftarnogol
March 1, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Hey Jim,
Indeed, as you well say, this scenario is pretty global these days. While I don’t think that a thank you email is mandatory, if someone wants to send it after an interview, then fine. It doesn’t hurt.
What “hurts my feelings” is this attitude that some recruiters/hiring managers have of “dropping your score” if you don’t send one. Maybe it’s my clinical background, but I was trained and educated to gather all possible information during the interview and what’s left outside of it, it’s the candidate’s personal life and should be left out of the assessment… in other words, when the candidate leaves the office/phone call, it’s not my jurisdiction anymore.
There’s a million ways to assess if someone is a good “follow-up-er”. I.e.: what do you do if you receive a request but you are not able to take care of it immediately?
Possible answer: send an email saying, I got it, give me some time. Or “nothing, just wait til I can do it”.
And there you go, candidate A has good follow up skills, candidate B doesn’t. This is just one way -among hundreds- to probe that specific skill. Besides, why would I need a thank you email if I thanked the person before hanging up/leaving the interview? Ain’t that redundant?
Anyhow, it’s personal preference. What is not, is thinking one deserves “adoration” just for being in a position of power over someone else’s professional destiny. That’s plainly unprofessional and wrong.
Fernando invites you to read..Unsolicited Advice: Should You Give A Hoot?
No wonder this is one of the most trending career blogs in the blogosphere… great post. I’d die to know what Ms. Liebman thinks about it
Twitter: Lean_DazzyP
March 2, 2012 at 7:40 am
Hi Fernando,
Jessica’s original article is 100% on the money!!
It’s just polite courtesy to say thank you, more importantly to show respect. The world is a small place and you will be surprised how often you bump into people in the same industry, at a Conference, Training event or Future employment. You will be amazed how very few people keep in-touch after a meeting, which is a lost opportunity in its self for future networking, business opportunities or just to make good friends!! Naturally we are 2012 so you should demonstrate a command of technology with and email…. but this depends on the industry and type of meeting. Regards, @Lean_DazzyP
Twitter: ftarnogol
March 2, 2012 at 9:38 am
Hi Darren, thank you for your comment.
I respect your opinion and I also see where you are coming from. My take is that even though sending a thank you email doesn’t hurt, making it mandatory, labeling someone as not polite or lacking skills for not sending one is just not right.
The thank you email is more a social convention than anything else; and conventions evolve. If I thanked you while we were meeting face to face, and stressed that a few times before saying goodbye, why would I need to repeat myself once again via a “colder” medium such as email?
As you say, it’s 2012 and many deem some conventions as obsolete. I also believe that demonstrating command of a technology goes beyond sending an email -unless we were referring to our grandpas, in which case, that would be a tremendous demonstration of skills ;)-.
With regards to the examples you presented, I could argue that the person may not be interested in keeping in touch with you (no personal offense nor implying that you are not a person worth keeping in touch with :)). I don’t want to extend too much on this so I would complement this statement with this link:
http://fernandotarnogol.com/career-tips/professional-networking-done-right-how-to-network/
Finally, I do agree with you that the industry and type of meeting is a variable to be accounted for but I still sustain that shooting a candidate down for not sending a thank you email is almost an ad hominem attack.
Thank you much for fueling this healthy conversation with your opinion. Given the repercussions these posts have had, it seems it’s a matter that needs to be discussed among professional circles.
Twitter: samplesaleave
March 3, 2012 at 11:54 pm
While thank you emails are respectful, I think it takes more than that to get a job these days. I really don’t feel like sending a thank you email will get you the job. Usually the interview itself does and if an employer likes you enough, they will contact you for the position. At least in my field, it takes something a little extra to get the job. Using continually changing technology and social media to put yourself out there and market yourself in a more unique way. Just having the right personality. Starting your own ventures related to your field and staying active in it so that the employer sees that as an employee you are always going to be going beyond just your daily scope of work and contributing valuable ideas to the company.
Sarah invites you to read..Online Flash Sales This Weekend: Spring Spree, Philip Lim, J Brand & More
Twitter: AnaTrafficCafe
March 8, 2012 at 2:35 pm
I haven’t interviewed for a job for ages, but my husband always sends thank you emails; mostly because he’s too impatient and wants to “encourage” feedback. lol
Ana Hoffman invites you to read..Get More Traffic
Twitter: ftarnogol
March 8, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Can’t blame your husband, Ana.
Too many recruiters fail to engage with candidates when they are not interested in them anymore.
Thank you for your comment ;)
Twitter: CecileRay
March 10, 2012 at 4:52 am
Hello All
Sending “thank you emails” is a practice I adopt for many years right now, and I have enough return on experience to say : yes, this is a best practice. I not only say “thank you” but also “here is what I understood about what is at stake for you” + “here is what I can offer you” and finally “I do am (or am not) interested in your proposal”. And here is the main important part : by forcing you formalizing such information, you increase your self-ability to clarify your professional project, what you really want and what you could not bare on a long term basis.
When you wanna change, never change “against” a current situation, but “for” a future one. And writing “thank you emails” help you clarify the reasons why you would battle for the job or not.
The second advantage I see in “thank you emails” is that it is not (yet) an habit from applicants. Therefore you are identified as “different” per…… recruiters (internals or job hunters).
And by the way, “establishing long term relationships with job hunters” would be a post by itself, with this “thank you email” as a starting point…..
Just my 2 cents
Ciao Tutti
CecileRay
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