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...it is 100% necessary to send an email... I take it a step further. I always send a hand written Thank You Note by snail mail. Always. I have never failed
by edw519 16y ago
...it is 100% necessary to send an email...
I take it a step further. I always send a hand written Thank You Note by snail mail. Always. I have never failed to do this.
Why? Because if someone has spent an hour of their time (I don't care if it's on company time) to potentially change my life, the least I could do is take 5 minutes to share a sincere Thank You. I always take the time to hand write it, I always make it personal, and I am always sincere. (If you're going to be even 1% phony, don't bother, people will see right through it).
There are some nice byproducts. It demonstrates professional courtesy. It demonstrates good communication skills. It demonstrates good customer service. It gets you remembered. Every time.
But I don't do it for these reasons. I do it because it's the right thing to do. It is never "annoying" or a "detriment". Almost everyone I have ever sent a hand written note has told me that they really appreciated opening it and reading it.
Sometimes I even take it a step further. Several times, I have asked public speakers what their favorite restaurant is, and then sent a gift card in the Thank You note. I really want them to understand what a difference their contribution has made in at least one attendee's life. The gift card is a nice idea because I know they will use it and enjoy it, and maybe even think of me that night. I would never send a gift to an interviewer - that's not the same thing.
- carbocation 16y agoThis is extremely classy and I endorse this. In the end, I gave up writing snail mail because it just took me too long to get around to it. I'm much better at writing email. But at any rate, a brief, courteous 'Thank-You' can virtually never hurt. Even if it can't help, either, it's not a bad way to force yourself to ruminate a bit on the interview.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- baddox 16y agoI don't quite get your reasoning here: > if someone has spent an hour of their time (I don't care if it's on company time) to potentially change my life, the least I could do is take 5 minutes to share a sincere Thank You. That implies that choosing a slower method of communicating somehow shows greater thanks than would, say, an email or phone call. I suppose to some people (certainly not me), a snail mail letter may seem more personal or professional than an email, but I don't think the mere fact that your message arrives via snail mail vs. email would reliably earn you points with those in charge of hiring.
- slammdunc23 16y agoI always used to send hand-written thank-you notes, but when I started doing on-campus recruiting I realized that sometimes snail mail isn't feasible. The places I was interviewing were handing out second-round interviews the night of the interview or the next day, so if I wanted my message to reach my interviewer before s/he made a decision, I had to turn to email. Also, this is anecdotal, of course, but the only place I interviewed where I did not get an offer was the one I forgot to send thank-you emails to (I was traveling the whole day and then remembered too late...). Take that as you will! I personally think thank-you notes can only help you if they're well written and sincere.
- rick_2047 16y agoThe main reason to chose snail mail is not that it is slow, but that it shows some amount courtesy and appreciation.The cost (in terms of time) of writing an email v/s letter should not be measured in terms of the number of minutes. I think of it this way, somebody who had take the time to get some postal envelops, stamps, sat down and wrote the letter leaving his work in some way and then dropping it off to a post box is much more classy than someone who composed an email in his/her already open client and wrote a bare bone email with a template in their drafts folder.
- baddox 16y agoWhen you talk about the time it takes to compose and send a physical letter, I simply don't agree or understand. How does taking more time mean you're more thoughtful, serious, or classical? If you're just saying that snail mail seems classy because of its cultural significance, then I understand, but just taking a long time alone doesn't seem particularly thoughtful, serious, or classy.
- rick_2047 16y agothink of it this way, I could be doing something else while I was composing your letter. Also hand written things are always much more personal than email.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- powatom 16y agoIf somebody did this for me, I'd immediately think of it as slimy and basically 'suck-up' behaviour. I would value people honoring their subordinates or customers. So long as they're not assholes to their superiors, I don't care about brown-nosing or any of that nonsense.
- brosephius 16y agoI appreciate that your intentions are good, but I think going that far is risky (except maybe in some specific cases/industries)...if you're going that far out of your way (and yes, in this day and age a written letter is going out of your way), it could very well strike someone as brown-nosing. not to mention it can be hard to convey 100% sincerity in written form. maybe I'm just a cynic...