4 ms·

I mean... I was taught in high school to always send a thank you email to an interviewer after an interview. Not only for the courtesy, but also to stay in the

I mean... I was taught in high school to always send a thank you email to an interviewer after an interview. Not only for the courtesy, but also to stay in the interviewer’s head if they were undecided. Most people don’t send these, thus, you’ll be a bit unique and might tip things in your favor. An interviewer that uses it as a hiring requirement probably wants someone thoughtful and willing to do a little extra compared to others. Seems minor compared to multi hour programming tests.

linuxftw 8y ago
> I was taught in high school to always send a thank you email to an interviewer after an interview. Ah yes, the folk-knowledge from high school. Always offered by the academic class with no background in having real jobs. IMO, thank you letters seem desperate for anything other than an entry level job. Interviews should be testing you for fit (primarily technical) for the role. If you pass this criteria, they will be very excited for you to join with their team because there is high demand for skilled workers.
- JasonFruit 8y ago
  TIL teaching isn't a real job.
  - pwinnski 8y ago
    Few people are so openly ignorant, but this is a very common belief.
    - linuxftw 8y ago
      Many people don't view public sector (government) workers as legitimate professions, teachers included. They are part of the bureaucratic machine, and their experiences don't replicate what the rest of society encounters. Is a chemistry teacher that's never been employed in the private sector (aka, had a 'real job') as a chemist a good source of knowledge about obtaining a job as a chemist? Not really.
nicoburns 8y ago
> someone thoughtful and willing to do a little extra compared to others Seems to me that you'd be more likely be selected for people are willing to comply with arbitrary social conventions for the sake of getting ahead. Or even just those who happened grow up in an environment that passed on the folk knowledge that this is necessary. How many people who send these "thank you notes" are truly thankful for the experience? > Seems minor compared to multi hour programming tests. It is minor if you know you need to do it. The thing is, that some applicants will, and some won't (entirely independently of their capacity to do the job).
- corodra 8y ago
  I’m sorry, but a thank you is now considered arbitrary? Come on, seriously? What environment are you not taught to respect someone that gave you time of day? And does it matter if they are truly thankful? It’s not like people share things on the internet to truly SHARE, out of their own good will. They either want fake internet points, recognition, or traffic to end up selling something down the road.
  - nicoburns 8y ago
    > I’m sorry, but a thank you is now considered arbitrary? > And does it matter if they are truly thankful? A thank you that is 1) Expected and 2) Not truly meant seems pretty arbitrary to me. I would show respect to the person who took time out of their day to interview me by not taking any more time out of their day by making them read a thank you message. To be clear: I don't think there is anything wrong with sending a thank you. I just don't think it should be considered necessary, and it definitely shouldn't be a primary signal on hiring decisions.
bandrade 8y ago
This is exactly the issue with these arbitrary gates in the hiring process. You were taught to do it. Someone with a different background (maybe they grew up in a different country or had parents that worked in a different industry) wouldn't necessarily even think to send a thank you and would be unfairly disqualified from the position.
- corodra 8y ago
  Different industry? Different background? Like Eastern European immigrant that could only afford to live among white trash blue collar folks? I should be too stupid to know how the great big American economy works then since my high school was surrounded by cattle farm. I’m pretty white trash still to this day. But even in our retarded educational system, we knew handshakes, pleases and thank yous were still important in a cooperative, functioning society. You know what, that's funny. The poorer folks I know that escaped their poverty, we all know our pleases and thank yous. It's actually the people that grew up with money that are social idiots and ungrateful bastards that like to complain about every little thing under the sun.
  - seba_dos1 8y ago
    You say "thank you" at the end of the interview. Sending it again later in an e-mail definitely wouldn't come to my mind at all, and if I got such mail it would feel very strange.
deleted 8y ago
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trickstra 8y ago
learn programming and interviewers will be sending you 'thank you's.

linuxftw 8y ago

> I was taught in high school to always send a thank you email to an interviewer after an interview. Ah yes, the folk-knowledge from high school. Always offered by the academic class with no background in having real jobs. IMO, thank you letters seem desperate for anything other than an entry level job. Interviews should be testing you for fit (primarily technical) for the role. If you pass this criteria, they will be very excited for you to join with their team because there is high demand for skilled workers.

JasonFruit 8y ago
TIL teaching isn't a real job.
- pwinnski 8y ago
  Few people are so openly ignorant, but this is a very common belief.
  - linuxftw 8y ago
    Many people don't view public sector (government) workers as legitimate professions, teachers included. They are part of the bureaucratic machine, and their experiences don't replicate what the rest of society encounters. Is a chemistry teacher that's never been employed in the private sector (aka, had a 'real job') as a chemist a good source of knowledge about obtaining a job as a chemist? Not really.

nicoburns 8y ago

> someone thoughtful and willing to do a little extra compared to others Seems to me that you'd be more likely be selected for people are willing to comply with arbitrary social conventions for the sake of getting ahead. Or even just those who happened grow up in an environment that passed on the folk knowledge that this is necessary. How many people who send these "thank you notes" are truly thankful for the experience? > Seems minor compared to multi hour programming tests. It is minor if you know you need to do it. The thing is, that some applicants will, and some won't (entirely independently of their capacity to do the job).

corodra 8y ago
I’m sorry, but a thank you is now considered arbitrary? Come on, seriously? What environment are you not taught to respect someone that gave you time of day? And does it matter if they are truly thankful? It’s not like people share things on the internet to truly SHARE, out of their own good will. They either want fake internet points, recognition, or traffic to end up selling something down the road.
- nicoburns 8y ago
  > I’m sorry, but a thank you is now considered arbitrary? > And does it matter if they are truly thankful? A thank you that is 1) Expected and 2) Not truly meant seems pretty arbitrary to me. I would show respect to the person who took time out of their day to interview me by not taking any more time out of their day by making them read a thank you message. To be clear: I don't think there is anything wrong with sending a thank you. I just don't think it should be considered necessary, and it definitely shouldn't be a primary signal on hiring decisions.

bandrade 8y ago

This is exactly the issue with these arbitrary gates in the hiring process. You were taught to do it. Someone with a different background (maybe they grew up in a different country or had parents that worked in a different industry) wouldn't necessarily even think to send a thank you and would be unfairly disqualified from the position.

corodra 8y ago
Different industry? Different background? Like Eastern European immigrant that could only afford to live among white trash blue collar folks? I should be too stupid to know how the great big American economy works then since my high school was surrounded by cattle farm. I’m pretty white trash still to this day. But even in our retarded educational system, we knew handshakes, pleases and thank yous were still important in a cooperative, functioning society. You know what, that's funny. The poorer folks I know that escaped their poverty, we all know our pleases and thank yous. It's actually the people that grew up with money that are social idiots and ungrateful bastards that like to complain about every little thing under the sun.
- seba_dos1 8y ago
  You say "thank you" at the end of the interview. Sending it again later in an e-mail definitely wouldn't come to my mind at all, and if I got such mail it would feel very strange.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

trickstra 8y ago

learn programming and interviewers will be sending you 'thank you's.