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From the article: > How someone presents in interviews might not translate to effectiveness in the role. While sending a thank-you note doesn't necessarily gua

From the article: > How someone presents in interviews might not translate to effectiveness in the role. While sending a thank-you note doesn't necessarily guarantee the person will be a good hire, it gives you the tiniest bit more data: The candidate is eager, organized, and well mannered enough to send the note. It shows resourcefulness, too, because the candidate often has to hunt down an email address the interviewer never gave them. At Insider Inc., we look to hire "good eggs." The thank-you email is a mark for the good-egg column. Maybe I'm extrapolating and she doesn't view "good egg" as part of being successful employee, but I think that's what she's getting at. I believe she's trying to identify soft skills at collaboration. That's my most charitable interpretation. Either that, or she's trying to identify people who share her cultural norms, which is problematic in itself.

tomp 8y ago
> That's my most charitable interpretation. Either that, or she's trying to identify people who share her cultural norms, which is problematic in itself. I agree with the rest of your comment, but I find the above attitude problematic in itself. There's nothing wrong with filtering for cultural norms, you've all right to select the people you'll be spending most of your non-sleeping life with. For example, I don't really want to work with someone who's anti-gay (i.e. I want them to share my "live and let live" cultural norm), even though that's clearly a cultural norm for many people all over the world.
- acjohnson55 8y ago
  There should be a distinction between the values of a company and the cultural norms. The idea I've adopted is value-fit / culture-add. The values are non-negotiables. To take your example, for any company I work for or manage for, it must be a place where gay people--for example--are welcome and comfortable being themselves. Cultural norms are a different story. I want my hires to add to our company's pool of cultural perspectives. This means they may have behaviors that diverge from present norms. This can be disruptive, but I think it's a net win in over time. If accepting cultural diversity is a value, it doesn't eliminate disruption, but it certainly makes it less painful. To me, whether someone does or doesn't send a thank you note does not speak to the explicit or implicit values of any place I've been to. It's in pure norm space. And even then, it doesn't say much to me. I appreciate receiving thank-you notes on a human level, but it does nothing for me in making a hiring decision.
- baddox 8y ago
  It is certainly pretty weird to think that it's important to spend your time at work all day with people who send thank you emails after job interviews, especially given that they won't be doing any more job interviews with you while they work there.

tomp 8y ago

> That's my most charitable interpretation. Either that, or she's trying to identify people who share her cultural norms, which is problematic in itself. I agree with the rest of your comment, but I find the above attitude problematic in itself. There's nothing wrong with filtering for cultural norms, you've all right to select the people you'll be spending most of your non-sleeping life with. For example, I don't really want to work with someone who's anti-gay (i.e. I want them to share my "live and let live" cultural norm), even though that's clearly a cultural norm for many people all over the world.

acjohnson55 8y ago
There should be a distinction between the values of a company and the cultural norms. The idea I've adopted is value-fit / culture-add. The values are non-negotiables. To take your example, for any company I work for or manage for, it must be a place where gay people--for example--are welcome and comfortable being themselves. Cultural norms are a different story. I want my hires to add to our company's pool of cultural perspectives. This means they may have behaviors that diverge from present norms. This can be disruptive, but I think it's a net win in over time. If accepting cultural diversity is a value, it doesn't eliminate disruption, but it certainly makes it less painful. To me, whether someone does or doesn't send a thank you note does not speak to the explicit or implicit values of any place I've been to. It's in pure norm space. And even then, it doesn't say much to me. I appreciate receiving thank-you notes on a human level, but it does nothing for me in making a hiring decision.
baddox 8y ago
It is certainly pretty weird to think that it's important to spend your time at work all day with people who send thank you emails after job interviews, especially given that they won't be doing any more job interviews with you while they work there.