Seems insincere to me, really. Unless they're the only candidate and you know you want to hire them and it's meant to start some kind of dialogue or relationshi

Seems insincere to me, really. Unless they're the only candidate and you know you want to hire them and it's meant to start some kind of dialogue or relationship. Otherwise, it's just awkward because it's not as if you can tell them anything until you make a decision. And yes, there's the added "every interview advice column" tells you to do this. It might have mattered back in the days of hand-typed letters and I'm sure some stickler curmudgeons still want to see it as some rite of passage/hazing thing.