Yes, you really do have to send a thank-you note after a job interview—here's why

CNBC ^ | April 30, 2019 | Kerri Anne Renzulli

[2ndDivisionVet]

Yes, you need to send a thank-you note after a job interview.

This might be unwelcome news, especially if you sided against the somewhat old-fashioned practice at the center of the recent, highly contentious online debate surrounding an article by Business Insider executive managing editor Jessica Liebman. In a post for Business Insider, Liebman wrote that when she first started hiring, she came up with "a simple rule: We shouldn't move a candidate to the next stage in the interview process unless they send a thank-you email."

Plenty of people disagreed with Liebman, but her stance gets at the very heart of why it is always better as a job seeker to err on the side of caution and send a thank-you note: You never know what the hiring manager may consider a deal-breaker.

While not all hiring managers take thank-you notes as seriously as Liebman, 80% find such messages helpful when reviewing candidates, according to a survey by Accountemps.

[MayflowerMadam]

“do whatever you can to avoid HR types like the plague. All they understand is buzzwords and bullsh*t.”

Amen! I worked in HR for several years, and all you say is true. It was traumatic for a conservative to be in a cesspool of political correctness. “buzzwords and bullsh!t”, you say? For weekly staff meetings I’d take a newly printed copy of “Wonk Word Bingo”, and cross out the buzzwords (or phrases) the first time I heard each one: best practice; end of the day; own/ownership; revisit; the loop - in/out of; big picture; eye eee (i.e.); paradigm; same page; embrace; empower; take-away

There are more; you get the picture.

HR IS EVIL.

[gcparent]

And shine your shoes.

[gcparent]

And one or two lines why you believe you are a good fit for the job.

[fruser1]

Yup, stake your future on an unreliable transport mechanism.

What reaction would they have to a read receipt on that email?

[OrangeHoof]

Maybe for some occupations, a “thank-you” note is helpful. In my experiences with the IT world, it never made a difference.

I did, however, send flowers to female job recruiters who *got me the job*. The last one it turned out she wasn’t at the local office she claimed to be; she was actually somewhere in Indiana. So her boss sent her a jpg of the flowers and circulated it through the company email so everyone knew I sent it. The recruiter said, that was better for her than if she actually received the flowers.

[PrincessB]

Usually I agree. However, I recently hired somebody. He was one of three people who followed the application instructions. Of those three, he was one of two whose cover letter was grammatically correct. Of those two, he was the only one provided a resume that matched his application and a letter that supported those materials.

He aced the in person interview, had skills we needed, and was experience-wise at the ideal level. He hit so many points we wanted and was so far ahead of the rest of the pool, I was beyond caring if there was a note. (And yes, I made the right decision. He is surpassing expectations.)

[vpintheak]

I’ve had 4 separate jobs since I have been out of the Army. All of them I was offered the job after the interview, and all of them, I sent a thanks for the interview-type letter. Not desperate, but shows I am interested and determined. It works.