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The Number One Mistake People I Interview Are Making These Days
Business Insider ^ | 02/24/2012 | Jessica Liebman

Posted on 02/24/2012 7:36:02 AM PST by Responsibility2nd

I'm the Managing Editor of Business Insider, which means I'm responsible for all of the editorial hiring here.

So I'm constantly meeting people of all different levels, from interns to senior editors.

Lately, the majority of people I interview have one thing in common.

They're all messing up on something that I think is very important when trying to get a job: the Thank You Email.

Whether we spent thirty minutes meeting in the offices; we Skyped because you're abroad for your Junior spring semester; or we did a quick first-round phone interview, too many people are forgetting to follow up later that day or the next day with a quick email.

It doesn't have to be anything too involved. Truthfully, the shorter the better.

The Thank You Email should say a few simple things:

-Thank you for meeting (or talking) with me.

-I really want this job.

-Quick plug about why I'm perfect for it.

If I DON'T get a Thank You Email, here's what happens:

-I assume you don't want the job

-I think you're disorganized and forgot about following up

-There is a much higher shot I'll forget about you

Here's an example of a good Thank You Email:

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: interview
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To: Hodar

Very, very true. I had the unfortunate situtation of being at a social setting and ran into an ex-employee that was fired for cause. He still sends an email nearly every day asking about his status to job postings he has applied for. I try my best not to be rude as he is friends with another close friend of mine, but it is getting old. Our HR is very good about keeping distances between managers and candidates but this guy is well beyond any normal boundaries.


21 posted on 02/24/2012 8:17:47 AM PST by CodeToad (NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!!)
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To: Hodar

Just Damn. Your experience at Dell was brutal. But this has been the case for many companies for many years.

The only options for potential employees is to game the system as best they can. I would follow up with the position, but after a couple of weeks - if not offered a job - I would forget about that company and move on.


22 posted on 02/24/2012 8:18:00 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This mean Liberals and/or Libertarians (Same Thing) NO LIBS.))
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To: Responsibility2nd

What ineffable twaddle.

Are you looking for someone who can write and edit copy, or interviewing candidates for the Queen and Her Court Rose Parade float?

If someone bothers to meet with you, they want the job. A “thank-you” at the end of the interview suffices.

Anything else is just sucking up and a sop to your outsized ego.


23 posted on 02/24/2012 8:23:15 AM PST by Blue Ink
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To: jiggyboy

Many moons ago, with college graduation a month or two away, I drove 500 miles (round trip) to interview at a small company. Part of the agreement was that the company would reimburse me for my gas - regardless of whether I got the job. I’m still waiting to hear if I got the position (this was in 1987), but they DID send me a check for gas - two weeks after the check expired. Two years later, I drove nine hours, one way, to interview at yet another small company. I must have REALLY bombed the thing, though; I’m still waiting to hear back from them, one way or the other.


24 posted on 02/24/2012 8:26:46 AM PST by Basil Duke
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To: Basil Duke

Get this, I interviewed for a position WITHIN my company and NEVER received a follow up - even though the manager and HR person were one builiding over. Furthermore, when asked for a status from the manager via company instant messaging, my instant message was closed by the manager.

Yeh, ok, lady,....what comes around goes around. I’ll have my day with you.


25 posted on 02/24/2012 8:33:26 AM PST by Hammerhead
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To: Responsibility2nd

I think the social mores have changed. While some managers may like a thank you note, I think most would see it as a waste of their time. About being convinced that somebody *really* wants the job...in this economy, everybody really wants the job.


26 posted on 02/24/2012 8:34:34 AM PST by OrangeHoof (Obama: The Dr. Kevorkian of the American economy.)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Combine the unemployment rate with the amount of applications you need to fill out to get an interview, combined with the amount of detailed information each company wants in its own format, combined with the fact that 99% of applications won't even get a "Thanks for applying" message, combined with the fact that most companies will only hire someone who has the exact experience as the guy who just got fired or quit; quite frankly, I am absolutely amazed at the scarcity of businesses being burned to the ground.

However, it's not hard to write a thank you note, and in my experience HR people are needy illiterates. So it may help you land the job if you throw them a bone thanking them for their precious time and consideration. Certainly don't mention all the mistakes and incongruencies in the job ad (one of my fav's was "Must Have Masters - prefer Bachelors").

27 posted on 02/24/2012 8:37:54 AM PST by douginthearmy (Obamagebra: 1 job + 1 hope + 1 change = 0 jobs + 0 hope)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Things have probably changed since I did any hiring. I was looking for computer programmers. It usually took no more than three minutes for me to decide that a person was someone I wanted. Phony follow-up letters and/or phone calls were mostly a negative SFAIWC.

ML/NJ

28 posted on 02/24/2012 8:44:58 AM PST by ml/nj
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To: Responsibility2nd

Send a thank you note by snail mail. That’ll really impress them because no one really does that anymore.


29 posted on 02/24/2012 8:44:58 AM PST by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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To: douginthearmy

lolol

That probably means they want a candidate with a Masters.

But they will only pay based on a Bachelors.

Or maybe they mean bachelor as in no married people.

lololol


30 posted on 02/24/2012 8:47:44 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This mean Liberals and/or Libertarians (Same Thing) NO LIBS.))
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To: Hammerhead
And I NEVER received a follow-up from a company on why I wasn’t selected. Left to sit there wondering forever if/why I didn’t get the job.

I used to tell people directly that I wasn't interested in them and why. I realized that they had traveled to come see me and I would offer to answer their questions if they had any.

ML/NJ

31 posted on 02/24/2012 8:51:32 AM PST by ml/nj
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To: Hodar

Back in the ‘80s I was in programming and for a while had to do the Resume routine. One day I got the idea to add a second page, usually a no-no. I titled it “Technical Addendum”. Programming to me was nothing more than a problem-solving job, once solved you moved on to the next one, and other than remembering a new technique, forgot about it.

I started listing the jobs I had done and after about the third one, I thought, “Damn, I’d hire me!”. There was some neat, money-saving programs/systems I had produced. I stapled it to the resume and added a little note saying something to the effect that all resumes were suspected of having a lot of Blue Smoke and Mirrors, so if the Employment Guy would just pass the Addendum to the guy I would be working for (positive thinking), he could tell in a minute whether I was B/Sing or not.

Always got a positive response and always got the job, so maybe it would still help today.


32 posted on 02/24/2012 8:56:38 AM PST by Oatka (This is America. Assimilate or evaporate.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Email thank-you letters are impersonal and often unread.

If you really want the job, nothing beats a personalized, hand-written thank-you card, send via US Mail.


33 posted on 02/24/2012 9:13:28 AM PST by privatedrive
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To: txhurl
I’d be curious as to the percentage of interviews are fake HR go-thru-the-motions as the job was filled internally before someone had to post it publicly to cover their EOE ass.

I dealt with that many moons ago. The prospective employer deliberately distorted something I said and then used it as an excuse not to hire me. (I found out later he had hired a pretty grad student from the university department he was out of...)

34 posted on 02/24/2012 9:14:15 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Responsibility2nd

If you want the job, then you should display good manners and professionalism by writing a thank you note to the person who interviews you.

The comments on this post as well as the comments on the article’s site are eye-opening. Since when is being polite something to be disparaged?

I have not, and will not, extend an offer of employment to anyone who does not send a thank you (which basically tells me that you want the job.)


35 posted on 02/24/2012 9:14:57 AM PST by NoKoolAidforMe (I'm clinging to my God and my guns. You can keep the change.)
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To: Obadiah

When I have hired, I have had a lot of qualified people applying and I am looking for reasons to easily eliminate some of them to get the list down to a reasonable number and then to decide between the last three or four candidates. Little stuff like this can make a difference in those situations. I’m more likely to extend an offer to someone who lets me know they want the job enough to say so in a followup.


36 posted on 02/24/2012 9:17:02 AM PST by ModelBreaker
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To: Responsibility2nd

Anymore, I’m overjoyed to see applicants that can put together a resume and cover letter in passable English. Most resumes and letters all look the same anyway, but I’m really narrowing on written communication skill. I will sometimes follow up with an e-mail of my own, if only to prompt them to write a few more sentences just to see if they can do it.


37 posted on 02/24/2012 9:20:57 AM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us one chance in three. More tea anyone?)
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To: NoKoolAidforMe

Most of the people on this thread are technical engineering types. The rules are different for them. There is very little BS factor in these types of positions.


38 posted on 02/24/2012 9:26:33 AM PST by central_va ( I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: ModelBreaker

Good to know, thanks. Although employed, in almost every instance where I have applied this it seems to have had no impact, but that’s just my limited anecdotal perspective. I’m more inclined to view the significance of sending a follow-up if a candidate advances past any initial interview first cut.


39 posted on 02/24/2012 9:26:54 AM PST by Obadiah (Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATMs?)
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To: txhurl
I simply cannot tell you how many times I been have down that road. Not sour grapes, I have have confirmed on many ocassions that often a job is posted, the requirements are unnecessarily narrow, but if I qualify I apply only to later discover that it was all Kabuki. Seriously, that has happened to me a lot.
40 posted on 02/24/2012 9:35:58 AM PST by Obadiah (Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATMs?)
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