Thank-you notes STILL the polite thing to do

This might sound crazy coming from a professional writer, but the part of job hunting I struggle with the most is… writing thank you notes. Does anyone pay attention to them? After they meet 15 other candidates, is my effort worth it?

According to a CareerBuilder survey of hiring managers, nearly 15% of said they would not hire someone who failed to send a thank-you letter after the interview; 32 percent said they would still consider the candidate, but would think less of him or her.

I appreciated the advice recently given by recruiting expert Tom Hogan, a Principal at Level 1 Resources.  “Think of thank you notes as part of your ‘campaign’ to get the job,” Tom said. “A failure to send them could actually hurt your chances.”

Following up after an interview with a brief note can

• Set you apart from other candidates.
• Remind the employer of your candidacy.
• Reinforce your interest in that specific job

What is most appropriate for a thank you note—paper or email? Various opinions abound, but either method is fine.

“I happen to think handwritten notes make a great impression, but e-mails are much faster and work especially well for those with poor handwriting,” he said.

Tom also suggests: 

• Send thank you notes as soon as possible.
• Keep it brief. Tell the reader what you gained from the interview and what appeals to you about the position.
• Don’t say you’re a “perfect fit” after a screening interview. You don’t have enough information at this point and you will look foolish or naïve.
• Don’t send the same note to every person. Vary it. Many managers say that they compare notes with their colleagues to see if the candidate wrote the same one to every person. Add a personal touch to each thank you.
• Thank the corporate HR recruiting coordinator, too. A lot of candidates forget this and a good recruiting coordinator can have a lot of power in hiring decisions.  
• Spell check. Spell check. Spell check. If you are handwriting your notes, then you need to be doubly sure that you aren’t misspelling something. Consider typing out what you want to say in Microsoft Word before transcribing to your note. If you don’t pay attention to detail now, how can they be confident in your work quality?

You can follow Level 1 Resources on Twitter at http://twitter.com/level1resources for information on jobs.

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