Who do I write thank you letters to after callback? Forum

[barry]

Does the market matter, though? I remember reading somewhere that southern firms, in particular, care more about formalities like thank you notes.

yea it does seem like in the South they might expect it more, but in general I am just thanking them at the end of the interview

[Aqualibrium]

Does the market matter, though? I remember reading somewhere that southern firms, in particular, care more about formalities like thank you notes.

yea it does seem like in the South they might expect it more, but in general I am just thanking them at the end of the interview

Common misconception IMO. I interviewed primarily in the South. 1L OCI, I sent a few thank you's but realized quickly that they had no effect on my candidacy...most of them either got there after a decision was made, never got there at all, or freaked me the hell out when I realized later that I made a typo. 2L OCI and mass mailings, I didn't send any thank you notes at all. Around the holidays I sent a few to people who I really connected with/who helped me decide on an offer, but that was it...no thank you's just as a formality.

Also clerked at two firms 1L summer; only sent thank you's to the person who was in charge of the summer program. With attorneys, I behaved like a normal person and told them thanks and goodbye face to face/kept in touch with the ones I actually liked. Got an offer to come back at both places (in fact, spent 2L summer elsewhere and still got a permanent offer at one of my 1L firms). 2L summer I worked with someone that sent thank you's to every attorney they even had incidental contact with...a few attorneys and I shared a good laugh about how awkward that was (this was definitely not the only "awkward clerk" convo I had with partners and associates...people know when you are trying too hard or not being genuine, and they aren't afraid to discuss it, even with your peers).

Anyway, I'm done with this topic. All I have to say to you 0L's and 1/2L's out there is that thank you notes aren't something you have to do. They aren't even necessary unless you genuinely have something to thank someone about (i.e. not an interview or callback). When sent as a mere formality they are just useless. Be yourself, be genuine, be courteous and tactful, but don't do anything just to do it.

[buster]

I think if you do it, you should do it just because it's a nice thing to do and not because you think it's going to up your chances of an offer. It's probably not. And sure, there is a chance the fact that your writing is horrendous will be discovered, but if you can write an error-free thank you letter and you are genuine about it, why the heck not? No one's gonna say this kid is an idiot for writing a thank you letter; if anything, they'll appreciate the gesture.

[Stanford4Me]

I think if you do it, you should do it just because it's a nice thing to do and not because you think it's going to up your chances of an offer.

+ fucking 1.

Did 1L interviews and sent thank you letters because it's a nice thing to do. No I wasn't kissing ass. Currently not going through OCI because I loved my 1L firm and will be working with them again next summer.

[LogosEther]

I generally fall under the "don't write them" camp, but I did send a few to smaller firms. I felt like I had very specialized discussions with the interviewers at the small firms, whereas the big firm discussions were very scripted. I mean, if a firm is interviewing 10 people, it might expect thank you letters. If it's interviewing 80, I highly doubt that it cares.

[Anonymous User]

I have kind of a weird situation... I arrived at my interview yesterday right as the earthquake happened. The whole building was evacuated but two attorneys on the hiring committee were able to find me after about 20 minutes and we still pulled off the interview outside of the building. I felt like the interview was much more personal due to the unusual circumstances. Once we finally got back into the building, they found two other attorneys to interview me, as the original interviewers went home once the building shut down. In this situation, I feel like it might be appropriate to thank the attorneys for interviewing me despite the circumstances. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous User]

I disagree with the statement that TY letters can never help you. If two candidates are fairly similar and the interviewers need to find a way to differentiate them, the one who wrote the thank you letter will get the nod. They can hurt, of course, if you have typos in them so you just have to be careful. Just keep them short and personalized to each recipient and you'll be good to go.

Didn't take the time to look at your post history to confirm this, but, based on the quoted statement, I'm guessing that you're a 1L or 0L who has never actually gone through the legal recruiting/hiring process. That's not the way it works...

On to the main topic, as Renzo said, what are you thanking them for? What is the deal with law students and perverting/making complicated simple things...

In real life, you send a thank you when someone does something that deserves thanks. You don't send them as a precautionary measure or just for the hell of it. You guys need to understand the attorneys and staff you meet with are real people with real lives. They'll see through ass kissing, hollow gestures, and fake modesty. Just relax, do your interview, and move one with your life. If not sending a thank you card or licking someone's boot is the reason you don't get the job, you probably wouldn't have been happy in that environment anyway.

Everywhere, you have to kiss ass. I'm currently going through the recruiting process, and I completely disagree with you.

No offense, but you have no idea what you're talking about. Before I went through the recruiting process myself, I thought thank you letters were sacrosanct as well. I've since learned (from, among other sources, a biglaw recruiter), that they are a complete waste of time.

[Anonymous User]

I have kind of a weird situation... I arrived at my interview yesterday right as the earthquake happened. The whole building was evacuated but two attorneys on the hiring committee were able to find me after about 20 minutes and we still pulled off the interview outside of the building. I felt like the interview was much more personal due to the unusual circumstances. Once we finally got back into the building, they found two other attorneys to interview me, as the original interviewers went home once the building shut down. In this situation, I feel like it might be appropriate to thank the attorneys for interviewing me despite the circumstances. Any thoughts?

Oh I would most definitely send one in this case, not because I think it might help you, but because the circumstances simply warrant it (even if it was merely a work meeting instead of an interview).

[Anonymous User]

People in this thread seem to misapprehend how legal hiring works at most firms. By the time you are back in your apartment, your interviewers have likely already submitted their feedback, and are no longer involved in the process. At that point your file has moved on to the hiring committee, so unless (1) your interviewer is on the hiring committee, or (2) your thank you note is so incredible it compels your interviewer to contact the hiring committee of his own accord and sing your praises, it will do nothing.

CLS held a panel with hiring partners during EIP last year, and this question was asked. The panel was split, with half saying "no, don't do it" and the other half saying "do whatever you want, but it will never make a difference." One guy specifically cited the fact that your thank you will arrive after your interviewer has already submitted feedback.

Pretty sure the CLS panel was only referring to EIP.
I think you should just do it because on the chance that you get an offer and do join the firm, you don't want to be the arrogant douche who didn't send a thank you.

[Anonymous User]

I have kind of a weird situation... I arrived at my interview yesterday right as the earthquake happened. The whole building was evacuated but two attorneys on the hiring committee were able to find me after about 20 minutes and we still pulled off the interview outside of the building. I felt like the interview was much more personal due to the unusual circumstances. Once we finally got back into the building, they found two other attorneys to interview me, as the original interviewers went home once the building shut down. In this situation, I feel like it might be appropriate to thank the attorneys for interviewing me despite the circumstances. Any thoughts?

Oh I would most definitely send one in this case, not because I think it might help you, but because the circumstances simply warrant it (even if it was merely a work meeting instead of an interview).

Thanks! It was definitely memorable lol.

[Baylan]

2L disclaimer

Agree wholeheartedly with the posters that say do it because its the right thing to do. My "networking" efforts in my mid-sized/smaller market have consisted of getting in touch with and spending time with attorneys, reaching out for advice, and sending lots of thank you emails. I'm still waiting to see how this turns out, but in general, thank yous to the professionals you'll be colleagues with means a lot, particularly in a smaller market. You never know when you might need advice, and seeing your name one more time (either before, or during) the hiring process can't hurt - unless you make an egregious mistake.

Even if it won't help in 99.99999% of cases, I'd rather do it every time and turn it into an offer in the one case that it does help.

[Anonymous User]

People in this thread seem to misapprehend how legal hiring works at most firms. By the time you are back in your apartment, your interviewers have likely already submitted their feedback, and are no longer involved in the process. At that point your file has moved on to the hiring committee, so unless (1) your interviewer is on the hiring committee, or (2) your thank you note is so incredible it compels your interviewer to contact the hiring committee of his own accord and sing your praises, it will do nothing.

CLS held a panel with hiring partners during EIP last year, and this question was asked. The panel was split, with half saying "no, don't do it" and the other half saying "do whatever you want, but it will never make a difference." One guy specifically cited the fact that your thank you will arrive after your interviewer has already submitted feedback.

Pretty sure the CLS panel was only referring to EIP.
I think you should just do it because on the chance that you get an offer and do join the firm, you don't want to be the arrogant douche who didn't send a thank you.

I've been sending thank yous for exactly this reason. Maybe I do get the offer, and if I do, then I want to seem like a good guy to my future co-workers. People took time out of their day to deal with some law school kid; that to me is worth roughly as much as a few sentences of e-mail prose.

[Anonymous User]

What about thank-you notes after getting an offer? I thought about just sending out a fairly generic "thanks for your time and your support, it was great talking to you, etc." note to my interviewers.

E: Just to be clear, I want to write the post-offer thank-you notes only because I feel like it's the polite thing to do. But if this is totally unorthodox and would be coming out of left field, I'll skip it.

[Anonymous User]

I have a callback interview with literally 13 people. Is it appropriate to send a thank you note (email) to the recruiting coordinator, asking him to thank everyone?

[Anonymous User]

you don't want to be the arrogant douche who didn't send a thank you.

Are you kidding? Yeah, no, you're totally right. Those four or five people who interviewed you and probably don't even remember your name the week after are definitely going to go around the firm talking smack about you before you even show up for work. Probably should start looking for another job now because people already hate you there.

[Anonymous User]

I disagree with the statement that TY letters can never help you. If two candidates are fairly similar and the interviewers need to find a way to differentiate them, the one who wrote the thank you letter will get the nod. They can hurt, of course, if you have typos in them so you just have to be careful. Just keep them short and personalized to each recipient and you'll be good to go.

+1. I sent thank yous and got some positive responses. But yes, you should make sure you spell their names right, don't have typos, personalize it (relate to something you talked about) and keep it short.

[Anonymous User]

I have a callback interview with literally 13 people. Is it appropriate to send a thank you note (email) to the recruiting coordinator, asking him to thank everyone?

Yes, I've heard some people recommend that. Seems like a good strategy.

[Anonymous User]

I disagree with the statement that TY letters can never help you. If two candidates are fairly similar and the interviewers need to find a way to differentiate them, the one who wrote the thank you letter will get the nod. They can hurt, of course, if you have typos in them so you just have to be careful. Just keep them short and personalized to each recipient and you'll be good to go.

+1. I sent thank yous and got some positive responses. But yes, you should make sure you spell their names right, don't have typos, personalize it (relate to something you talked about) and keep it short.

+1 that it helped me, because the note followed up on a very memorable interview. Also, I had 2 typos in two different follow-up notes, still got an offer from a V100

[Anonymous User]

2L disclaimer

Agree wholeheartedly with the posters that say do it because its the right thing to do. My "networking" efforts in my mid-sized/smaller market have consisted of getting in touch with and spending time with attorneys, reaching out for advice, and sending lots of thank you emails. I'm still waiting to see how this turns out, but in general, thank yous to the professionals you'll be colleagues with means a lot, particularly in a smaller market. You never know when you might need advice, and seeing your name one more time (either before, or during) the hiring process can't hurt - unless you make an egregious mistake.

Even if it won't help in 99.99999% of cases, I'd rather do it every time and turn it into an offer in the one case that it does help.

+1

[hoos89]

.

[Anonymous User]

I don't know why you wouldn't send a thank you. One thing y'all seem to be forgetting is that you don't have a permanent job in the bag once you get a summer offer. It may be true that the people who interviewed you have already submitted their recommendation to the hiring committee but 1) a decent person thanks people who take the time to give them opportunities and 2) I would rather start my summer as the law student who sent a quick thank you than the one who didn't. I always remember when someone is considerate enough to take the time to send me a thank you note. I bet at least a few of the associates who had to stop billing for 30-40 minutes to prepare and then interview you will also remember if you send one, and it's never too early to start building a reputation as someone that everyone at the firm would like to work with.

[ipguy]

No, it's really pretty weird to thank someone for interviewing you for a job before you know the results of the interview.

I've done plenty of hiring, this is the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard. I didn't have to consider you and I certainly didn't have to take the time out of my day to try and form a connection with you.

You should make an effort to send a personalized TY to each person you meet with AND make sure you don't have any typos in it. If you can barely remember someone's name, don't send them some generic TY.

While some people may have their feedback submitted before you leave the parking deck, I will probably come across you in the future and remember this positively or negatively. Sure, everyone you meet with won't be sitting in the room making the decision, but several will. If you don't think a meaningful TY that indicates you were paying attention, and can interact professionally is going to give you a boost then go ahead and skip it. The rest of the applicants will thank you.

That said, generic thank yous are probably worse than no thank you.

I think if you do it, you should do it just because it's a nice thing to do and not because you think it's going to up your chances of an offer. It's probably not. And sure, there is a chance the fact that your writing is horrendous will be discovered, but if you can write an error-free thank you letter and you are genuine about it, why the heck not? No one's gonna say this kid is an idiot for writing a thank you letter; if anything, they'll appreciate the gesture.

Agree

You aren't doing this because it is going to get you a job. You are doing it because every interaction you have with attorneys is going to have a potential lasting impact.

Just like you shouldn't be a dipshit at a networking event because you don't think you'll ever work with someone, you also shouldn't forget common courtesy because you think it will screw you up.