thank you note etiquette Forum

[Asleep]

I had a few firm interviews last week. At the interviews I met with multiple attorneys. I met with each one for twenty minutes to a half hour. Should I send a thank you note to each attorney (there were 3 at one interview, 4 at the other) or to my original contact at the firms, a legal assistant at one and a lawyer at the other (but a lawyer who interviewed me for the screening interview, not that I met with that day)?

[03121202698008]

No. Send one to the recruiter. They will distribute. If doing by email, email recruiter and only lawyers you made some kind of special connection with.

[Anonymous User]

I would send emails to those that interviewed you, on the day of the interview. If you were interviewed by more than 1 person, send an email to each person, address it to them individually.

I know a lot of people say not to send thank yous, and there is merit to that. But I do it, and if they are doing all the interviews in one day, I think the interviewers are making up their minds throughout that day. It's just a little reminder that you exist and you are courteous.

[jd-mba]

I would send emails to those that interviewed you, on the day of the interview. If you were interviewed by more than 1 person, send an email to each person, address it to them individually.

I know a lot of people say not to send thank yous, and there is merit to that. But I do it, and if they are doing all the interviews in one day, I think the interviewers are making up their minds throughout that day. It's just a little reminder that you exist and you are courteous.

Not sure why you're anonymous, but I'm with you on this one. Personalized email to every interviewer, NOT every person you meet (unless there's some reason beyond saying "thank you," e.g. question about something you guys talked about). I don't do the whole hand-written thing, unless it's a small and traditional place that seems like they will actually open the envelope instead of just throw it in the trash with the rest of the thank you notes.

[Anonymous User]

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[Master Tofu]

Do follow-up but don't do thank-yous. A generic thank-you note lacks substance and means nothing to the reader. If you had a conversation about a specific topic, I think it's appropriate to later follow-up on the topic with an article or something that is not only interesting but also was unique to your conversation. If you don't know what you can say or nothing unique comes to mind, then you should just not say anything - if you treat your notes as a formality, the reader will treat it as a formality as well.

[5ky]

Different schools tell you different things about this. UVA essentially tells us that it'll be more likely to hurt than help (caveat: southern firms) and to not bother unless you feel absolutely compelled to do so.

I've never sent a thank you note, did just fine for 2L OCI.

[Sm Firm Hiring P]

It may not matter to Biglaw but I can tell you the thank you notes are big for smaller firms. We generally will not invite someone back for a second interview without thank you notes. We want people that are really interested in us and no thank you note means not that important. I and 2 associates did all the screening interviews and we received personal thank you notes from the more impressive, mature candidates.