Thank You Email? Forum

[elendinel]

Do you drop your date off at his/her apartment and then immediately text them "had a nice night" or "thank you for taking me out"? Yeah, you could. But to say nothing speaks volumes and playing hard-to-get is almost always the best strategy.

Regarding handwritten notes, I don't think a handwritten note is effective for most employers (judges/maybe solo practitioners excluded) because of the timeline for making these choices. When I've interviewed someone, I've been required to input my comments that day (or not much more than a day later); by the time a handwritten letter gets to me I've probably already entered my comments and can't add to them. Thus your letter ended up being kind of useless for you. In a situation where only one person is doing all the interviewing and hiring it may be fine because they may still be making a decision a few days from then, but in most other circumstances it's not useful.

I think sending a handwritten note to a biglaw interviewer or your interviewer at, say, Google, is the point at which I'd think you look desperate. But that's just me personally.

[rpupkin]

This is so silly that it shouldn't even need to be said, but I'll say it anyway: context matters.

If you're applying to jobs at small firms (or small companies) in, say, the South or the Midwest, then you probably should send thank-you notes.

If you're applying to jobs at large firms (or large tech companies) on the coasts, then you probably shouldn't send thank-you notes.

If you're applying to a judge, then you should talk to a couple of former clerks and follow their advice about the judge's quirks.

[Anonymous User]

OP here - thanks for everyone's input. Ultimately decided not to send anything.

[Anonymous User]

OP again - quick related question: During the interviews I didn't get a great sense of timing for when they would be making any decisions - would it be OK to send the internal recruiter/HR person a quick email asking about timing?

[rpupkin]

OP again - quick related question: During the interviews I didn't get a great sense of timing for when they would be making any decisions - would it be OK to send the internal recruiter/HR person a quick email asking about timing?

Yes. Though be aware that any email you send to HR will probably be forwarded to the person making the hiring decision.