Thank you e-mails after callbacks Forum

[Anonymous User]

How long and ungeneric do these need to be? Is it OK to just say the cliche "thank you for meeting with me, enjoyed our conversation, appreciated your advice, everyone was nice, hope to hear soon" or do you need to make them personalized?

[kurla88]

How long and ungeneric do these need to be? Is it OK to just say the cliche "thank you for meeting with me, enjoyed our conversation, appreciated your advice, everyone was nice, hope to hear soon" or do you need to make them personalized?

I doubt it's going to make any major difference, but if you clicked with an interviewer and spent 20 minutes talking about a single topic or something, you could remind the interviewer who you are by saying something like "I enjoyed our conversation about X".

[green]

How long and ungeneric do these need to be? Is it OK to just say the cliche "thank you for meeting with me, enjoyed our conversation, appreciated your advice, everyone was nice, hope to hear soon" or do you need to make them personalized?

Send written thank you notes if possible.

[Anonymous User]

Handwritten notes?

I have the penmanship of a remedial 1st grader.

[Bosque]

For screening interviews, an email thank you or none at all is appropriate. You don't have time then to be sending written thank you letters. For call backs, they should be letters in the mail. Hand written or typed is fine, just make sure to sign it in pen.

[wannabealonghorn]

Do you send typed/handwritten letters to all interviewers individually?

[Bosque]

Do you send typed/handwritten letters to all interviewers individually?

If you can make each letter personalized, yes. If you cannot, better to just send one good one to the recruiting coordinator and ask her/him to circulate it to the people you interviewed with.

[Anonymous User]

Do you send typed/handwritten letters to all interviewers individually?

If you can make each letter personalized, yes. If you cannot, better to just send one good one to the recruiting coordinator and ask her/him to circulate it to the people you interviewed with.

3 separate hiring attorneys at a panel at UVA said that it was actually a bad idea to send a "please extend my thanks" message to the recruiting contact. It comes across as somewhat lazy/giving orders like. I don't think it's a huge faux pa, but when asked directly all three said it was a bad idea. They also stated that in general thank you notes - in whatever form - are more likely to hurt than help (if you make a typo, send the same message to everyone and get found out, etc.), and are not required, even after a callback.

They also conceded that the occasional attorney really liked getting them - but it's pretty common that even via email the thank you arrives after the evaluations are submitted or decision is made, so it's unlikely to help in most callback situations.

I sent personalized thank you emails a few days after the callback that wound up turning into an offer and a summer job, so I don't think it's fatal or awful. Even got some nice notes back from the people I wrote to. So as always, opinions vary, and everyone is going to do something different. Culture and geography may also make a big difference - big NYC firms probably care less than smaller southern firms, etc.

[12262010]

post-CB thank yous are creepy.

[Bosque]

3 separate hiring attorneys at a panel at UVA said that it was actually a bad idea to send a "please extend my thanks" message to the recruiting contact. It comes across as somewhat lazy/giving orders like. I don't think it's a huge faux pa, but when asked directly all three said it was a bad idea. They also stated that in general thank you notes - in whatever form - are more likely to hurt than help (if you make a typo, send the same message to everyone and get found out, etc.), and are not required, even after a callback.

I would disagree. I heard the exact opposite from hiring attorneys here. While they did say that individual thank you notes were better, they all said one good one was a lot better than 5 or 6 mediocre ones. And they did make the same points about thank you notes hurting you, but there is a very simple solution to that: write a new one every time. A generic thank you that you send to everyone is not a good idea anyway.

They also conceded that the occasional attorney really liked getting them - but it's pretty common that even via email the thank you arrives after the evaluations are submitted or decision is made, so it's unlikely to help in most callback situations.

Honestly, I would still write them even if I knew there was no way they would arrive until after the decision was made. I have written thank you notes for firms who have already rejected me before. More than actually helping with getting a job, this is about cultivating your image in the profession. The legal community is very small. Even if you don't end up working at the firm, chances are you will at some point come across these people again professionally. You want them to have a good impression of you.

I sent personalized thank you emails a few days after the callback that wound up turning into an offer and a summer job, so I don't think it's fatal or awful. Even got some nice notes back from the people I wrote to. So as always, opinions vary, and everyone is going to do something different. Culture and geography may also make a big difference - big NYC firms probably care less than smaller southern firms, etc.

And that, finally, is the reason you should send thank you notes to everyone. No one upon receiving a thank you note is going to be offended that you had the audacity to thank them. So long as the note is good, at worst it will do nothing. They ignore it and go on with their day. However, some people will expect them, and the absence will be noted. Why take the gamble that the person you spoke to is part of the first group when the only thing you lose is ten minutes of your time?

[Person]

post-CB thank yous are creepy.

? Explain.

[vamedic03]

Do you send typed/handwritten letters to all interviewers individually?

If you can make each letter personalized, yes. If you cannot, better to just send one good one to the recruiting coordinator and ask her/him to circulate it to the people you interviewed with.

3 separate hiring attorneys at a panel at UVA said that it was actually a bad idea to send a "please extend my thanks" message to the recruiting contact. It comes across as somewhat lazy/giving orders like. I don't think it's a huge faux pa, but when asked directly all three said it was a bad idea. They also stated that in general thank you notes - in whatever form - are more likely to hurt than help (if you make a typo, send the same message to everyone and get found out, etc.), and are not required, even after a callback.

They also conceded that the occasional attorney really liked getting them - but it's pretty common that even via email the thank you arrives after the evaluations are submitted or decision is made, so it's unlikely to help in most callback situations.

I sent personalized thank you emails a few days after the callback that wound up turning into an offer and a summer job, so I don't think it's fatal or awful. Even got some nice notes back from the people I wrote to. So as always, opinions vary, and everyone is going to do something different. Culture and geography may also make a big difference - big NYC firms probably care less than smaller southern firms, etc.

TCR - also at the panel, and I would note that the attorneys represented a spectrum of firms (Large DC, large Southern firm, and large Texas firm)

[Anonymous User]

Do you send typed/handwritten letters to all interviewers individually?

If you can make each letter personalized, yes. If you cannot, better to just send one good one to the recruiting coordinator and ask her/him to circulate it to the people you interviewed with.

3 separate hiring attorneys at a panel at UVA said that it was actually a bad idea to send a "please extend my thanks" message to the recruiting contact. It comes across as somewhat lazy/giving orders like. I don't think it's a huge faux pa, but when asked directly all three said it was a bad idea. They also stated that in general thank you notes - in whatever form - are more likely to hurt than help (if you make a typo, send the same message to everyone and get found out, etc.), and are not required, even after a callback.

They also conceded that the occasional attorney really liked getting them - but it's pretty common that even via email the thank you arrives after the evaluations are submitted or decision is made, so it's unlikely to help in most callback situations.

I sent personalized thank you emails a few days after the callback that wound up turning into an offer and a summer job, so I don't think it's fatal or awful. Even got some nice notes back from the people I wrote to. So as always, opinions vary, and everyone is going to do something different. Culture and geography may also make a big difference - big NYC firms probably care less than smaller southern firms, etc.

TCR - also at the panel, and I would note that the attorneys represented a spectrum of firms (Large DC, large Southern firm, and large Texas firm)

GULC OCI-prep panel today included 3 hiring attorneys from various firms (similar breakdown to the one above), and ALL THREE said NOT to send thank-you notes, even after callback interviews. This took most of the group by surprise, but they said it will only hurt you, not help you, and they are not expected.

In summary: thank-you notes are a bad idea.

[apper123]

If you can make each letter personalized, yes. If you cannot, better to just send one good one to the recruiting coordinator and ask her/him to circulate it to the people you interviewed with.

3 separate hiring attorneys at a panel at UVA said that it was actually a bad idea to send a "please extend my thanks" message to the recruiting contact. It comes across as somewhat lazy/giving orders like. I don't think it's a huge faux pa, but when asked directly all three said it was a bad idea. They also stated that in general thank you notes - in whatever form - are more likely to hurt than help (if you make a typo, send the same message to everyone and get found out, etc.), and are not required, even after a callback.

They also conceded that the occasional attorney really liked getting them - but it's pretty common that even via email the thank you arrives after the evaluations are submitted or decision is made, so it's unlikely to help in most callback situations.

I sent personalized thank you emails a few days after the callback that wound up turning into an offer and a summer job, so I don't think it's fatal or awful. Even got some nice notes back from the people I wrote to. So as always, opinions vary, and everyone is going to do something different. Culture and geography may also make a big difference - big NYC firms probably care less than smaller southern firms, etc.

TCR - also at the panel, and I would note that the attorneys represented a spectrum of firms (Large DC, large Southern firm, and large Texas firm)

GULC OCI-prep panel today included 3 hiring attorneys from various firms (similar breakdown to the one above), and ALL THREE said NOT to send thank-you notes, even after callback interviews. This took most of the group by surprise, but they said it will only hurt you, not help you, and they are not expected.

In summary: thank-you notes are a bad idea.

Haha came here to post exactly this. Tbh it wasn't until the event at GULC today that I ever heard that... always assumed they were standard after CBs.

[wiseowl]

i'll be honest, the GULC advice goes against all convention.

you guys might be getting reverse-pwned.

[apper123]

i'll be honest, the GULC advice goes against all convention.

you guys might be getting reverse-pwned.

A lot of it came straight from the panel that was here today from some big firms... Although the OCS dean himself was also surprised at hearing they didn't want TYs after callbacks.

[vamedic03]

i'll be honest, the GULC advice goes against all convention.

you guys might be getting reverse-pwned.

Unless UVA and GULC are involved in some sort of giant conspiracy, I doubt this... Let's be honest, the thank you note is not really going to help you -- either you have the credentials + made a good impression, or you don't have the credentials or didn't make a good impression

[sbalive]

People are being deluged by email, and no one really wants to read snail mail anymore. So, the advice not to write standard thank you notes comes as no surprise.

I think the way to do it is to view these notes as being networking tools, regardless of whether the firm gives an offer or you decline an offer. If there are people who you click with and like, it makes sense to send them a targeted follow-up, since you will likely be running across them again professionally. I'm certainly not going to write them for 100% of the people I interview with (though I will probably universally send a note to the person who did the screener and the coordinator who helped set up my schedule for the callback as a whole).

[Anonymous User]

Is there any way a thank you letter can hurt you except by containing typos or by being overly general? I find it hard to believe that not sending them could be a better move than sending them. I have a callback tomorrow, so I'd particularly like to hear if anyone has heard of an employer who has recommended sending them.

[270910]

Is there any way a thank you letter can hurt you except by containing typos or by being overly general?

No, ish.

Ways they could hurt you:

1) Typos

2) overly general / thoughtless

3) You send the same one to multiple people and they realize it

Keep in mind eradicating typos, especially with many people you've never corresponded with before, is easier said than done. I don't care how careful you are / promise you will be, shit slips through. And twice as much shit if you rush.

Still, feel it out - it's a personal question, and it absolutely won't hurt you if you do it professionally and promptly.

[wiseowl]

I agree with disco's post. As others have said in other threads on this topic, however, if you can't with a certain level of common sense write a simple, short, accurate piece of correspondence for something that matters, perhaps you've chosen the wrong career.

[hithere]

Is there any way a thank you letter can hurt you except by containing typos or by being overly general? I find it hard to believe that not sending them could be a better move than sending them. I have a callback tomorrow, so I'd particularly like to hear if anyone has heard of an employer who has recommended sending them.

They can hurt you if they are addressed to a different firm.

[dood]

...

[edcrane]

Best practice is to refrain from sending out thank you e-mails/notes unless you have a strong reason to do so. They're not expected or required.

[General Tso]

GULC OCI-prep panel today included 3 hiring attorneys from various firms (similar breakdown to the one above), and ALL THREE said NOT to send thank-you notes, even after callback interviews. This took most of the group by surprise, but they said it will only hurt you, not help you, and they are not expected.

In summary: thank-you notes are a bad idea.

I think it depends on the firm. At my recent CB, I was given a folder containing the profiles of each of my interviewers, and the recruiter made a special point that their emails where listed on those sheets.

I took it as a not-so-subtle hint that I should email thank you's ASAP