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Most of the info/opinions I have about sending thank you notes after interviews seem geared toward firm jobs, as in not necessary after the screener interview, but should for call-backs. I'm not sure what the standard is for some 1L summer interviews, with PI orgs., non-profits, etc. If they happen on campus are they still considered screeners even if it's the only round? What about phone interviews?

I think a thank you note will neither help nor hurt you.

Thank-you notes are just good business. Everyone likes to have their contribution acknowledged, even if it is sitting in a small room for days at a time, interviewing student after student.

90% of people don't read thank you e-mails, 8% of people read them but don't really care one way or another, 2% of people think more highly of people who send thank you notes. I write them on the unlikely chance that I have interviewed with someone in the 2%.

A poorly written thank you note can hurt though (among all 10% who read it). Don't rush them, but also don't cut and paste the same e-mail.

Kind of what I thought. If I don't have anything specific/unique to say, probably won't bother.

I did them like it was a religion for every single one of my interviews. I don't know if they helped at all.

But I noticed that I got offers at the firms where a majority of the associates and partners responded to my thank you emails.

Depends upon the firm. At a small firm like ours, the lack of a thank you note or thank you email for the screening interviews will usually result in your elimination. This year I and 2 associates did the screening interviews and many sent thank you notes to all 3 of us, some hand written.

I'm still unclear if this holds true for non-firm places.

stewie27 wrote:I'm still unclear if this holds true for non-firm places.

Send a thank-you note every time, every where. It can't hurt you; the worst they do is ignore it. But not sending one can hurt you.

I highly doubt the words "That jackass sent us a thank-you note! How dare he! Cross him off the 'possibles' list!" have ever been spoken.