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I'm a 1L who has applied to 1L SA positions, a few PI positions, and government positions. My school STRONGLY encourages thank you notes post callback, but it seems contrary to what I've read on TLS and elsewhere.

So, what do people think post callback? Post screener? Thank you notes for both, neither, just post call back?

For PI positions, such as a PD office or non profit, thank you notes or no? (Wasn't sure if was different for PI positions I.e. Less debate) Government positions - thank you notes or no?

Career services is just saying that so they can feel useful.

pancakes3 wrote:Career services is just saying that so they can feel useful.

Cool, so no then I'm assuming?

I was also wanting to know if it was different for PI and government positions, as I've only really heard anything regarding call backs.

If you are following basic interview etiquette then yes, you should do a thank you note after each interview. It doesn't have to be long, but a short note saying you appreciate the opportunity to learn more goes a LONG way. It doesn't even need to be handwritten (but you might get points if you do).

vwhorley wrote:If you are following basic interview etiquette then yes, you should do a thank you note after each interview. It doesn't have to be long, but a short note saying you appreciate the opportunity to learn more goes a LONG way. It doesn't even need to be handwritten (but you might get points if you do).

Hey there - 0Ls aren’t allowed to give advice in this forum (unless you have some kind of specialized background directly pertinent to a specific question. “Basic interview etiquette” is not actually the same across all professions.)

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

vwhorley wrote:If you are following basic interview etiquette then yes, you should do a thank you note after each interview. It doesn't have to be long, but a short note saying you appreciate the opportunity to learn more goes a LONG way. It doesn't even need to be handwritten (but you might get points if you do).

Hey there - 0Ls aren’t allowed to give advice in this forum (unless you have some kind of specialized background directly pertinent to a specific question. “Basic interview etiquette” is not actually the same across all professions.)

Oops - didn't realize it was in a different forum. It was on the home page. If it helps I hire people all the time and my professional experience the idea of thank you notes is pretty normal in DC (nonprofit, law firms & politics). Feel free to disregard- best of luck!

There was another heated thread about this. For whatever reason, thank you notes aren't big in the legal profession. But I did them for 1L interviews and for 2L OCI. I don't think it hurt me. Don't know necessarily if it helped either.

I'm in the pro note camp, though, if it's short and sweet. Nothing excessive. I see nothing bad about expressing gratitude.

I swear that half the users on this thread are my mother posting anonymously.

No, you don't need to write thank you notes. It isn't necessary. It doesn't help you. Literally everyone who claims that they notice has immediately forgotten any thank you note they ever received within minutes of receiving it. It's an utterly inane practice that is being kept alive by some strange cabal of people intent on keeping Hallmark in business.

cavalier1138 wrote:I swear that half the users on this thread are my mother posting anonymously.

No, you don't need to write thank you notes. It isn't necessary. It doesn't help you. Literally everyone who claims that they notice has immediately forgotten any thank you note they ever received within minutes of receiving it. It's an utterly inane practice that is being kept alive by some strange cabal of people intent on keeping Hallmark in business.

For the record, I don't spend any money on such things, I usually just send a short email. but yes, I'm part of the secret Hallmark cabal. I watch Golden Girls reruns on Hallmark Channel. That's how they communicate to all of us in our various Hallmark-terrorist cells to make sure we coordinate our efforts.

I really don't get the hate for them. The same way you hate them, I don't understand why not.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm a 1L who has applied to 1L SA positions, a few PI positions, and government positions. My school STRONGLY encourages thank you notes post callback, but it seems contrary to what I've read on TLS and elsewhere.

So, what do people think post callback? Post screener? Thank you notes for both, neither, just post call back?

For PI positions, such as a PD office or non profit, thank you notes or no? (Wasn't sure if was different for PI positions I.e. Less debate) Government positions - thank you notes or no?

Depends on the context IMO. For my home secondary (in the south), where a CB consists of dinner the night before and a longer interview as well as lunch the next day, I did them. From discussing with others on b oth sides of this, they seem to be more normal in this market.

For 2L SA, which was mostly in NYC and interviews were way shorter and to the point, I opted not to do them, and it honestly probably would have come off as odd if I had.

For 1L job search where firms how gone out of their way to pick your resume out and where you are interviewing for PI positions and elsewhere that are less of a conveyor belt of interviewing like firms are doing for OCI your 2L year, I think a thank you note would not hurt. That said, as others have noted, there's a larger thread where this topic is hotly debated.


tl;dr. IMO, the more formalized the interview process (i.e., the more it is akin to 2L OCI), err on no thank you emails. The more personal the interview (e.g., did you get some one-off interview through a series of networking contacts, etc.?), the more I would err on sending a thank you email.


eta: i assumed we're talking about thank you emails, btw. a handwritten note for this would be weird af these days

eta2: wtf does "both sides" auto-capslock?

SplitMyPants wrote:tl;dr. IMO, the more formalized the interview process (i.e., the more it is akin to 2L OCI), err on no thank you emails. The more personal the interview (e.g., did you get some one-off interview through a series of networking contacts, etc.?), the more I would err on sending a thank you email.

I think this is a good rule of thumb.

I did thank you emails after my callback and received a 1L SA. If they’re going to pick you anyway it won’t matter I don’t think. It can hurt you if you send something weird, super long, or mess up names though. I’m of the belief you should send thank you after interviews but that’s just me.

nope.

the fact that there are tons of ppl who don't do this, and the ppl who do write notes admit that it's mostly out of courtesy that doesn't help and if you fuck it up, it could hurt...