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I interviewed over the phone with a federal magistrate this week and was offered a summer job (unpaid, obviously) at the end of the interview which I immediately accepted because it was my top choice for the summer. I've tried to find information on whether thank you notes are expected AFTER an offer has been extended and accepted but most of what I've read has been about thank you notes after the interview but before an acceptance. Should I send her a thank you note saying that I'm grateful she took the time to interview me, I'm looking forward to working with her this summer, etc.? Or is a thank you note only acceptable before an offer is extended when you're trying to get the offer? If there had been a gap between the interview and the offer, I would have definitely sent a thank you note.

For some background, the location of the job isn't very geographically desirable to many people, it's just where my hometown is. Also, my parents are lawyers and are friendly with the magistrate which is how I got the interview without great first semester grades. Absent some sort of connection, I'm not sure how she generally chooses externs, how many people generally apply, or if she even has externs every summer (again, not geographically desirable, not a major urban area, nearest law school is at least 2 hours away, she's the only magistrate/judge for the local federal courthouse and the rest in the district are 2 hours away). If I didn't have the connection, maybe she still would have interviewed me and offered me the job, but maybe not. Does the fact that there was some nepotism going on have any bearing on whether or not I should send the letter? I feel more obligated to do so because she and my parents are friendly, but I also don't want it to be wildly inappropriate because there is some sort of etiquette about only sending thank you notes before an offer is extended. She's very friendly and I don't think she would be offended or even annoyed, but I don't want to do something that is considered inappropriate.

TL;DR - This isn't even a problem or something I'm worried about, but I just want to make sure it isn't somehow inappropriate to send a thank you note after I've accepted a job offer.

Thank you notes are not expected or necessary, but they are by no means inappropriate. You are overthinking this. Congrats on the summer job!

My best advice is to relax and stop overthinking things.

If you want to send a thank you note, send a thank you note.

It probably took about about twice as long to type your post as it would have taken to hand-write a nice, thoughtful note to a future employer who is inevitably going to expend more of her (or her more likely her clerks') time finding things for you to do. In other words, why in the world would a thank you note only be acceptable before an employer extends an offer? If anything a thank you note after the offer is more meaningful because it is not a ploy to help your candidacy.

I've been biting my tongue on the "thank you note" debate, but I'm going to weigh in here.

When I was a law student applying for jobs and clerkships, I was pretty neutral on the thank-you-note-or-not-to-thank-you-note question. Sometimes, I sent thank-you notes; other times, I didn't. But after clerking for a judge and working at a couple of firms, I've come down hard on one side of this debate: Do NOT send thank you notes after interviews or job offers.

I have yet to receive a thank-you note that didn't sound at least a little stilted and awkward. Usually, the thank-you notes are harmless. But to the extent that a candidate was a little socially awkward during an interview, the thank-you note will sometimes reinforce the impression that there's something off about the candidate.

If a judge buys you a wedding gift or writes you a letter recommendation, then, yes, write a thank-you note. But if a judge (or a firm or any employer) offers you a job, just politely accept or decline the offer. Thank-you notes are just weird in the job-interview/job-offer context.

rpupkin wrote:
If a judge buys you a wedding gift or writes you a letter recommendation, then, yes, write a thank-you note. But if a judge (or a firm or any employer) offers you a job, just politely accept or decline the offer. Thank-you notes are just weird in the job-interview/job-offer context.

This