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Comment by ButlerianJihad | Hacker News Reader

I have participated in at least 3 rounds of vocational rehabilitation, and one of the major takeaways was writing thank-you notes after any interview.

A note could be a card or an email, but a thank-you note simply expresses gratitude for the interviewer’s time and attention.

And moreover, a followup will keep your name in their mind, for better or worse. Following up after the interview series may have been the trick to landing my “pandemic job” in May 2020. I phoned or emailed the recruiter, just to thank her, just to say hello, and you know what? She said “yeah actually we were gonna call you with a job offer” and the rest is history.

So, before you complain that someone ghosted you, please consider who’s ghosting whom!

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I hear this advice given quite a bit, but another perspective: I have never been pleased to receive a thank you email from a candidate. I do not want to receive something in my inbox that does not require me to act. It's a micro-annoyance, and if it's a bad day, I might have grumpy thoughts about the candidate being a brownnoser.

Show up to the interview clothed, be pleasant and polite, show off your game, and leave it at that.

I wouldn't want to work for or with someone who can't even stand a thank you note.

Imagine being a recruiter, seeing someone genuinely interested in the position (or at least willing to put in the effort to make it seem that way), and getting annoyed rather than hyped. You in the wrong line of work, brother.

I presume the previous poster is one of many interviewers, not the recruiter.

As an interviewer myself, I get where they're coming from. My email is not shared with applicants, so finding it requires some stalking or at least digging me up on LinkedIn. By the time they reach out, I've already put in my notes, and any final decision is out of my hands. So while I'm not going to hold it against them, it's not a particularly useful move on the candidate's part either.

For your email perhaps it is hard to find. At many companies it is attached to the Teams/Zoom invitation

As an interviewer, you should be aware that there is a split on advice given on this topic. Half of the folks say to send an email, and half say not to. Several recruiters have told me that, all things being equal, a company will take the person who seems most interested in the job.

There's no consistent advice for anything related to interviewing or getting jobs.its a mess

The obvious solution is to just send half an email!

Dear, thank

Not quite in job interviews, but when I'm selling to a client, I just ask in the interview if it is okay, if I connect with them on LinkedIn. Some say yes. Others say no.

Should work in a job interview setting as well.

It also has the benefit of giving me a signal. Usually if the interview went well, the interviewer will happily agree to be connected. If not, you'll see either a refusal or subtle body language indicating discomfort with the connection. And you can then form your own conclusions about the probability of getting an offer before the firm gets back to you (or often ghosts you.)

Use every signal your prospect gives you.

Definitely agree, at a big company anyway there is nothing to be gained by sending these, or by any communication not directly related to the process. It doesn’t come across as genuine, it’s neutral to slightly annoying and has no impact on anything, it’s basically a chance at rubbing someone the wrong way with no upside.

> It doesn’t come across as genuine...

How can you determine if a thank you note is genuine or not if you don't read it in good faith?

One person might send a generic thank you that tells you nothing, and another might send a thoughtful message that in some specific way reiterates their interest and excitement in the job.

> ...and has no impact on anything...

Sure it does. I hired lots of people in my career and things like this helped me determine if the candidate was thoughtful, professional and interested. On multiple occasions, I hired people who didn't technically meet my ideal requirements but explained why they were interested in the role and gave me greater confidence that they were up for the challenge and worth taking a chance on.

Cynicism by default does not serve you well in any aspect of life.

You know why a thank you works? It puts them back in your inbox. It shows professionalism and often genuine desire for the position.

You sound like someone who most would absolutely dread to work with.

At NCC Group I once heard someone with hiring authority complain that an applicant had looked good, but never sent a thank you note for their interview. "What kind of person would do that?"

I was recently interviewing candidates for a senior software engineer in Boston. I did about 20 interviews and only got 1 follow up/thank you email. I didn't send rejection emails to candidates that didn't send a follow up.

This is probably bait but FYI it’s not normal to send thank you emails in much of the world following an interview so perhaps consider that not everyone thinks like you and it’s not a slight to receive no thank you emails. Where I live a thank you email would be seen as a strange way for someone to sneakily try to persuade you to hire them outside of the proper interview process. If you don’t get an email you may just be dealing with someone not from your culture.

You should consult for your god complex

I usually thank people in person after an interview. Why would I do that by email?

And if they inform me about the rejection in person, that's great. It's not getting any feedback at all that's impolite and frustrating, because it leaves you in the dark about what the status is. Is this something you need to wait for or care about? It teaches applicants not to care.

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