Am I taking crazy pills?

In the last several months, I’ve interviewed approximately four people — three for a position at my firm, and one as a prospective student at my law school. None of them were total social misfits — for the most part, in fact, they were very personable.  All of them had achieved success in more than just academics — they had held clerkships or done interesting public service work, for instance.

And none of them — NONE — sent me a thank you note afterwards.

I can’t chalk this up to regional differences. Sure, I grew up in the South and we send thank you notes for everything. But the career services office at my Midwestern law school also encouraged us to send thank you notes after interviews.  We were told that email was OK (and possibly preferable, at least in law firm interviewing) but that the key was to get a thank you note to everyone you met with within the next business day. And I have always done this.

So it annoys me when I take time out of my day to meet with someone for their benefit and yet don’t get any kind of acknowledgment. It’s not like these people didn’t have my email address or other contact information — every single one grabbed one of my business cards. And it’s not like any of them were new to the interviewing thing — all of them had had jobs, good jobs, where interviewing (and presumably sending thank you notes) would have been the norm. No college students in the bunch. No, just a bunch of people who were either too lazy or just plain didn’t think a thank you note was necessary.

So some advice for all you job seekers — send thank you notes after interviews. They don’t have to be long or involved (though a personal note about whatever you talked about is a good thing, and they should be carefully proofread), but you really should send them. They really do make a difference.