Should you thank the interviewer for the meeting?

One of the top candidates we are representing at the moment asked an excellent question. She was wondering what the recommendation was regarding sending a “Thank you” email versus a “Thank you” card. Great question! My recommendation would be to consider sending both.

You should most definitely send a “thank you” email immediately following an interview. You can, however, wait to get home as opposed to sending it from your iPhone or Blackberry while still sitting in the company’s parking lot! A “thank you” email is an excellent way of solidifying the strong impression you (hopefully) made during the in-person interview. You would be surprised to find out how very few people actually take the time to send an email thanking the recruiter or the hiring manager for their time. Big mistake! Not only is this a great opportunity to stand out, it is also a chance to confirm your interest in the position. Make it short and sweet, however, and avoid reiterating why you feel you would be an excellent hire. The message should really focus on thanking the person for their time, stating that it was a pleasure meeting them and confirming how excited you are to be in the running for the role in question. You can also mention something that was discussed during the meeting (ex: a particular project that is of great interest to you) to make your email more personalized as opposed to generic-sounding. On a side note, when the candidate who suggested this blog topic had sent me a “thank you” email following our first interview, she referenced my LinkedIn page and the recommendations she read on it. As you can imagine, any ego enjoys a healthy boost and I naturally felt more confident in representing someone who showed extra effort and tried to connect on an additional level!

“Thank you” cards, it seems, have disappeared almost entirely and appear to be a thing of the past. I do, however, think it is a great idea to mail a “Thank you” card if you are really interested in a position. It will make a strong impression and I bet the person receiving it will show it off to his or her colleagues! Since certain companies are very quick in their interviewing and decision making process, it is important to mail the card immediately following the meeting.

Oh and the star candidate I keep mentioning? She got the job she was targetting and I am about to call her to let her know!