Do You Really Need To Send A Thank You Email After A Job Interview?

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Youโ€™ve filled in the application and attended the interview, now to secure the job youโ€™ve got one thing left to do: write a thank you email.

Thatโ€™s according to Jessica Liebman, executive managing editor at Business Insider, who says she only hires candidates if they send her a thank you email after their interview. Those who fail to do so are rejected.

Liebman claims sending a thank you follow-up โ€œsignals that the person wants the jobโ€.

Because you know, we spend hours on applications, stress about arranging time off work and pay to travel to interviews because itโ€™s a fun day out...

Hey, I wrote something! โ€ฆ Iโ€™ve been hiring people for 10 years, and I still swear by a simple rule: If someone doesnโ€™t send a thank you email, donโ€™t hire them. https://t.co/NWXB1ozNgr

โ€” Jessica Liebman (@jessicaliebman) April 5, 2019

Her article and tweet went down as well as you might expect, with many people pointing out the double standards here: how many times have you applied for a job, never to hear back from your prospective employer?

I usually scroll by tweets like this but bc I just did so many interviews I canโ€™t. I canโ€™t in good conscience send thank you letters to companies that waste my life in blocks of 5 hours for interviews they provide no feedback for or let me know if I get the job for that matter

โ€” Wembley G. Leach, Jr. (@wembleyleach) April 7, 2019

Presumably you send a thank you email with personalised feedback to everyone who spends their time and money coming in to meet you?

โ€” Rebecca Reid (@RebeccaCNReid) April 8, 2019

Others said that policies like Liebmanโ€™s would actually put them off working for a company in the first place, pointing out that interviews โ€œwork both waysโ€.

Without irony, she is exactly why I donโ€™t write thank you notes.

Imagine working somewhere and all your work is overlooked because someone felt slighted by some irrelevant social act?

You could be passing over great opportunities.

โ€” Sharlene King (@GhostfactKillah) April 8, 2019

Anyone who treats a prospective employee like a child instead of a potential peer isnโ€™t worth working for in the first place. I send followup emails to thank the interviewer for their time, but as soon as you make it required you turn a kind courtesy into a petty demand.

โ€” Petty Mayonnaise (@ConstantFail) April 7, 2019

Interviews work both ways. In an interview I'm finding out whether I want to work for them as much as they're finding out whether they want to hire me. A lot of people forget that.

โ€” Aunty Miche (@micheinnz) April 7, 2019

Some suggested managers may actually be annoyed by an extra email from a candidate clogging up their inbox, indicating that Liebmanโ€™s advice may do more harm than good at some companies.

I've had managers who are annoyed by any extra email in their inbox from candidates, so a thank you email might knock someone off their list just for the perceived inconvenience. If a thank you is a requirement then they need to tell candidates to follow up.

โ€” DirigibleBiblio (@DirigibleBiblio) April 6, 2019

This!
For every manager who will reject someone for Not sending a thank-you, there is at least one who will reject them if they do because of the perception of nagging, neediness, additional email clogging, etc.

โ€” Omnicronos (@omnicronos) April 7, 2019

The overall consensus? If you want to send a thank you email, you do you. But companies using it as a judging criteria are just plain ridiculous.

Hey! Iโ€™ve been hiring people for 10 years, and I still swear by a simple rule: If someone doesnโ€™t gift you a square foot of the moon by way of thanks, donโ€™t hire them.

โ€” Chris Mandle (@chris_mandle) April 8, 2019
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