7 ms·

The ridiculousness of having to send formulaic, bullshit "thank you" emails after interviews.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
itsoktocry 3y ago
>The ridiculousness of having to send formulaic, bullshit "thank you" emails after interviews. Interesting. I get it, but I've never done this myself (or the had the reverse, someone send one to me). I think it's interesting just how quickly the power dynamics of "work" change. We can shift from companies throwing money at people to sit around, people working 3 or 4 remote jobs (eventually getting fired, but finding new ones), and ghosting interviews or their first-day-of-work, to people claiming it's a "rough job market" or having to write thank you notes for getting an interview...in a matter of years. The tech job market is a strange place.
- zdragnar 3y ago
  I don't think the thank you notes are a sign of the market shift. I started seeing them from people coming fresh out of code camps, and assumed it was just some jobs-hunting coaching recommendation. Since then I've seen a few more, but not many. I don't think I've ever waited long enough after an interview to meet with others on making a pass / offer decision for a thank you note to make a difference. Even when we had a group for a single position and there was time to pick between candidates, we at least had already passed on our feedback by the time one could be sent. At that point, I don't know that a thank you note would make a big enough difference for me to reach out and change my feedback that would put them above someone else in consideration.
  - hedora 3y ago
    I’ve only received one out of ~ 100 candidates. The person already had gotten the job (they had not been informed yet), so it made no difference in the hiring decision. They wanted to know which coding question they’d only gotten partial credit on during the screening phase, and why. They had exceptional attention to detail after being hired too.
    - shapefrog 3y ago
      > They wanted to know which coding question they’d only gotten partial credit on during the screening phase, and why. You gave them results / feedback on the screening phase? That is probably more rare than their email!
      - zdragnar 3y ago
        Back when I was working for a company that did take home challenges, those who passed had their challenge as the topic of conversation for the final interview. For those who didn't, I gave written feedback, at least a page if not two. My thinking was if someone took time to give me something, they deserved something in return, even if it wasn't a job.
        shapefrog 3y ago
        If you have not been through the process you may not truly understand how nice (and rare) your thought process is. Sadly I have chased up situations like that only to get told "you provided one of the strongest pieces of work, however, we decided not to proceed to interview" - or responding at all apparently.
  - shapefrog 3y ago
    I need to dig out the article(s) ... I've been hiring people for 10 years, and I still swear by a simple rule: If someone doesn't send a thank-you email, don't hire them. Jessica Liebman Apr 5, 2019 https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-thank-you-email-after-job-interview-2019-4?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-thank-you-email... Its a follow up to previous 2012 work ... https://www.businessinsider.com/the-number-one-mistake-people-i-interview-are-making-these-days-2012-2?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/the-number-one-mistake-peopl... "They're all messing up on something that I think is very important when trying to get a job: the Thank You Email."
    - varjag 3y ago
      This must be highly cultural. After you done the interview, shook hands and thanked the interviewer there in person there is little point of follow up other than an opportunity of reminding of yourself in the consideration process.
      - hotnfresh 3y ago
        Every interviewer seems to have some set of these weird little expectations about behavior, that are basically arbitrary. Worse, some are mutually exclusive (maybe not so much in this case—though, see elsewhere in the thread where someone mentions this seems like a fresh-out-of-code-camp thing, so it might send a negative signal!) so lots of rejections end up having a reason behind them, but a very stupid reason that you can’t really defend against, to be blunt.
    - justinclift 3y ago
      > If someone doesn't send a thank-you email, don't hire them. You may be missing out on a lot of potentially good people. Alternatively, maybe they're dodging a bullet. ;)
      - jmbwell 3y ago
        I have no problem with thank you notes; I think they’re courteous and easy to send. It never hurts. If you don’t get hired you lose nothing, and if you do, you’re starting on a pleasant note. But I would definitely want to know more about the governance of an organization that can sustain such a policy as categorically rejecting a candidate (read: contribution) for not meeting an unexpressed expectation.
lrpe 3y ago
Is that really something people do? Really seems insincere and inappropriate to me. Is it a cultural thing?
- specproc 3y ago
  American possibly. I've only seen them from American candidates.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Maybe? It just seems like good manners. Don't overdo it but as an interviewer I don't expect an email but I'd find it very normal to receive a short polite one.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- Supermancho 3y ago
  Over 25 years as a programmer, I've only seen some very jr developers (no industry experience), do this. It's unlikely to help you in getting the position, which is why it's rare.
  - iteria 3y ago
    Some nearly 15 years ago, one of my elders told me to do this. I was later told this was the reason they picked me over someone else. That's the story of how I got a job at a megacorp. In massive companies, HR people can feel really undervalued. In a sea of a dozen of equally qualified juniors, a hand written card can tip the scale. At least then. It wouldn't have moved me and I don't know when the last time an HR person got to be the final decision maker on a hire, but that's some context.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

>The ridiculousness of having to send formulaic, bullshit "thank you" emails after interviews. Interesting. I get it, but I've never done this myself (or the had the reverse, someone send one to me). I think it's interesting just how quickly the power dynamics of "work" change. We can shift from companies throwing money at people to sit around, people working 3 or 4 remote jobs (eventually getting fired, but finding new ones), and ghosting interviews or their first-day-of-work, to people claiming it's a "rough job market" or having to write thank you notes for getting an interview...in a matter of years. The tech job market is a strange place.

zdragnar 3y ago
I don't think the thank you notes are a sign of the market shift. I started seeing them from people coming fresh out of code camps, and assumed it was just some jobs-hunting coaching recommendation. Since then I've seen a few more, but not many. I don't think I've ever waited long enough after an interview to meet with others on making a pass / offer decision for a thank you note to make a difference. Even when we had a group for a single position and there was time to pick between candidates, we at least had already passed on our feedback by the time one could be sent. At that point, I don't know that a thank you note would make a big enough difference for me to reach out and change my feedback that would put them above someone else in consideration.
- hedora 3y ago
  I’ve only received one out of ~ 100 candidates. The person already had gotten the job (they had not been informed yet), so it made no difference in the hiring decision. They wanted to know which coding question they’d only gotten partial credit on during the screening phase, and why. They had exceptional attention to detail after being hired too.
  - shapefrog 3y ago
    > They wanted to know which coding question they’d only gotten partial credit on during the screening phase, and why. You gave them results / feedback on the screening phase? That is probably more rare than their email!
    - zdragnar 3y ago
      Back when I was working for a company that did take home challenges, those who passed had their challenge as the topic of conversation for the final interview. For those who didn't, I gave written feedback, at least a page if not two. My thinking was if someone took time to give me something, they deserved something in return, even if it wasn't a job.
      - shapefrog 3y ago
        If you have not been through the process you may not truly understand how nice (and rare) your thought process is. Sadly I have chased up situations like that only to get told "you provided one of the strongest pieces of work, however, we decided not to proceed to interview" - or responding at all apparently.
- shapefrog 3y ago
  I need to dig out the article(s) ... I've been hiring people for 10 years, and I still swear by a simple rule: If someone doesn't send a thank-you email, don't hire them. Jessica Liebman Apr 5, 2019 https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-thank-you-email-after-job-interview-2019-4?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-thank-you-email... Its a follow up to previous 2012 work ... https://www.businessinsider.com/the-number-one-mistake-people-i-interview-are-making-these-days-2012-2?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/the-number-one-mistake-peopl... "They're all messing up on something that I think is very important when trying to get a job: the Thank You Email."
  - varjag 3y ago
    This must be highly cultural. After you done the interview, shook hands and thanked the interviewer there in person there is little point of follow up other than an opportunity of reminding of yourself in the consideration process.
    - hotnfresh 3y ago
      Every interviewer seems to have some set of these weird little expectations about behavior, that are basically arbitrary. Worse, some are mutually exclusive (maybe not so much in this case—though, see elsewhere in the thread where someone mentions this seems like a fresh-out-of-code-camp thing, so it might send a negative signal!) so lots of rejections end up having a reason behind them, but a very stupid reason that you can’t really defend against, to be blunt.
  - justinclift 3y ago
    > If someone doesn't send a thank-you email, don't hire them. You may be missing out on a lot of potentially good people. Alternatively, maybe they're dodging a bullet. ;)
    - jmbwell 3y ago
      I have no problem with thank you notes; I think they’re courteous and easy to send. It never hurts. If you don’t get hired you lose nothing, and if you do, you’re starting on a pleasant note. But I would definitely want to know more about the governance of an organization that can sustain such a policy as categorically rejecting a candidate (read: contribution) for not meeting an unexpressed expectation.

lrpe 3y ago

Is that really something people do? Really seems insincere and inappropriate to me. Is it a cultural thing?

specproc 3y ago
American possibly. I've only seen them from American candidates.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Maybe? It just seems like good manners. Don't overdo it but as an interviewer I don't expect an email but I'd find it very normal to receive a short polite one.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
Supermancho 3y ago
Over 25 years as a programmer, I've only seen some very jr developers (no industry experience), do this. It's unlikely to help you in getting the position, which is why it's rare.
- iteria 3y ago
  Some nearly 15 years ago, one of my elders told me to do this. I was later told this was the reason they picked me over someone else. That's the story of how I got a job at a megacorp. In massive companies, HR people can feel really undervalued. In a sea of a dozen of equally qualified juniors, a hand written card can tip the scale. At least then. It wouldn't have moved me and I don't know when the last time an HR person got to be the final decision maker on a hire, but that's some context.