Many of you probably grew up with parents that insisted you send thank you cards for absolutely everything. Well, I know I did. Those of you who did not have parents like my mother were spared the hand cramps.
Hand cramps aside, thank goodness this was instilled in me at an early age. I cannot express how powerful a thank-you card is. And here are some tips and tricks on how to make them shine.
Anytime you interview for a job, receive a referral in your career, or otherwise are fortunate enough to be the recipient of an act of a generosity, a thank-you card is clutch. It shows that you truly appreciate the opportunity you have been given or the kindness you received, and plus, it’s always nice to get thoughtful mail.
For now, I’m going to focus on the best way to give thanks after an interview and hopefully land the job.
First and foremost, you should always send a thank-you note after an interview. While I would normally say cards are the way to go, in this setting I’d actually suggest going the email route. Why? Because emails are instant, and whoever is interviewing you is also interviewing other candidates for the same position. By the time your snail mail makes it to the office, an offer may have already gone out to someone else.
It’s not just the wait time for your letter to arrive, but perhaps the partners don’t immediately open their letters, or maybe folks are out of town and haven’t had a chance to see that they have mail waiting for them. So when it comes to job interviews, I say emails are the way to go.
Now, here’s the next big trick: always personalize the email. I don’t mean change out the name of the person you’re thanking. I mean, include a reference to something you discussed in the interview in your thank-you note. I previously wrote a post about how I landed a job by doing just that.
Referencing something you actually discussed shows the interviewer that you were listening and engaged. Which is a key skill for any litigator, but especially for a civil rights attorney working with clients who need compassionate, caring, engaged advocates.
This isn’t a neutral sum game. Whenever I receive a generic thank you, it actually makes me think the interviewee would not be a good fit, because it shows a lack of flexing into this necessary skill set. So really, if you’re going to send a thank you, go all the way with it.
Finally, send a separate note to everyone you interviewed with and to the staff who helped schedule your interview. Yes, coordinating schedules is time-consuming work that should be acknowledged and valued. That person or those persons are integral to your interview, and they should receive a thank you as well. (That said, those ones are typically more generic, but if you had any personal exchange, try to reference something from the exchange.)
In a similar vein, do not only thank the named partners of the firm, but email everyone you interacted with – separately. Again, acknowledging those people who may be your future colleagues and not just your future bosses will go a long way. And sending separate emails shows that you’re putting in the time and effort to connect with each person individually.
Be aware: we forward these emails to each other. So if each of your emails reads the same except for one change in one sentence, you’re better off sending one longer email to everyone. That said, when we see individualized thank-you emails sent to multiple people at the firm, that really stands out to us.