I’m amazed when job search experts continue to tell job seekers to send snail mail thank you notes.
Why?
Maybe it’s some misguided attempt to tell job seekers to show they care. As though paper and a stamp are more tangible than a quick, thank you email sent within 24 hours of the meeting.
They are wrong.
As a candidate, using email to build rapport after a meeting is very effective. A thank you email also allows you to concisely recap any promises made on next steps. It’s a way for you to test for commitment too. If you email a Hiring Manager you spent at least an hour with the day before, and they don’t respond, it’s like dating. They aren’t moving forward.
Using the opportunity to follow up after an interview also allows you to engage with the Hiring Manager and answer outstanding questions they may have about your skills. It’s interactive engagement.
Worse, if you send a snail mail thank you note, it can potentially creepy. Very Jane Austen. And you are trying to get a job, not get married in 18th century England. Even worse than that, many Hiring Managers are regional, don’t go to one office, do not receive their mail and it could be weeks if they receive your thank you note at all. So for a month or so they will be thinking you don’t care while your paper note is sitting in a pile of mail or an intraoffice mail envelope.
Email provides far more interactivity and a feedback loop that snail mail just does not offer. Snail mail is static, one dimensional and flat. It provides none of the advantages of a follow up email within 24 hours or a phone call.
So save thank you notes for your grandma. For job search, use office technology.