Interview Thank You Email vs. Letter vs. Note

Interview Thank You Email vs. Letter vs. Note The debate over an interview thank you email, versus a letter or note, probably started about a minute after the first email went out. Well, maybe not. I just checked. The first email hit cyberspace in 1971.Wow! Email is 46 years old, and we still wonder if its OK to use it to thank someone for an interview.OK, to be fair, CompuServe didnt get going until 1989, so commercial email is only 26 years old. Wow! Commercial email is 28 years old, and we still wonder if its OK to use it to thank someone for an interview.Technology AdoptionTake a look at the technology adoption curve â€" Ill be referencing it below:The Interview Thank You Email â€" Pros ConsPros:Lets you demonstrate good writing and follow up skills.Provides enough space to express yourself.Fast. Proves you can be responsive. Right now.Can be spell and grammar checked.Used by 65% of successful job seekers (innovators, early adopters, the early majority, and a big chunk of the late majority) in this study.Cons:Lets you demon strate poor writing skills.Laggards (look closely at the Innovation Adoption Curve; theyre out there on the end of the bell curve) might find your thank you email a tad informal.Sample Interview Thank You Email:You will find an awesome interview thank you email here.The Interview Thank You Letter â€" Pros ConsPros:Lets you demonstrate good writing and follow up skills.Provides enough space to express yourself.Can be spell and grammar checked.It makes you feel all proper and formal.Cons:Lets you demonstrate poor writing skills.Less likely to be read. Asks your reader to click an attachment to an email or open an envelope. You lose readers with every call to action you make.Innovators, early adopters, the early majority, and much of the late majority think youre a laggard.You might have to find/buy nice paper and a matching envelope.You might will almost certainly breach proper business letter protocol.You might have to remember how, or learn, to address an envelope using your comput er.You might have to remember how, or learn, to feed the envelope into your printer. Flap facing up? Flap facing down? Who knows?You might have to google the current rate for first-class mail. I have no idea what it is. If I did, I would tell you.You might have to find or buy a postage stamp. Or you could FedEx it.The competition will be engaged in productive job search activities while youre doing all of this.Used by fewer than 17% of successful job seekers laggards in the study referenced above.Sample Interview Thank You Letter:You will find the best interview thank you letter I ever received here. It was awhile ago.The Interview Thank You Note â€" Pros ConsPros:Lets you demonstrate good writing and follow up skills.Makes you feel all personable and mannerly.Cons:Lets you demonstrate poor writing skills.Slow. Will arrive a few dog years after the interview in the life of your interviewer.Confirms your laggard status.Cant be spell and grammar checked.Has to be proofread by a human .Has to be discarded if theres an error. Do-over(s).Limited space to express yourself.You have to strike the right tone (because a note is more personal than an email or a letter).You have to find the right note card.You have to find a pen â€" with black or blue ink.People might have trouble reading your handwriting.You have to find or buy a stamp.The competition will be engaged in productive job search activities while youre doing all of this.Sample Interview Thank You Note:I havent received a handwritten interview thank you note compelling enough to save. The limited space works against you in this regard.How Extreme Will Your Laggard Status Be?You know how career experts tell you to get rid of your AOL email address and get a Gmail account because an AOL address makes you look outdated (i.e., old)?Well, AOL email has been around since 1992. Thus, when you insist on using a letter or note, youre using technology thats older than an AOL email address.If you want a chronological ref erence point, Bill Clinton started his first term as U.S. President in January 1993.As we move into a world of pervasive artificial intelligence, where the odds are high you will have to work with technology to even have a job, do you want to be a laggard?ConclusionBecause very few people send any thank you to an interviewer, sending an email makes you stand out as a well-mannered person.You dont have to write a letter or note. You get manners cred just by showing up with a thank you in your interviewers email inbox.Make it easy for everyone. Use email. Then get after the rest of your job search!I write executive resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Save time. Get hired. Email me at [emailprotected]  for more information.Featured by: SmartBrief on Your Career. Image: Fotolia/PhilipGordB Updated June 2017 2015 2019, Donna Svei. All rights reserved.Donna SveiDonna Svei, an executive resume writer and former C-level executive, retained search consultant, and CPA, writes all of AvidCareerist s posts. She has written for and been quoted by leading business, general, and career media outlets, including Forbes, Mashable, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Lifehacker, Ask.com, Social Media Today, IT World, SmartBrief, Payscale, Business News Daily, and the Muse. Let her background and experience inform your job search strategy and decision making.Learn more about Donnas executive resume writing service or email Donna for more information. Interviews â€" Thank You Emails (5 Posts)