After an interview is it wise to contact your interviewer and say thanks in a brief letter?

[779663]

Or does that come off as desperate or pandering in any way since the interviewer knows you are doing this to impress him or her.

I don't know if I should write a quick email to the guy who interviewed me or not. Would he see it as a thinly veiled attempt to sway him? Would it really be any different than not writing anything?

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[Chibucks15]

I wrote thank you cards to every interviewer I've had. Not as attempt to sway anyone but just because it's what I've always done with every job, especially when I wasn't given emails of the interviewers. They take their own time to get to know your application and talk to you so I feel like it's a nice thing to do. Sometimes I've heard they keep them in your file and who knows what effect they have, guess it depends on what the person who has your file thinks of the idea


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[779663]

I wrote thank you cards to every interviewer I've had. Not as attempt to sway anyone but just because it's what I've always done with every job, especially when I wasn't given emails of the interviewers. They take their own time to get to know your application and talk to you so I feel like it's a nice thing to do. Sometimes I've heard they keep them in your file and who knows what effect they have, guess it depends on what the person who has your file thinks of the idea


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Could you give me a little more info on how you do that? I'd like to do it myself and just say thank you. What is the logistics behind it? Do you send them in the mail? How do you get the address of a given person? What kind of card is it and where do you get it? Could you walk me through it?

 

[Chibucks15]

Yeah I just bought some generic thank you cards with no words inside them from Walgreens, wrote a brief somewhat personalized message saying thanks for taking the time to get to know my application and stuff like that and something that I talked about with the interviewer, addressed it to the interviewers with the mailing address of the school (I assume they sort the mail), and sent it via mail. Usually have sent it a few days post interview so it doesn't come off like I prewrote them.


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[Chibucks15]

And in terms of if it matters or not I've heard that mostly it doesn't but you never know. My mindset is to send them as long as I'm not explicitly told not to. As I said it's just what I've always done


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[Goro]

I'd like to hear why you think that this is important to do.

Or does that come off as desperate or pandering in any way since the interviewer knows you are doing this to impress him or her.

I don't know if I should write a quick email to the guy who interviewed me or not. Would he see it as a thinly veiled attempt to sway him? Would it really be any different than not writing anything?

 

[cliquesh]

I never wrote a thank you letter after med school, residency, or fellowship interviews. I did, however, send emails to the PDs of the top 3 residencies and fellowships I wanted to attend. I don't think it matters, but I'm sure others will disagree.

 

[Marrowist]

I just interviewed at a program where the Assistant Director of Admissions spoke for about 7 minutes about how the interviewers loved Thank You notes, and that it means so much to them. Did I send a thank you note/email? You bet. Does it matter? Who knows. Most likely not. Can it hurt? I doubt it.

 

[Labrat07]

I haven't really sent thank you notes post interview. Seem like fake gestures. I'll thank them face to face if I go to that school. I'm old school that way. Beside didn't we say " thank you " plenty of time in the interview and at the end???

 

[ortnakas]

I doubt it makes a difference, but it's a nice thing to do and can't hurt. I grew up writing thank you notes for things (maybe my parents were old school) and never dropped the habit so it seems like the polite move, application strategy aside.

 

[779663]

I'd like to hear why you think that this is important to do.

I do it for Job interviews afterwards in the form of an email usually.

The reason for that is probably so that they see me in a good light

 

[Goro]

Most Adcom members write your evaluation within 30 mins of your interview.

Thank you notes do NOT influence this process. It's merely a pre-med delusion that they do. Being polite is fine, for politeness' sake.

I do it for Job interviews afterwards in the form of an email usually.

The reason for that is probably so that they see me in a good light

 

[FutureD.O]

Contrary to what many might say, I had an interviewer who liked me VERY much tell me to make sure I wrote thank you letters to both ensure it was evident I was thankful for the opportunity, and slightly strengthen my chances (based on what the interviewer said).

I usually take @Goro 's advice as set in stone, but there are some things that are different from school to school, and in many cases person to person. Writing thank you letters/emails a few hours after an interview doesn't take much time, and if your genuine can really only help you. Now if you're generic and cliche, I would say writing thank you letters may actually be seen as an annoyance. Best of luck!