Have you ever gotten a response from your interviewers after sending them a thank you note?

[boltedbicorne]

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I've gotten one followup to a thank you and that wasn't from an interviewer. It really makes me wonder how big of a deal thank you notes are, considering that I'm writing really polished and thorough thank you notes. I really wouldn't be shocked if they were clicked and rapidly deleted, but at the same time there's also interviewers who really think they're a critical part of the process. Have you ever gotten a response from your interviewers after sending them a thank you note?

 

[DirkN]

I've gotten one followup to a thank you and that wasn't from an interviewer. It really makes me wonder how big of a deal thank you notes are, considering that I'm writing really polished and thorough thank you notes. I really wouldn't be shocked if they were clicked and rapidly deleted, but at the same time there's also interviewers who really think they're a critical part of the process. Have you ever gotten a response from your interviewers after sending them a thank you note?

I have received one response from the 2 thank you letters I sent.

 

[amad01]

i just received a response today actually haha

 

[boltedbicorne]

I have received one response from the 2 thank you letters I sent.

i just received a response today actually haha

Thanks for the responses! How long after you sent the thank yous did you get a response?

 

[amad01]

next day

 

[13132]

I received a "It was really great to meet and talk to you" response from both of my interviewers the night after I interviewed and I got accepted. I think its a good sign overall. Maybe it doesn't mean you got accepted, because so much more goes into a decision, but it means you probably didn't bomb your interview.

 

[Goro]

When people email me thank yous, I'll respond with a generic thanks of a sort.

I've gotten one followup to a thank you and that wasn't from an interviewer. It really makes me wonder how big of a deal thank you notes are, considering that I'm writing really polished and thorough thank you notes. I really wouldn't be shocked if they were clicked and rapidly deleted, but at the same time there's also interviewers who really think they're a critical part of the process. Have you ever gotten a response from your interviewers after sending them a thank you note?

 

[gyngyn]

Thanking someone for a "thank you" is not indicated.
Heck, the thank you is not indicated in this case.

 

[mehc012]

I think that the entire premise of interview thank you notes is ridiculous. I'll play along, sure, but to me it's outdated and froofy, the kind of thing that's cute in little old ladies but just bizarre elsewhere. If I were interviewing, I would find it odd/uncomfortable to receive one. I know, mine is the minority opinion, and trust me, I've heard all of the 'but they took time out of their day!' BS before, but in my mind it simply encourages fake expressions of emotion and thus I find the whole thing disingenuous. Gratitude is an emotion which ought to be expressed spontaneously and in the moment, not as a part of some social convention which renders the gesture meaningless.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

I'll play along, sure, but to me it's outdated and froofy, the kind of thing that's cute in little old ladies but just bizarre elsewhere.

Manners are not outdated, and they're not just for little old ladies.

 

[boltedbicorne]

I think that the entire premise of interview thank you notes is ridiculous. I'll play along, sure, but to me it's outdated and froofy, the kind of thing that's cute in little old ladies but just bizarre elsewhere. If I were interviewing, I would find it odd/uncomfortable to receive one. I know, mine is the minority opinion, and trust me, I've heard all of the 'but they took time out of their day!' BS before, but in my mind it simply encourages fake expressions of emotion and thus I find the whole thing disingenuous. Gratitude is an emotion which ought to be expressed spontaneously and in the moment, not as a part of some social convention which renders the gesture meaningless.

QFT. Making it mandatory just makes it super disingenuous and insipid.

 

[Osteoth]

About half the schools I've interviewed at have straight up told me, "don't send them, nobody cares", so I have stoppped...

 

[mehc012]

Manners are not outdated, and they're not just for little old ladies.

Agreed. I simply disagree as to what constitutes 'good manners'. Mandatory expressions of emotions which you may or may not feel is, to me, not manners. It is simply a social convention, and a poor one at that.

 

[amad01]

I think that the entire premise of interview thank you notes is ridiculous. I'll play along, sure, but to me it's outdated and froofy, the kind of thing that's cute in little old ladies but just bizarre elsewhere. If I were interviewing, I would find it odd/uncomfortable to receive one. I know, mine is the minority opinion, and trust me, I've heard all of the 'but they took time out of their day!' BS before, but in my mind it simply encourages fake expressions of emotion and thus I find the whole thing disingenuous. Gratitude is an emotion which ought to be expressed spontaneously and in the moment, not as a part of some social convention which renders the gesture meaningless.

you could say this about this entire process....

 

[mehc012]

you could say this about this entire process....

Yes, @Planes2Doc and I have had many exciting conversations about that very premise!
In general, I strongly resist lying or faking enthusiasm, even if that's how it is set up. That is why I have taken the path I have in my app.

 

[boltedbicorne]

About half the schools I've interviewed at have straight up told me, "don't send them, nobody cares", so I have stoppped...

I wish the schools I interviewed at told me that 😡. I'm envious, it could have saved me like 30 mins time.

 

[ponyo]

I've never been a medical school interviewer so I don't know how they feel about thank-you notes. However, I think thank-you emails after someone takes time out of their day to meet with you absolutely makes sense. Just from personal interviewing experience, I've found that they can help in a few ways (not for med school):

1. If you have any key points that you thought were important but didn't fully get across during the interview, you can sneak that in
2. You can remind them about particular bonding moments during the conversation
3. It can tip the scale in your favor if the person is indecisive
4. It sets you up for future correspondences, should you need their help after getting an offer

I think that last point is the most important. Thank you notes are a way to communicate that if someone helps you, they will be appreciated. Communication of this point seems to me like a crucial element in mentorship and networking. I've had lots of mentors, contacts, etc. respond to a thank you note with extremely helpful information. For instance, I recently spoke to an attending about planning my first year of med school. After the conversation I sent him a thank you note. In response, he sent me the contact info of the chief resident, who had been a medical student here. Another senior resident responded to a thank you note with contact info of an attending whom I think I'll be doing my research project with.

In the particular context of the medical interview, after I got into my current institution, my interviewer responded to my thank-you email with lots of advice and offers to answer questions. Some of his words played a huge role in swaying me to attend the school.

I think it's true that nobody will care if you clearly do it just out of social necessity and not genuine appreciation. And that's fine. Sometimes you don't connect with someone, the relationship is coldly business-y, and that doesn't mean you won't get in. I wrote boring thank-yous to some interviewers that I just genuine didn't have anything to say to. But if you happen to connect with someone--and hopefully you will on the interview trail--then I think it's worth it to keep that connection open. You never know which small interactions will have an impact on your career/life later on. Should you find yourself in the position to email someone again 6 months later, it wouldn't be the worst thing if their inbox remembers you as a polite, professional student worthy of mentorship.

 

[mehc012]

I've never been a medical school interviewer so I don't know how they feel about thank-you notes. However, I think thank-you emails after someone takes time out of their day to meet with you absolutely makes sense. Just from personal interviewing experience, I've found that they can help in a few ways (not for med school):

1. If you have any key points that you thought were important but didn't fully get across during the interview, you can sneak that in
2. You can remind them about particular bonding moments during the conversation
3. It can tip the scale in your favor if the person is indecisive
4. It sets you up for future correspondences, should you need their help after getting an offer

I think that last point is the most important. Thank you notes are a way to communicate that if someone helps you, they will be appreciated. Communication of this point seems to me like a crucial element in mentorship and networking. I've had lots of mentors, contacts, etc. respond to a thank you note with extremely helpful information. For instance, I recently spoke to an attending about planning my first year of med school. After the conversation I sent him a thank you note. In response, he sent me the contact info of the chief resident, who had been a medical student here. Another senior resident responded to a thank you note with contact info of an attending whom I think I'll be doing my research project with.

In the particular context of the medical interview, after I got into my current institution, my interviewer responded to my thank-you email with lots of advice and offers to answer questions. Some of his words played a huge role in swaying me to attend the school.

I think it's true that nobody will care if you clearly do it just out of social necessity and not genuine appreciation. And that's fine. Sometimes you don't connect with someone, the relationship is coldly business-y, and that doesn't mean you won't get in. I wrote boring thank-yous to some interviewers that I just genuine didn't have anything to say to. But if you happen to connect with someone--and hopefully you will on the interview trail--then I think it's worth it to keep that connection open. You never know which small interactions will have an impact on your career/life later on. Should you find yourself in the position to email someone again 6 months later, it wouldn't be the worst thing if their inbox remembers you as a polite, professional student worthy of mentorship.

Right...writing a genuine thank-you note because someone is awesome is totally different. But because it is such a ubiquitous convention now, it diminishes those meaningful ones.