Recently, I treated two friends to a delicious lunch. By dinnertime, both of them had already emailed me, thanking me for the fun lunch treat. It touched my heart that they had carved out time so quickly to send me a thank you note.
Two days later, I opened my mailbox and found a beautiful, handwritten card from one of them saying, “thanks again” for the great lunch and time spent together! Why the two messages from the one friend? She had already shown her appreciation of me by sending an “email thank you”. Yet, she knew her follow-up handwritten note would underscore it for me.
In 2000, I would have encouraged you to send a “handwritten” note versus an “email thank you” after an interview or a meeting.
However, in 2014, demonstrating your appreciation for the interviewer’s time and consideration needs to keep up with the fast paced, ever-changing environments of the business world.
Emailed “thank you” notes can help you keep up the pace to win the job race.
- An email thank you is immediate and lets the interviewer know you are eager and interested in the job. [Handwritten, “snail mail” notes are slow and could take several days to arrive.]
- Did you copy the email address correctly from the interviewer’s business card? Then feel confident that your email thank you has been delivered to their Inbox. [Handwritten notes can get lost in the mail or amongst the stack of mail on the interviewer’s desk.]
- The interviewer might respond to your email message and continue a conversation with you about the job. [Interviewers take their time responding to a handwritten note, if they do not ignore or toss it first].
Of course, I love receiving handwritten notes. Much time and care is invested in making me feel important and appreciated. If you prefer sending handwritten notes, by all means send them. Just send the “email thank you” note first, and then follow-up with your handwritten note. It will keep you on the mind of your interviewer and you will surely stand out as a lead candidate in the race for the job.