Do post-interview thank you notes really matter?

Yes and no.

Why thank yous don’t really matter. Imagine that you’re a recruiter and you identify a candidate who looks to be a total rock star on paper–he or she has all the right skills, tremendous work experience, and seems to be a great fit for the opening. You bring that person in for an interview and he or she completely blows the doors off of the hinges—well prepared, confident, and light years beyond every other candidate you have in the hopper. But, days go by and you don’t receive a post-interview thank you. Do you knock that person out of the running and extend an offer to someone else? In almost every case, I’m pretty sure the answer is going to be no.

But beyond the fact that the primary goal of the interview process is to hire the best overall candidate (and that’s way more important than a single thank you note or lack thereof), most interviewers will have made a “yes” or “no” judgment call about you either by the time you leave the interview, or at the latest as they evaluate the day’s candidates. So, in most cases, by the time they would actually receive the thank you (even if it’s within a 24-48 hour window), they’ve already formed an opinion about you one way or the other.

And not to muddy the water even further, but it’s important to keep in mind that a poorly written thank you could actually harm your chances more than not sending one at all.

Why thank yous could matter. Your background is almost identical to another candidate. After the interview, you’re still in a dead heat. You send a thank you but the other person doesn’t. If the recruiter is looking for something to knock somebody out of the running, it could come down to something as simple as a thank you note.

Don’t get me wrong, post-interview thank yous are nice. In fact, candidates probably don’t send them enough. However, in the grand scheme of the selection process, companies are going to be hard pressed to pass over a rock star candidate who has a great interview just because he or she doesn’t send a thank you. And if you do decide to send one, make sure you individualized your message by restating your value proposition (those 2-3 things that make you unique from other candidates) and restating your interest in the position.