Please and Thank You - The Value of Follow-up in the Job Interview

As children, our parents, teachers, elders, and other influencers constantly drummed it into our brains to always say “please” and “thank you.” These phrases are gestures of respect and common courtesy.

According to blogger Daniel Bader, “In most cultures it is considered rude not to say ‘please’ and especially not to say ‘thank you.’ When social conventions have this sort of ubiquity, it is usually because they serve some important social function. ‘Please’ or ‘thank you,’ like much of etiquette, are ways of preserving social status in cases that might otherwise threaten social status. In the case of ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ the terms mark that a gift or service is done freely and not as a result of compulsion.”

Fast forward to the college grads of today. One would think that this pool of job candidates would be first on the list to understand the value of expressing “please” and “thank you.” That isn’t the case, however, and I will tell you what I believe is the reason why. Today’s college grads have been reared in a technocratic society of IMs and text messages, and many of them actually adapt that form of speech into their job interview correspondence. We recently posted an internship on Craigslist, and the caliber of the responses was pitiful — with no salutation or “best regards” at the ends of the emails.

As a PR veteran with 20 years of skin in this crazy game, I grew up with cordiality, manners, respect, and common business sense. When you respond to a job ad, you develop a well-written letter or email stating your case as to why a prospective employer should hire you. Once you pique the interest of that employer to bring you in for the interview, and the conversation vibe hints of potential employment, the immediate next step is a thank you email or letter.

As a PR and marketing firm steeped in high tech, our natural preference is for receiving a thank you email first. This is typically followed by a printed and personalized note card. I will never forget the hiring process for one of our senior account executives. She presented herself professionally, wore a business suit (believe it or not, of the recent college grads we have interviewed for a job, only one of the female candidates wore an “interview” business suit), stood up to shake our hands, dazzled us with her knowledge of high tech and the PR industry, and, most importantly, sent a personalized, hand-written (yes, hand-written) thank you note to both myself and our president. Both notes, by the way, had different messages to boot (extra points for that one). Today, she is thriving at our firm and excelling beyond our wildest expectations.

On the flipside, our recent interview process has opened up our eyes to the rarity of that job interview protocol demonstrated by our senior account executive. We recently posted a full-time position on Craigslist and interviewed four candidates. Candidate 1 sent us a thank you email within an hour of the interview. Candidate 2, who came highly recommended to us, waited more than two days to send a thank you email. When she did send it, the salutation was as follows: “Len Abbazia, thank you…” Where was the “Dear Mr. Abbazia” or “Len, thank you…”? And, both our agency president and the senior A.E. noted above received the same exact email verbatim. No attempt to be creative and customize the thank you. As if the three of us involved in the interview process are not going to compare notes. Candidate 3 never sent an email or printed thank you so she was immediately discounted. As of this writing, candidate 4 has also yet to send one.

What befuddles me is the fact that during each interview, each candidate demonstrated an eagerness for the job opportunity, but their follow-up actions indicated the contrary. In the context of the hiring process, this may seem to be a small thing, but it is the little things that count. In this case, it is a big deal to us as it indicates that a prospective hire has interest in the job, and, more importantly, understands the importance of manners, respect, and courtesy (attributes that are needed in every line of work, especially our industry).

So, the next time someone says “please” and “thank you,” realize the power of that simple phrase in making or breaking your next prospective employee.

About the Author

Len Abbazia is vice president at Springboard Public Relations in Marlboro, New Jersey. Springboard was recently rated a “Top Five Small PR Agency” by IT journalists in a survey conducted by PRSourceCode.

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Please and Thank You - The Value of Follow-up in the Job Interview