Whenever ai see these corporate office games I’m glad I have another reason I like my union job. None of this asskissing BS to move up. You apply for the position, if you meet/pass any qualifications and have the seniority, you get the spot. Yeah, the initial gig might need you to jump through HR’s hoops, but other than that it’s just qualifications and seniority. I suck at schmoozing and have a really hard time essentially lying to people about my motivations and feelings to jump through useless hoops to get a job, I despise sucking up to someone because they hold a position of authority.
(Yes, union jobs ABSOLUTELY have their own problems, but I’ve found the benefits of union work over time have far outweighed any benefits the corporate rat race could have.)
I dig it. Actual merit based. Not what these turd-nuggets are saying is “merit” in the white house.
Is this a cultural thing? I have never sent any thank you e-mail just to say thank you after an interview. Only if we agreed that I should send them some more information after an interview I’d start this mail by saying ‘Thank you for the interview. As discussed, bla bla bla…’.
I was taught they were essential and just a part of the process, PNW USA.
I’ve never sent a thank you email for an interview. It seems weird to me.
— successful engineer, Los Angeles
Thank you email? Do employers make house visits or take you out for dinner when interviewing in the US?
It is as far as I know that is the case.
It is cultural dependent. In South Korea and Japan, you are expected to go for drinks with your boss.
Not these days. In contemporary Japan at many companies, expecting employees to go for drinks with the boss is a kind of specifically noted harassment.
It’s been largely phased out in Korea as well.
Typically you aren’t going out with a company for a primary interview unless they really wanted you
I got an in-the-mail thank you card from someone I interviewed once. We didn’t end up hiring them but it was a nice gesture. I know when I was first interviewing for jobs ~20 years ago it was common advice to send a followup / thank you.
There’s is nothing worse in job hunting than dealing with companies with this mentality/culture.
Degrade yourself while we give you the runaround or you don’t get the job! Fuck you. Hell is not enough, I cast the Locust Plague upon ye 🦗🦗🦗
I’ll probably get a lot of downvotes for this, but why exactly should I send a thank-you email?
What about the potential employer – why don’t they send one to me? I took the time to prepare my application, sent them all my documents, and showed up for the interview.
I’m not begging for a job – I’m applying for one. They’re looking for someone who will generate more value for the company than they’ll pay in salary. That’s a business transaction, not charity.
So again – why should I be the one to send a thank-you email?
Personally, I think it’s enough to thank them in person during the interview.
why exactly should I send a thank-you email?
It’s a shopping-cart test.
Fuck bullshit tests
It’s not a shopping cart test. There’s no social cost to not getting a thank you email, and the candidate likely already provided thanks verbally. It’s redundancy, and as a hiring manager I do not care for it.
For shopping carts, I even take back those that are not mine if they are nearby.
As a hiring manager, how many times have you picked a candidate, called them, and they’ve decided against being hired by you? That’s you, having to go look for a shopping cart. Of course anyone who is going to write the note also said thanks in person. But if they write to remind you of the good points in their interview, maybe address some omission, you know they didn’t thank you to your face but mock you in private.
This comment belongs in its own post
There’s no social cost if you abandon your shopping cart. That’s why they use that as a test.
Hey. I get you don’t like them. That’s totally okay. I consider them pointless, personally. But it’s more than my own preference or else it would be false consensus.
But it’s like spelling: if you keep pluralizing ‘mail’ with an S, or using a comma for a period, no one who also doesn’t know better is gonna notice. The time when you will need proper spelling or etiquette – or smoke detectors or seatbelts, for that matter – will be when you least expect it.
There is a social cost to abandoning your shopping cart; it’s just not borne by the abandoner. Carts left in the parking lot can block parking spots or damage cars if moved by wind or gravity. Additionally, if no one returns their cart, there will be none available at the storefront for use by the next customer. That’s part of the “test” as I understand it - there’s no one grading you individually on whether you fulfill your communal responsibility to return the cart, but that doesn’t mean there’s no impact from your failure to do so.
Feels like we might be talking past each other or conceptualizing the shopping cart theory differently?
100%. I’ve never heard of this practise - maybe it’s an American thing?
It is an older American thing. IMO if Im hiring someone for a non-retail sales gig it can be a nice way to demonstrate your manners which are important in customer facing roles.
you are in the wrong sub, lunatic
They tell us to do it in Canada too. But seriously, if you hiring me depends on me sending a mail to kiss your ass, fuck off, I take back my application.
God I love society programming humans to be ok with corporate subjugation of our species.
It is.
No, it’s not.
That being said, I’ve interviewed dozens, if not hundreds, of candidates, and have received thank-you noted from a handful of them. These notes are not part of the rubric used to evaluate them for the role. They also tend to come from weaker performers, so if anything, such a note is a red flag.
Exactly this! Additionally I cannot think of a single person I’ve interviewed who hasn’t said thanks at the end of the actual interview. How big a lunatic must this guy be to be SO out of touch with reality on this one?
he runs his aspect of the business as a tiny fascist dictatorship. he wants yesmen, not actual applicants
When I was growing up in the US in the '80s and ‘90s, our business classes did tell us it was proper send a thank-you letter a couple of days after an interview. This was, of course, in the days before email and workers’ rights got even more abysmal in the US. Not sure if this one data point helps.
If you are looking for the job it’s a good opportunity to emphasize your qualifications for the position based on what was interviewed on. It’s also an opportunity to ask followup questions with the benefit of time and the ability to research.
I usually give them after interviews. I only get them when some kind of decision was made on the employer end.
It sounds like you may just have been in better positions in life when applying for jobs than others, such as myself. As hard as it is to get infront of anyone for work, I’ll take the extra 30~40 minutes it takes to write a follow up.
It’s not functioning as a thank you, it’s honestly just an indication that you’re willing to take an extra 5 minutes to do something when the stakes are high.
If you really want the job, how you treat that conversation might be similar to how you treat a client once you’re hired. If you don’t really want the job, or you really don’t want to send a thank you, that’s fine, but with 5 applicants to choose from, wouldn’t they opt for the candidate who put in the best/most work?
I’m not saying it isn’t annoying and transactional and a lot to ask, but as someone who’s applied for hundreds of jobs, the reason to do it still feels clear.
It’s also a simple signal that you are still interested in the job. You’d certainly never send one of you weren’t. From the hirer’s perspective, it makes their job easier by not calling someone and having them turn it down.
This assumes that a hiring manager would choose not to call a favored candidate just because they didn’t get a thank you. That would be insane to me. None of my top performers sent me thank yous, and if I passed on them for that reason alone, I would deserve the dregs who would take their place.
I usually get the thank you when they want to bring me to the next round of the hiring process. Maybe the thank you acts as a kind of signal that a party is interested in keeping the process moving? I’m sending a follow-up email if I’m eager to keep things moving (and it’s not simply “thank you for the interview;” I’m including a couple brief points reiterating why I think I’m a good fit). If I’m ambivalent or not interested I wouldn’t put the effort in.
This is how I’ve always understood them. If after you’ve had some time to digest how the interview went (and evaluate, based on the questions you (should have) asked during the interview, whether you think the position is a good fit for you) you still want the job, you send a quick email basically saying “Hey, thanks for meeting with me - it was nice to meet you / your team. Based on our interaction, it looks like this position would be a great fit for me / I’d be a great fit for it - here’s some things I took away from it (which also serves to show I was attentive / not just going through the motions) - looking forward to hearing from you to continue the process!” To your point, it’s not an ass-kissing email, the ‘thank you’ portion is just a polite formality to open the conversation.
Yu are thanking them for considering you for the job.
I honestly use it as a passive aggressive “hey it’s been a week and I haven’t heard from you, am I still being considered.” email.
It’s perfect for that. Also, “did you lose my fucking email, you incompetent boob? Here it is again.” but couched as politeness.
it’s been my position for a while now that job interviews evaluate, more than anything, how much the candidate is willing to humiliate themselves for the employer. that’s more important to employers than actual skill
Why would you get downvoted in a community called LinkedIn Lunatics where we are expressly making fun of the content of the post?
I’ll probably get down voted for this opinion, but the earth is round and orbits the sun.
False! The Earth and Sun orbit the center of gravity between the two of them!
The barycenter of the earth-sun orbit is within the surface of the sun, therefore the earth is understood to orbit the sun.
The JUPITER-Sun orbit barycenter, however, is outside the surface of the sun.
I liek spec
False!
You forgot to prefix your comment with “False!”.
Objection!
Uh. False objection!
False! They all exist in a complex system of gravitational pull where all bodies, not just these two, have differing degrees of influence on each other dictated by distance and mass!
False! What you wrote is true, but it doesn’t make the comment above false!
The center of solar system is not always between those two objects. Half the time they’re both on the same side of the center
Because keeping the line of communication open is good. You’re one of dozens of applicants, so you want them to focus on you.
I’ve been looking for work lately and getting told the same thing by the employment offices around me (job search assistance).
It feels so bizarre and pushy to email back after an application/interview. I showed up and did my part, the balls in their court now, I’m just waiting for a response. To reach out again seems like I’m leaning over their shoulder and asking ‘have you made a decision yet??? How about now, can I have a job now?’
They already know what I want, what I can offer, and how to reach me. What more do they need?
Their ego stroked, apparently.
I’ll probably get a lot of downvotes for this, but
I’m like 50/50 on this part being sarcasm, it doesn’t read like that to me at all but it’s also hard for me to picture expecting disagreement with a linkedin headcase to be an unpopular opinion anywhere outside of linkedin.
I neither engage in it as an applicant nor value it as a hiring manager. It would be difficult to assess if this has hampered my career, but I am doing fine.
Your “Thank You” email should be used by you to put some of the points you hit on in the interview in writing to remind the company why they should hire you. Don’t think of it as gratitude. “Thanks for the opportunity to get to know the company. As I mentioned in the interview, I think I’d be a great fit because … blah blah blah.”
If it’s a business transaction to you, you have to market yourself if you want to be picked over someone else. Do I buy one of the robots that just showed up and told me their specs, or do I buy the one that has a little extra pizzazz for the same price?
There’s a completely transactional reason for post-interview “thank you” notes, whether you’re applying to college or for a job. It’s to remind the person, who’s probably interviewing a lot of applicants, of your existence and your qualifications. A good one includes a reminder of any parts where you think you shone. And if there’s something you thought of later, it’s okay to add that.
If their ego makes them take your thanks as sincere sucking up, fine. But you really do it for yourself, and the “thank you” is pro forma.
Of course this assumes you still want the position after having sat the interview. If not, feel free to ghost.
But they want you to beg.
The more you beg for the job, the more it signals to a prospective employer that you need it and don’t have alternatives. That means they can string you out much easier.
Desperation facilitates exploitation.
It’s often far less malicious. People don’t get positions of mediocre responsibility because they’re evil. Usually they’re just mid managers who need more help and want to pick people who actually want to work, and their own job rides on making a good decision.
Because ya’ll, you would be astonished how many shitty people show up for shitty interviews.
When I was a hiring I never wanted anyone to show subservience or beg. But I didn’t want to lose my own job for making a poor decision, and if I interview 30 people in a week, I am more likely to remember and think more about people who make extra effort, which can look like a lot of things.
If I have a tough decision to make, unfortunately it does come down to a contest of who wants it most. At least I know if someone really wants the job they’re less likely to slack off and jeopardize my position.
Most upvoted comment I’ve seen on Lemmy in a while
Downvoting you specifically for saying you’ll get downvotes for expressing a rational thought in response to a linkedinlunatic post. How dare you.
But also you’re right, bullshit tests should be called out as bullshit and employers should be shamed for pulling stupid shit like this. This is a business transaction where I’m selling you my time and skills for less than their worth so you can exploit that for a profit. You(the employer) should be fucking thanking me.
I was taught that the point of a thank you note is to get your name in front of them one more time. It’s a form of advertising; they might have done 5 interviews that day, 5 the previous day, and have 5 more scheduled for tomorrow. You want them to remember you over the next person who has the same qualifications.
Also a final opportunity to emphasize anything that went well in the interview, or downplay/explain anything that didn’t.
Anyone who’s judgementally dismissing applicants for not sending a thank you is an asshole, but this does not change the fact that sending a thank you is a good idea if you actually want to get the job.
Commenting just to get my name out there.
You’re hired.
Not even close to being wrong. No thank you is needed. Honestly I see no reason to thank them at the end of the interview.
And no down votes from normal people, this is absolutely an insane person posting this.
I’m a hiring manager and the thank you notes I sometimes get after an interview have absolutely no sway on my opinions. Sure it’s nice, but for me personally it doesn’t matter at all. It’s just part of the “show” and I try to not care about that.
However, I do encourage people that are applying for jobs and interviewing to send the thank you. It definitely doesn’t hurt.
Because even if you do everything right, if I’m struggling to find a candidate because my own ass is riding on it and I talked to 30 people in a week, I might be more likely to remember someone who makes an extra effort over someone I just saw or heard from once. It’s not about me the hiring manager, it’s about who you’re competing against for that position and specifically how many are competing against you.
It’s not rocket science, it’s not fun, but if you’re serious about getting a job, it can help.
Honestly I’m constantly taken back by how hateful and bitter people are at the things you just need to do to get ahead in the world. You can raise very valid points that our system, our capitalist hellscape we all share makes us feel like tools, but we still gotta eat and pay our bills. How serious you are about getting those bills paid is entirely up to you.
I trend to agree with you. The world is messed up, interviews aren’t supposed to be fair to you, and you’re probably competing with dozens of people.
No matter how good you are, and if you tick all the employers boxes (which may be unfair in itself and takes quite some luck to do), that’s not enough. What is enough is that you’re the best candidate among dozens of qualified people, according to the subjective criteria of this particular interviewer, and you have no clue what to do to get there. So random gestures may take you over the line, as well as they may not.
deleted by creator
I also got a hint: pass the bar exam.
This is actually psychotic. Do you know how many emails I get? I don’t want some kiss ass in my fucking inbox. Sending me a thank you email actually shows that you don’t respect my time.
My hatred for this person is a thousand burning suns.
I swear linked in is their spawn point
“You disgrace
the oval officeour office”I have yet to see any place with a good hiring procedure, this nonsense included. People saying they work in HR should generally be looked at as if they just admitted to being in a cult, which is terrifying because it means cultists will be deciding whether you get to do the thing you do to keep from starving in the street.
People saying they work in HR should generally be looked at as if they just admitted to being in a cult
I mean, what else do you have to evaluate a resume and some thinly sourced references except chicken entrails and prayer? It’s not exactly a hard science.
To be honest, you’re not entirely wrong. It’s so risky to ever be “mask off” in corporate settings.
People saying they work in HR should generally be looked at as if they just admitted to being in a cult
I’ve never heard it described like this but you nailed it.
A divorce attorney posting this. I get the feeling most of his clients are scumbags trying to get out of their responsibilities.
I might be old school but I see nothing wrong with a little politeness, especially if it gets my foot in the door. But then again, I’m not going to continually kiss someone’s ass for what should be a mutually beneficial situation.
A lot of the people jerking their knees at these “rituals” we do have never been in the position of actually having to hire someone.
Whatever your principles and attitude might be now, if you get into a role that requires you to make good decisions on who you’re paying a ton of company money to, with your ass riding on it, you WILL adjust your ideas for how to make the best decisions.
FWIW I’m jerking my knee at this ritual and interviewed someone who’s starting on Monday. I’ve been on both ends of this and find the rituals exhausting. If I had extra time for frivolous emails, then we wouldn’t be hiring!
It’s the idea that everything can go perfectly, but they have one specific secret test they don’t tell you about that’s also completely irrelevant to the position you’re interviewing for.
Ya pass
On the other side…
I’m so dead sick of those “thank you for applying, you are so awesome and amazing! But we went with another guy” emails
What do you want to read if you were really good, but the other candidate was a touch better? Do you really want to receive a “fuck you” letter?
At least it’s something to let you know. I got down to a final 2 interview and haven’t heard anything from the company in a week even though I thought I had pretty good chances. I’d rather take a wishy washy answer over no answer at all.
I’d rather have that email than being ghosted by the company you applied at. Which happens more often than not.
The alternative is to not know, I don’t care if they send a nicely worded rejection over ghosting.
A lot of bitter job-hunters in this post.
I hope.youre including yourself.
Yeah, that’s what happens after a few hundred ai stirred rejection letters
