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[Good ol' girl]

I have recently interviewed for a faculty position and was actually told by the head of the search committee that the decision will be made very soon. In fact, in less than a week after my arrival home. So, for the first time I have decided to send thank-you letters via email, so that they will be read before the faculty vote. I have composed them very closely to a standard thank-you format, with the exception of a letterhead, date and their address.

One week later, only junior faculty have responded (very warmly), but nothing from seniors or the dean's office (I have sent a thank you to everyone who has made an appointment to meet me). Did I make a mistake?

[B.F.]

Do people usually respond to your handwritten thank-you notes? If they do not, I would not expect them to respond to your e-mails. Some people look at a thank-you message as one that does not need a response. This person communicated to me thanking me and that is the end of the story.

[JuniorFaculty]

This is a good argument for sending thank-you notes by snail mail the moment you get back from the interview (I am exaggerating, but ASAP).

Since you've heard from the junior people that your e-mail arrived, I think you can just try to relax and wait. The more senior people may know the juniors responded, and consider the matter closed (responding to thank-yous is awkward -- do you send a thanks for the thank you and keep the chain going forever?) At this point, just back off and let them think of you without the association of "pest."

[Search Committee Member]

I think you did just fine. Many of us don't respond to a thank-you or another message that doesn't absolutely require a response, in order to cut down the clutter. (If you'd sent it by post, surely you wouldn't even expect to have a response saying "thank you for your thank you," right?)

[BlueSky05]

No mistake. You should not expect someone to reply to a thank-you note, whether in the job market or otherwise. It was nice of those who sent you a response to do so, but I would not read anything into receiving or not receiving replies to thank-you notes.

[Good ol' girl]

Of course, now that I think about it, I have never received a response for any of my post-letters! Duh! I am going to consider junior faculty responses a bonus. I have not pestered them since, so that's good.

I am going bonkers waiting for a decision! I have had a couple of real anxiety attacks over the phone ringing. How do you cope with the waiting period?

[Senior Scholar]

Let me tell you about my experience 30 years ago. I was waiting for the phone to ring (and had been for several days). It rang. It was a heavy-breather. I hung up, walked back to my chair. Just as I sat down, the phone rang again. Same heavy breather. Hung up, walked back to my chair. Just as I sat down, the phone rang again.

By great good fortune, I did not blow a whistle into the receiver, shriek, "get off my phone you &%$@@#," or anything of that sort -- because it was the job offer.

[Good ol' girl]

That's a great story! Incidentally, if I get this job, it will be the kind of ironic/funny story I will be telling my kids about one day (or future hopefuls). Too bad I can't talk about it without giving away institutions and states.