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[4thyear]

Hi,
I know there are several threads on thank you letters, but I was hoping for some specific advice. I just returned from a campus visit at my first choice school, and know they are interviewing other candidates after me.

I want to send a thank you letter (yes, so they don't forget about me when the others are there) but have been scared off by the other threads. I specifically want to send a thank you note that somehow reminds them I can cover two of their areas that no one else wants to do.

Paper or email? In one letter to the chair, mention other faculty members I have talked with and how much I enjoyed these conversations? Or just skip the thank you and pray?

They told me they would let me know in two weeks, but I am not sure if a thank you will help or hurt my chances. I have read the other threads on thank yous, but it doesn't seem like there is a consensus on this, and I wondered in light of my specific situation if anyone has any advice.

[Sally]

I would definitely, definitely send a thank you.  Several weeks ago I interviewed at a place where I had a great experience and really wanted to get the offer.  I sent thank-you notes via email to the dept. chair, the chair of the search committee, and the dean. I thanked them all for inviting me to the campus, said how much I enjoyed the visit, and said (briefly) why I felt I'd be a good fit there.  Apparently, they agreed because I just got the offer.

The key, I think, is to communicate that you are very interested in the position while not appearing desperate.  All you have to do is be honest, polite and gracious.  Doing so will only help your chances.

Good luck!

[Another Boring Anon]

If you have two weeks, I'd send paper--notecards work well for keeping the message short, focused and professional.

You have an excellent reason to keep in contact--to let them know you are still very interested, and can cover these unwanted areas.  I would approach it from the "I was so pleased to have the chance to visit and meet your department and see the lovely campus, etc." to the extent you can reflect your experiences from the visit.  If the campus was ugly, they know it too, and will think a rhapsody is ridiculous, but you can praise specific things. Absolutely remind them of your utility--maybe mention that you could send them a sample syllabus for one of these areas or tell them you are going to a conference that reflects this (whatever is true).  

I am a thank you note fanatic, so after my campus visit, I wrote to the chair, as well as the faculty member who hosted a social event in his house for me, and the unfortunate colleague who dropped me off at the airport at 5.15 am.  Those were a little more personal.  

Unless a thank you is horribly spelled, drippingly unctuous, or totally inappropriate, I have never seen or had a bad reaction to one on the part of a committee.

[Scientist-Mom]

I agree you should send a thank you but definitely would do so by email.  This way it can be forwarded to faculty in the dept. (assuming the Chair values their input).

[Search Committee Member]

I too would vote for e-mail to everyone on the committee, with strong signals about how much you liked speaking with us and with one further bit of information about one thing that especially interests you about the job. And yes e-mail to be forwarded to the department listserv. And very soon. The "don't send thanks" thread was about someone who had been contacted to make an appointment for a phone interview -- "thank you for wanting to interview me" doesn't make any sense, but "thank you I really want your job" after a campus interview is virtually essential, if you do want the job. Without it we may assume you're no longer interested, or at best that we are not your first choice.

One of our candidates last year (now a member of our department) also sent private e-mails to several grad students who had been sent to lunch with the candidate, with information, references, follow-ups to questions they'd asked, sources to look at, ideas about their work in progress. WOW did we hear about that from the grad students. We'd told them they were "shopping for a potential member for their dissertation committee" and this person definitely sold them."

[4th year]

Thanks everyone for the feedback here. I just sent off an email thank you addressed to the search chair  (who is also the dept. chair) and the faculty in hopes that it will be passed on.

I was sure to mention the two areas that they need to have covered and how much I enjoyed talking with Faculty members X and Y about these courses (these faculty members are moving into other areas of interest and are willingly giving up these courses).

I also sent a quick thank you to the Dean, since I had a private discussion with her, and I noted what we talked about in that email and how our discussion was useful.

I REALLY appreciate the quick feedback. I just got back Friday night, and didn't want to wait too long to send a thank you. Keep your fingers crossed!

[Anon]

I suggest you send email thank yous to everyone I met, including the secretaries and students. Make them short, polite, and not pushy. It is not a job application - just a "thanks."

[4th year]

Thanks for the advice. I did sent the secretaries two thank you emails regarding the arrangements and making the visit go smoothly.

As far as students go, I didn't meet any individually. There were some there in the teaching demonstration, but I didn't get to meet them on an individual basis. I thanked them as the lesson was over in person. Do you think this is enough?

[SciPostDoc]

Many people forget that thank you notes should not be used as means to expressing sentiments, but as marketing tools.  Yes, mention a word of thanks briefly as an entree to the sales pitch, and then in the major portion of the letter, continue reiterating your interest and strengths for the job.

You did not think that the credit card companies send out the occasional thank you letters (with rewards) to express appreciation, right?  Right.  It's to get you to stay loyal (and spend more money).

And you too should make your thank you letter a marketing tool -- selling yourself.

Always write a thank you letter!

[%sig%]

[sunny]

here are some anecdotes.  i should add that i no longer have strong opionions for or against thank you notes.  Here's why.

i was on the job market a couple of years ago and dutifully sent thank you notes to the first couple of interviews i went to and didn't receive any job offers.  by the time i went to my last set of interviews which were all scheduled back to back in different parts of the country, i barely had enough time to get to the next interview much less send thank you notes to the institution i had just visited.  and those were the interviews that resulted in job offers.

i once received a thank you note that simply reminded me specficially of the reasons why someone wasn't my top choice candidate.  in this case a candidate recapped in writing what i thought was a completely unimaginative approach to a particular issue in our discipline.

so send an email if you have time, otherwise don't worry about it too much.

[samiam]

I find it ridiculous to contemplate that getting or not getting a job offer rests on a thank you note. I can't imagine a search committee saying, after the preliminary interview, "Oh, since we didn't receive a thank you note from Ms. Manners, it probably means she's not interested in the position." Or, conversely, saying, "Wow, that thank you note really helps us make our decision." In my career, I have never sent a thank-you note, and still have received numerous interviews and several offers.

Folks, let's keep this in perspective. A thank you note might be nice for both parties, but certainly not something to obsess about, and certainly not something that makes or breaks anyone's candidacy. Recently at my institution, a candidate that many faculty members liked was rejected by the grad students because they felt that he was a little bit too "slick," too "ingratiating."  Who knows what people are bound to think at any given moment? This whole process is so bizarre to begin with, so dependent upon people whose mind you cannot read, the only thing you can do is present yourself well through your real strengths, and hope for the best.

Samiam

[Search Committee Member]

I have to disagree somewhat with samiam. An earlier thread on this board dealt with the issue of whether people might be passed over if they seem "out of reach" for the institution. At a mid-range R1 institution on the East Coast, we get applications from Ivy candidates with a book accepted as well as from more middling folks. If the Ivy star seems slightly bored while here, asks mostly questions about time off and internal funding for research, and fails to send a thank you, we may well decide to pursue someone less star-ish. An eager thank you, on the other hand, would encourage us to at least make our first offer to that person (with a 2-week deadline so we can still go to the next in line if, indeed, we are NOT high on the star's list).