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[jaws2006]

for post academic job interviews, is it ok to send a personalized handwritten thank you greeting card to the search committee members as opposed to a formal typed letter? does the card look trivial/informal/unprofessional/juvenile?

[bud04]

It is not only OK but a must to leave the right impression on the SC. You send a personalized handwritten thank you note---not a greeting card*---to the Chair of the Search Committee. It is considered to be good manners and is impressive to SCs since too many people don't.


*Buy stationary with your monogram on it made of good paper. Cream or white. No pictures.

[jaws2006]

Hi Bud04, so one is supposed to send the note only to the Search Committee Chair and not to everybody else on the interview panel? Is a hand written letter on a department letter head okay?

Thanks

[bud04]

Yes just send one note that expresses your gratitude to the SC for your visit. Tell them how much you enjoyed your visit and also express again how much you would enjoy working with them. End it by saying you look forward to hearing from them soon and for them to let you know if they need any more information. Yes this note should be hadwritten but no not on your department letter head. This has nothing to do with your job now or where you are in grad school (not sure of your situation) and it is not proper to use department letter head for personal use. Such personal use of letter head would send a bad message. Go to a stationary store or even a Hallmarks and look for good quality white or cream note cards (paper folder in half). If you can find some note cards with your initial on it, that would be great. Like if Bud was my last name, I would get note cards with a "B" on the outside of the note card. Then write your nice note inside and hand write the SC's Chair and the school address on the outside of the envelope. 

Trust me when I say this makes a wonderful impression. The SC Chair will share the note with the other people who met you. And you will stand out from the other candidates who don't write personal thank you notes. People like people who are gracious and that have good manners.   

[ls410]

I have always addressed the envelope to the chair but the card to the Committee.  In one case I spent extra time with the department secretary and sent her a separate note (that included receipts).  For phone interviews I send an email rather than a handwritten card.  It probably goes without saying but I also take extra care writing neatly; I have some of the worst handwriting around but on these letters I print clearly and use a nice fine tip pen that doesn't smear.

[canadatourismguy]

In our last search, a candidate sent our department secretary (who was an absolute savior for him) flowers.  We all thought that was tremendously professional.

Seriously, I do understand the hand written note thing but personally, I am just as happy with an Email and some personalization.  

 

[seniorscholar]

Frankly, the search committees in my rather large department prefer an e-mail thanks sent the day after the candidate reaches home to the chair of the SC, who will forward it to the rest of us. Since the department's admin secretary is in a private office at the end of the hall, we might not even hear about flowers. And since we generally meet to rank our candidates within hours of the final campus interview, the prompt thank-you signals to all of us that you're still interested, even after seeing our campus, our weather, our dean, and some of the jerks in our department who came to the job talk. I don't think we've ever deliberately down-ranked someone who didn't send thanks, but it's always mentioned in the after-interview committee meeting, especially when we suspect there may be other considerations that might delay/sink the acceptance (spouse, other interviews, etc.)

[imawakenow]

Send a note--handwritten or email--to the search committee chair. He or she will forward it to the other members of the SC. I think sending a note to a SC member is fine if you had a particularly meaningful interaction.

The idea that a handwritten note on a certain type of paper will put you over the top is misplaced, in my opinion.

I also don't think it's that rare for a candidate to send a thank you. Every on-campus visitor in the search I'm on this year has sent a note (all via email) so far. I think the same was true on the search I was on as a grad student (but that's been a couple of year ago).

[the_honey_badger]

While a brief email "thanks" with any follow-up questions is nice, it won't make any difference at all in our evaluations or ultimate offer.  In fact, many times the SCC will acknowledge it and the issue *never* has come up in committee or to the entire faculty.  I think that if the SCC said "Candidate X really impressed me with the obvious time and care he took in thanking us!"  the faculty would be amused.   This sort of thing is such an idiosyncratic product of such things as program prep for the job market, what book you might have read on the process or even upbringing that I would not want to have that element in my decision for a professional position.

And, our searches run on a tight timeline---we bring them in one after another with overlap on arrival day for one and departure day for another.  We start Sunday afternoon and are done by Thursday afternoon, meet Friday morning and call #1 with an offer.  Chances are a USPS note won't even arrive before its all over. (We are not only NOT in a major city but any mail has to then go through our slow campus mail system---mail usually takes 5-7 days to wend its way into our campus mailboxes. Something to consider.)

[tinyzombie]

Yes just send one note that expresses your gratitude to the SC for your visit. Tell them how much you enjoyed your visit and also express again how much you would enjoy working with them. End it by saying you look forward to hearing from them soon and for them to let you know if they need any more information. Yes this note should be hadwritten but no not on your department letter head. This has nothing to do with your job now or where you are in grad school (not sure of your situation) and it is not proper to use department letter head for personal use. Such personal use of letter head would send a bad message. Go to a stationary store or even a Hallmarks and look for good quality white or cream note cards (paper folder in half). If you can find some note cards with your initial on it, that would be great. Like if Bud was my last name, I would get note cards with a "B" on the outside of the note card. Then write your nice note inside and hand write the SC's Chair and the school address on the outside of the envelope. 

Trust me when I say this makes a wonderful impression. The SC Chair will share the note with the other people who met you. And you will stand out from the other candidates who don't write personal thank you notes. People like people who are gracious and that have good manners.   

Whoa. That's so intense. Expensive and fancy stationery even in times when many people are hurting for money? I think that's over the top.

What ever happened to "it's the thought that counts"? I'd think SCs would be happy with a personal note, no matter the stationery, and maybe (as others have said) even on email. The point is to get across your thanks and your excitement about the job; the packaging matters much less than that.

(I'm a grad student and have not served on an SC.)

[larryc]

Good advice above. And whatever you do, use standard capitalization to avoid appearing k trivial/informal/unprofessional/juvenile.

Here as well.

[hegemony]

In a recent search, four out of the ten short-listed candidates sent thank-you notes, but they were all by e-mail.  This was fine by me, as I suspect the chair of the committee is too disorganized to pass around a hand-written note.  And the thank-yous were personalized, not just a blanket thank-you to everyone.  As it happened, two of the thank-yous were from the two finalists.  Among our candidates were one person who was very socially awkward and one who was incredibly smooth and suave, so smooth that it was as if he expected the job to fall in his lap.  I was interested to see that neither of these people sent thank-you notes. 

[yellowtractor]

Here at HappySLAC we prefer a personalized, hand-lettered iguana.  One per SC member, please.

If we only called you up for a phone interview, a gerbil is OK.

[imawakenow]

I'd think SCs would be happy with a personal note, no matter the stationery, and maybe (as others have said) even on email. The point is to get across your thanks and your excitement about the job; the packaging matters much less than that.

(I'm a grad student and have not served on an SC.)

You are wise beyond your years, young grasshopper.

[jaws2006]

Thanks for all your answers. So when you all say a "note" do you mean something like this (which is like a card but not a greeting card):

http://www.asianweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/thank-you.jpg

Or a letter written on good quality paper?

Thanks again