next »

[fraggles]

Should it be sent to SCC only or each committee member individually?

[systeme_d_]

SC Chair only.

And they're also not mandatory.  I never sent any after phone or conference interviews, for example.  I had over a dozen conference interviews one year, and there was no way I was looking up the name of and sending stupid thank-you emails to the chair of every single committee.

But I did send one to chairs after campus visits.  As a matter of fact, I also sent a separate one to the administrative assistants thanking them for their invaluable assistance, since their assistance always was truly invaluable.

[brixton]

I think it is wise to send.  It moves you from youthful academic candidate to professional colleague. We've never rejected anyone for lack of a thank you, but it does reassure that you are aware of social protocol.  Just chair is fine.

[scion]

I think it is wise to send.  It moves you from youthful academic candidate to professional colleague. We've never rejected anyone for lack of a thank you, but it does reassure that you are aware of social protocol.  Just chair is fine.

+1

[polly_mer]

I'll ask this here: really, only the search committee chair gets an email?

I ask because I just went on an interview, met everyone in the department, and spent a couple hours on a couple occasions with several of them.  I'm going to ignore fora advice and email everyone who had significant contact since that seems right to me for this particular group of folks and would fit with their culture.

However, I wonder about the rationale for only emailing the chair.  Is that simply because usually one has significant contact with the chair so that looking up everyone else who got half an hour (maybe) is a little weird?  For example, I feel no need to email a thank you to the dean who spent twenty minutes with me, but I would feel weird about ignoring the guy who did his scheduled half hour, came to dinner later, and then checked on me as I was sitting alone in an office to see if I needed anything and to say goodbye as he was off the rest of that day.  Oh, and I met several of those "guys" who did similar things over the course of the three-day interview.

[glowdart]

I'll ask this here: really, only the search committee chair gets an email?

I ask because I just went on an interview, met everyone in the department, and spent a couple hours on a couple occasions with several of them.  I'm going to ignore fora advice and email everyone who had significant contact since that seems right to me for this particular group of folks and would fit with their culture.

However, I wonder about the rationale for only emailing the chair.  Is that simply because usually one has significant contact with the chair so that looking up everyone else who got half an hour (maybe) is a little weird?  For example, I feel no need to email a thank you to the dean who spent twenty minutes with me, but I would feel weird about ignoring the guy who did his scheduled half hour, came to dinner later, and then checked on me as I was sitting alone in an office to see if I needed anything and to say goodbye as he was off the rest of that day.  Oh, and I met several of those "guys" who did similar things over the course of the three-day interview.

When I've spent a goodly amount of time with someone or who asked about a particular syllabus or article, then I'll send them a note, with the requested information attached where relevant.  But otherwise, yes to the bolded part.  The SC chair (will? should?) forward the email along to the rest of the SC. 

On the flip side, I know I've gotten thank you cards & emails from people in other departments whom I've met for maybe 10-15 minutes when they were going on their campus tour with a colleague and I happened to be leaving the building to walk to the other side of campus at the same time, so I walked with them... or when I was getting coffee while the candidate was on a break with another colleague at the coffee shop, and they asked me to join them.  Those cards were weird, but as I wasn't on the SC or in the department and frankly couldn't have remembered the candidate's name, they were also harmlessly weird. 

[litdawg]

I'll ask this here: really, only the search committee chair gets an email?

I ask because I just went on an interview, met everyone in the department, and spent a couple hours on a couple occasions with several of them.  I'm going to ignore fora advice and email everyone who had significant contact since that seems right to me for this particular group of folks and would fit with their culture.

However, I wonder about the rationale for only emailing the chair.  Is that simply because usually one has significant contact with the chair so that looking up everyone else who got half an hour (maybe) is a little weird?  For example, I feel no need to email a thank you to the dean who spent twenty minutes with me, but I would feel weird about ignoring the guy who did his scheduled half hour, came to dinner later, and then checked on me as I was sitting alone in an office to see if I needed anything and to say goodbye as he was off the rest of that day.  Oh, and I met several of those "guys" who did similar things over the course of the three-day interview.

Likewise. I'm just coming off a 2-day campus visit at a SLAC and averaged hour-long meetings with every member of the department. All had read a few of my publications and all of my application materials.  I had a breakfast or dinner with most of them too. They all attended job talk and teaching demonstration and asked good questions. I would feel very strange if I didn't pass on my thanks to all of these people.

Allow me to propose a potential guideline: interviews at universities with less of a personal touch might only require a thank you to the search chair with a "please pass on my gratitude to the rest of the committee;" interviews at SLACs with broad participation in the interview process probably merit more individualized thank-you notes.

[oldfullprof]

I'd email all, especially at a SLAC.

[polly_mer]

I have no idea who was on the search committee at my most recent interview, maybe it was everyone including the emeritus faculty.  I don't know, but I'm not sending thank-you notes to check a box; I'm sending thank-you notes to thank people for a great interview.  Even if I don't get the job (and I would love this job), this was a wonderful experience and these people should get that positive feedback.

[systeme_d_]

When one emails the chair, one asks the chair to pass along your gratitude to the rest of the committee.

[aysecik]

Polly_mer, I completely agree. I just think that if people put aside their things and come to talk to you, that deserves a personal contact. Maybe if the interview does not have a very personal touch, sure - but I see all these people as future contacts, colleagues, even perhaps collaborators, no matter where I end up. I like the idea of seeing each interview as an opportunity to meet people, get their point of view on academia, get to know different departments, learn about their research... If I don't get a job there, still I know these people and learn from them and "network" with them. Honestly, thinking this way keeps me calm too, at least a little bit. Sending a thank you is just what I would like to do to someone who devoted this time to me.

[polly_mer]

When one emails the chair, one asks the chair to pass along your gratitude to the rest of the committee.

Yes, in a pro-forma, good-manners situation, that's true and that's sufficient.  I've written those notes.

However, doing that in this case doesn't let me write to A and B to follow up on the intro lab that is related to my research, C to tell him I remember the name of the movie for his class, etc.  For once, my thank-you notes aren't generic lovely-time-please-keep-me-in-mind-because-I-could-work-there, but serve as genuine wow-that-was-great-and-even-if-I'm-not-the-one-(although, I am ready to move and please pick me)-I-had-three-great-days thank-you notes.

[msparticularity]

I'd email all, especially at a SLAC.

I did this; I emailed not only the members of the actual SC and the administrators, but the other faculty members who interviewed me during the visit, both individually and in small groups. The total was actually around dozen people, but I had lengthy and interesting conversations with all of them, so it was pretty easy to find something to say about those discussions as a part of my thanks.

[fraggles]

Ok, so post-MLA I just emailed the SCC, but after campus visit I decided to email everyone in the small department because, like litdawg, I had significant contact with each of them. The question now is should I email the administrators I met with (dean and provost)? I certainly don't want to annoy them but want them to know I appreciated the opportunity to meet with them.

[systeme_d_]

Look, YMMV, but when I've served on search committees, I've found these thank-you emails that come to each SC member to be overkill.  It does not impress me to get a thank-you from each person we interviewed.  It's just delete, delete, delete.