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[bobalurg]

I interviewed at a school last Monday and they told me they would get back with me in two weeks. I then came back and went on another interview that basically said the same thing. What should I be doing in these two weeks?

Should I e-mail the thank you notes to ensure they get them quickly before their decision is made or should I still hand write them and mail them Monday? Should I send follow up questions to show that I'm very interested in the positions (I do have a few questions that I would like to ask so it's not like I'm manufacturing them for this purpose). Is there anything else that I should be doing during this time?

Thanks

[sugaree]

Either written or emailed thank you notes are always appropriate (even if some time has passed), but they make not a whit of difference at this point. If you can successfully wrangle the search function, you'll see several threads on this very topic and the general consensus is that it is nice and polite and it matters not in the search.

They already know you're interested, so contacting the SCC with a few questions (to demonstrate your ongoing interest) is not a great idea. You run the risk of being a pest and academia does not operate like the business world (where demonstrating your ongoing interest by follow-up contact is fairly common as I understand it). These alleged questions that you have can wait until you have an offer, no? And, if you don't get an offer then they are irrelevant anyway.

There is nothing you can or should be doing now except working on other job applications and publications and teaching and waiting to hear from places where you've interviewed. It's out of your hands now and there is nothing left to do but wait.

[canadatourismguy]

It may not matter in getting the job but it does matter being thought of as a good colleague and future collaborator.

[sugaree]

It may not matter in getting the job but it does matter being thought of as a good colleague and future collaborator.

Excellent point, which is why I said that thank you notes are always appropriate to send (even if they don't matter as a term of employment).

[beachegirl]

Do you send a thank you note to the search chair only or individually to the entire committee?

[copper]

I'm probably the sole dissenter on these forums (leading Sugaree to mention a consensus, rather than unanimity), but I hate getting thank-you cards from candidates.  They usually make the writer seem like a brown-nosing suck-up, who lacks confidence in the quality of the s/he presented during the interview.

Emails aren't as awful, but really you should have said "thanks for the invitation & attending my talk" or some such at the beginning of your main presentation during the interview.  If you didn't, you screwed up & people either didn't notice, or won't ever forget.  If you did, a note is unneeded.

If you really feel compelled to send a note, some advice from a grouch on this issue:
1.  For gods sake, do not use flowery scented stationery!
2.  Do not use the note as an opportunity to make excuses for your performance ("sorry I was so jet-lagged...")
3.  Avoid any kind of "oh, you are / your dept. is so awesome."  If it sounds like a fan letter, you're in suck-up territory.  And it has the potential of making you sound like you think we're out of your league, or if you sound surprised by our awesomeness, that you think you're out of our league.  Neither is an asset to your candidacy.
4.  The search committee goes through a lot of work to coordinate your interview.  A note to the chair thanking them for how smoothly it ran (rather than simply for the invitation) or making you feel welcome is probably fine.  If a member other than the chair did the arrangements for your interview, I'd send the note to that person instead of the chair.

Thus I might amend Sugaree's view to one where carefully written thank-you notes are always appropriate.  My complaint is that they rarely are written well (point #3 is the usual problem).

--Cu

[systeme_d_]

4.  The search committee goes through a lot of work to coordinate your interview.  A note to the chair thanking them for how smoothly it ran (rather than simply for the invitation) or making you feel welcome is probably fine.  If a member other than the chair did the arrangements for your interview, I'd send the note to that person instead of the chair.

I am pretty much with Copper, especially on the bolded points above.

My take on it? Email the SC Chair, ask her/him to convey your appreciation to the rest of the SC and the department.  Email the administrative assistant and thank her/him, because her/his efforts are probably primarily responsible for making your visit go smoothly.

[madhatter]

I personally find thank-you notes a waste of time. They make no particular impression on me when I receive them, and I stopped bothering to send them in all but the most unusual circumstances in my last few job searches. As far as I could tell, it had no impact on the rate of offers/rejections.

I can only speak for myself. There may be someone out there who has a little ledger and crosses off any candidate who doesn't promptly send a properly composed handwritten expression of gratitude. Caveat emptor, if you choose to follow my example.

I do think it is occasionally useful to send a follow-up letter, if there's a genuine reason to send one. For example, if a committee member expressed interest in a particular piece of research or lesson plan you've developed -- you might send that along with a note. Or, if you were asked to think about how you might design a new program, you might follow up with a detailed letter with your thoughts. If there's valuable content you can send that follows on discussions you had during the interview, then that additional communication might help your candidacy.