Career Strategy

Thank You Letters

Expressing your thanks to any professional associate for their time, effort, and consideration on your behalf is common courtesy, good manners, and an excellent way to reinforce your strong interest in a particular employer relationship. It goes without saying that you should always verbally express thanks for an employer's time and courtesy. However, written thank you letters are not always necessary or expected in every situation. Yet in others settings, written thank yous are critical.

The topic of thank you letters can come up in several situations during the job search process. Here's a primer on how to handle the question when it arises for you.

1. After an Initial "on Campus" or Job Fair Interview

   In the fall, the typical employer is visiting a number of law schools and interviewing hundreds of students at the first round. These sorts of large-scale employers do not expect (and often cannot handle) thank you notes from each and every student they interview on campus or at a job fair.

   However, smaller employers, employers who may not engage in widespread recruiting, or employers who granted you a particular courtesy (like a "special request" or movement from "alternate" status) may truly appreciate hearing your sincere thanks for their time. Or, you may have really "clicked" with your on campus interviewer. In these situations, a thank you may be appreciated and appropriate.
    

2. After Callback (i.e., Second Round In-office) Interviews

   A callback or in-office interview takes an employer considerable time and effort to arrange and conduct. Indeed, they often include a meal or other refreshments. A thank you is almost always appropriate and appreciated after a callback / in-office interview.

   Who should you direct your letter to when you have met with more than one person? If time permits, you may send a thank you to each attorney you met. If you would prefer to be efficient, it is also appropriate to send your thank you to the person who served as your main contact or "host" for the callback visit. You should then refer to the other individuals who took the time to interview you by saying, "Please extend my thanks to [person A], [person B], and [person C] for taking the time to tell me more about [employer]."
    

3. After a Recruiting Reception or Dinner or Follow-up Event

   Before or after an offer is extended. Even in a tight economy, some employers will go to some length to arrange recruiting receptions, dinners, lunches, etc. to better acquaint candidates with their organization.

   In any market climate, however, employers deeply appreciate students who do not take these efforts for granted or treat them as standard "entitlements." Thus, it may be appropriate to express written thanks for a dinner or other event where you (or a group of your peers) are an honored guest.

   This is no different from what you would expect in a social situation. If someone arranged a dinner or lunch in your honor, surely you would be inclined to write your host a short note of appreciation.
    

4. After an "Informational Interview"

For educational or networking purposes. It is critically important that you always send a written thank you to anyone who takes the time to talk with you on an informational basis (rather than for recruiting purposes) about your career goals or about their practice area and advice. "Informational interviews" (see the Career Strategy guide to "Networking") are excellent ways to learn more about fields that interest you, as well as to develop relationships with practicing attorneys. ALWAYS send written thanks after any sort of informational meeting or telephone conference.

5. How to Prepare Your Thank You Letter

The key is "KISS" - "Keep It Simple & Sincere." The thank you should simply express the following:

• Appreciation for their time and effort.
   
• That you enjoyed meeting the person and/or her colleagues.
   
• That you remain very interested in the organization.

The thank you should:

• Be absolutely free of any typographical, grammatical, or other errors.
• Be short (i.e., no more than 1 paragraph).
• Contain some very short reference to something you discussed (to jog the reader's memory down the road).
• Be sent promptly after the event in question.

The thank you note should not:

• Be a second bite at the cover letter apple.
• Be more than 1 paragraph in most circumstances.
• Be too casual or familiar or relaxed.
• Try to be too funny or clever or unusual.
• Contain any mistakes or typographical errors.

6. E-mail vs. Hard Copy Business Letter vs. Handwritten Note

   You could pose this question to 100 different lawyers/recruiters and get 100 different answers.

   Below, we address each and ask you to use your best judgment.

   Hard Copy Business Letters

   We recommend business letters because they are safest. Letters have the advantages of being a bit more formal and reinforcing your ability to prepare professional correspondence. Business letter "thank yous" require a bit more effort, so they receive a bit more attention from the writer and the reader. Believe it or not, your average busy lawyer probably receives more e-mails today than written letters. So, your letter may get a little more notice (and may be appreciated for the effort that went into it.) Hard copy letters, however, take a little bit longer to prepare and certainly longer to transmit. Judge for yourself whether time is so "of the essence" that US Mail is too slow for your follow-up. But we tend to think that if a lawyer can take the time to talk with you or host an event for you, then you can take extra few minutes to prepare a hard copy letter rather than an e-mail.

   E-mail

   The advantage of e-mail is that it's fast and easy. The disadvantage of e-mail is that it's fast and easy.

   It is very easy in e-mail to lapse into youthful jargon, overly casual language, or irony that doesn't translate well in writing. It is also very easy in e-mail to press "send" quickly without spell-checking or reviewing for grammatical mistakes, or making sure you've got the right contact in the "TO" line.

   If you can be sure that your e-mail will be as professional and flawless as your written letter, then by all means, use e-mail. If, however, you feel you proofread better when hard copy is involved, then skip e-mail and take the time to do a hard copy letter.

   Handwritten Thank You Notes

   If you have very conservative (i.e., plain), good quality stationary, and legible handwriting, a handwritten note can be appropriate under certain circumstances. Circumstances could include your time constraints and access to computers and printers, as well as your rapport or relationship with the recipient. For example, a good handwritten note can convey great sincerity and personal interest. However, some recipients may conclude that the author is not comfortable preparing professional business correspondence. Indeed, some candidates do themselves harm by sending handwritten notes on cards with greetings or decoration, neither of which are appropriate for first-time business associates. To avoid any potential misstep, therefore, we generally recommend hard copy business letter thank yous, over handwritten notes.

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