How Not to Say Thank You After an Interview

There is an instinctive pattern that practically all job hunters follow. All point to a desire to shine at the interview. The company is researched, from every conceivable angle, its location, its size, its number of employees, its demographics, its image all are scrutinized to the minutest details.

You then practice your interview presentation, conjuring the atmosphere in your mind and guessing the questions that you may be asked. You prepare yourself so well, that your confidence and self-belief reach levels from where you just cannot go wrong.

Thanks to your pre-interview training and efforts the interview goes as planned. You are gung-ho. You want to ensure that you want to thank your prospective employer with a gesture that is as striking, as remarkable as your interview. So much so that it will get you employed, or at the very least put you on the shortlist of second round interviews.



Unfortunately, the desire to do something out-of-the-ordinary, something unique, leads to derailing oneself from traditional and proven methods. Over-enthusiastic individuals commit faux pas, the enormity of which is realized only when it negatively impacts their chances.

More than knowing how to send a thank you note, it is more important to know, how not to send one: Steer away from these irregular post-interview thank-you approaches.

1. Never Send A Gift Or Flowers: You may feel it is a nice gesture, but it is not needed and badly chosen. The interviewer is not doing you any favor by interviewing you, it is his job, neither is he doing any favor to his company, he is being paid to do it. A present of any kind can be construed as a bribery attempt to move your candidacy forward. Rather than helping your cause, it could put you on the company's black list permanently.
   
2. Don't Friend the Interviewer on Facebook: Never attempt to befriend an interviewer. It is a boundary that you should never attempt to infringe. He is an employer and you are an employee and the twain should, ideally never meet socially. It hampers professionalism at the workplace.
   
3. Don't Pick Up That Phone Too Fast. Don't follow up with a call the day after the interview. It will be seen as an aggressive and impatient action on your part. You have done your duty. The hiring managers have to sift through data garnered from hundreds of interviews, before purging their list of those who do not fit their bill and preparing a short list of those who have made it to the second round. Just hope and pray that you are on the second list. Patience is a virtue that will stand you in good stead.
   
4. Should I Send an Interview Follow-Up Letter? By all means do so. It is an absolute must and reflects basic courtesy, seriousness and intent on your part. However, it should be brief, error free and basically thank them for the opportunity provided. You can also mention that you are looking forward to working with them and are ideally suited for the job.