has changed many times through the years and I currently focus more on business development and customer service delivery. However, one key responsibility that I will always have is to proactively identify key talent for our organization as we grow and change. In that role, I do interview internal candidates for our Indianapolis staffing company so when we are looking to hire I have an available talent pool to choose from. Obviously, in the last year and a half, with the tough economic times, we have not been aggressively looking to add to staff but finally in Q1 this year our 2009 cost containment and business development activities show our internal hiring trends looking up.
I have been conducting more interviews recently and through this process I realized that I must be old school and things have changed. I never appreciated how important receiving thank you notes was after an interview until I no longer received them. I have interviewed many candidates lately for various positions and I received only one hand written "thank you note." Should I take it personally?
This simple step makes a significant impact and I must admit that when I do not receive a Thank you note I scratch my head and wonder about that candidate. I do not throw a candidate out of the running if I do not receive a thank you note but when I do it puts that candidate ahead in my book. I guess I am trying to figure out whether thank you notes went out of style and I didn’t get the memo or, have people just chosen not to take the time to sit down for 10 minutes to express gratitude whether they want the job or not?
I am sure through the years I have forgotten to write a thank you note when receiving a gift or getting asked to an event, but I do make a concerted effort to express my gratitude. I have been writing thank you notes since I learned how to write by my mother and grandmother. Maybe it is just not as important these days with everyone being so busy and the technology that we have but I can honestly say it means a lot to me.
I did some research on the subject just to see how old fashioned I had really become and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my expectations are not that far off the mark. Whether you are seeking an administrative job or a six figure job through an Indianapolis staffing company or on your own, the expectation is that you follow the basic rules of etiquette. One article I found on About.com, states the following:
This site and others also provide guidance on how to write a Thank you note and even provides some sample notes. So, if your mother or grandmother did not teach you t
he basics of the Thank you note like mine, do a little research and you will find all kinds of resources at your fingertips. If that does not work, drop me a line and I will be happy to help as long as you promise to thank me.
Now, That’s Good HR!
