lesson 17: the art of the thank you
this topic i covered in lesson 5, but it warrants its own article. i'm still shocked at the number of people i meet on a daily basis who do not do this simplest thing: say thank you. it's very easy; if someone helps you or spends time with you, or goes out of their way for you, send a thank you! it could be a 15 minute catch up over coffee, but if someone has gone out of their way for you, follow-up and thank them!
it can be an email, a text, a LinkedIn message, a tweet, and IG DM, or my favorite, a handwritten note. you pick the method, but you must send thank you notes.
my personal preference is an email or digital acknowledgement within 24-hours of any and every interview or meeting, followed by a handwritten thank you note. very few people do handwritten notes anymore so i don't hold that against anyone, but let me tell you, the ones that do, are memorable. some tips for thank you notes (email or handwritten):
- if you meet with multiple people, send each person their own personalized note. include something unique in each, based on your conversation with them. it shows you were really listening (and you should be if you want the job).
- be resourceful; if you don't know the address of their office, google it!
- if you copy and paste the same note to multiple people, and edit one word or one sentence, that will feel lame. be more creative than that. put in the effort.
- make sure to get basics like the persons' name and email address correct. attention to detail is a real thing.
- typos suck. period. this includes the correct use of they're v their v there, a v an, its v it's. this is especially important for the brand name. one trick i use is to read my emails out loud to make sure i didn't miss anything. i find this helpful for times when the typo is still a correct word, so spell-check doesn't pick it up. like a v an, or hole v whole. take your time and read your work before you send it.
photo cred: jackie stauffer @ Covina
