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I've recently been performing a number of interviews, and many of the candidates send follow-up emails just to say "thank you". My question is, what's the best way to respond? All of the following seem bad:

something like "thanks, nice meeting you, cheers"

Too short.

something like "Looking forward to working with you in the future"

Seems to me to be too indicative of a positive outcome, which hasn't been decided yet.

"best of luck with future work"

Seems to me to be too indicative of negative outcome, which again hasn't been decided yet.

I should note that I'm not the only one making the decision—there are a number of interviewers, and I'm going to be one of the people providing feedback to the ultimate decision-makers. Any suggestions?

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Why respond at all? I would note the good manners of the gesture and contact them when I have made my final decision. – maple_shaft Apr 27 '12 at 14:20
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@eykanal - If you are not prepared to give them a personal response, when you make a decision, do not give them a response. They are sending you these emails as a means, to highlight their strengths, although your examples are likely from applicants unlikely to be choosen ( except the first one ). If you are not prepared to tell them the reason they were not choosen at the end of the process its best not to respond. I can tell you from personal experience that there is nothing more frustrating then getting a response from somebody I wanted to work with who simply says "You were not choosen" – Ramhound Apr 27 '12 at 15:17
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But then, have you thought about how they should respond to your response? – Andreas Bonini Apr 27 '12 at 19:51
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i disagree entirely with first two commenters here. not responding is the ultimate fuck all of corporate america. you don't have to imply anything, nor does the response have to be detailed or personal. a simple you're welcome or thanks should suffice. writing a thank you letter after interviewing is so demoralizing. then to not even hear back, at the very least to know you didn't get the job...that's just rude. even if they say "You were not chosen", at least you know and can move on. not responding tells them you could care less. – albert Apr 28 '12 at 9:22
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@albert: maple_shaft's answer was that he would contact the interviewee when the decision had been made. I agree with you that no response at all is just rude. – Mark Bannister Apr 28 '12 at 13:10
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6 Answers

up vote 28 down vote accepted

In situations in which I am on a committee, and I receive thank you notes from individuals, I do not respond. The only instance in which I would respond would be if I were the committee chair.

When I do respond, as either committee manager or as an individual interviewer (when there's no committee), I keep my acknowledgement brief (and I only respond if it's an emailed thank-you): "Thank you for your interest, and for taking the time to talk with us about the position. Our decision timeline is..."

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1  
+1 Quite straight forward and not very personal. – Dipan Mehta Apr 27 '12 at 14:12
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+1 - generally I don't respond (and I don't expect people to respond to my follow-up "thank you for the interview" letter), but if I did this is how I'd handle it. – voretaq7 Apr 27 '12 at 17:44
up vote 12 down vote

Thank you notes are considered a one way message with no requirement or expectation of a response when received. They are a token sign of grattitude and a last attempt to make a postive impression on the interviewer.

Unless of course the sender asked you a question or made a statement that you decide you would like them to explain more.

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up vote 5 down vote

I generally don't return them unless I am very sure we are going to offer him the position.

These things have a way of changing at the last minute. Some other manager vetoes it, HR finds some background questions at the final step, etc, etc.

I have replied positively a few times in the past and have them come back to bite me in the behind.

OTOH, I sometimes reply to those that I know WON'T make the cut and offer advice if I think they need/appreciate it. Some of them aren't doing resumes right and I think the advice might help them with another job application.

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up vote 5 down vote

I hit this one too - I've stared at a blank page for up to 20 minutes thinking "geez, a simple "your welcome" should not be so hard!"

I agree that 2 out of 3 of your samples are too indicative. Sadly, in this day and age, it seems we have to be very careful at anything that sounds like a commitment.

Here's some stuff I've felt OK with:

  • I enjoyed speaking with you, as well, thanks for following up! - and I have some permutations of these that are less positive in cases where it really wasn't great speaking with the person (in fact I wanted that hour of my life back) - things like "it's always enlightening to get to meet new people".

  • Adding in more details about the follow up process - particularly if we did not have that conversation at the interview (frequently I let HR do it).

  • Answering any factual questions asked, or providing more info about a discussion point. My absolute favorite candidates are always people who prompted me to go do some research or thinking about the topics (this is like the top 10% people), and so I may mail back with - "you got me thinking about X, did you know about Y?" NOTE: These people are probably so awesome that I want to keep in touch, even if they don't come to work for me... networks are good!

Things I avoid:

  • any positive or negative impressions that could later evoke some presumption on the candidate's part
  • any feedback on the interview - I leave that to HR.
  • any information about other candidates, or my opinions on the hiring process, or the relative urgency of filling the position.
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up vote 2 down vote

Just to add one more approach for those who hit this problem in the future, in the end I just wrote a simple, neutral reply:

Dear <person>:

Thank you for your note, I enjoyed meeting with you. <my boss> will be getting in touch with you shortly regarding the position.

Be well,
<me>

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up vote 1 down vote

If the feedback is negative don't reply (Have HR tell him)

If the feed back is good, let him know you guys are interested.

It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Carol will be getting back you shortly regarding next steps.

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I'm sorry, I didn't explain myself clearly... see the added text at the bottom of the question. I'm not the only one doing the interviewing, so I can't make this kind of statement. – eykanal Apr 27 '12 at 13:40
And then what do you do when an even better candidate comes through and snags that position? – Chad Apr 30 '12 at 17:30

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