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I'm sending email thank-you's to the hiring committee who interviewed me yesterday. I've read a couple of places online that suggest attaching my resume to these emails. Does that really make sense? Presumably the people on the committee already have my resume, so what's the point of sending it to them again?

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    It's possible this might be a local cultural thing that would be normal to do after an interview wherever you're from? But from my perspective, no; I've never sent a 'thank you' after an interview; I've never thought about doing so, I've never heard of anyone else doing so, and when I've been the interviewer, I've never had anyone send me a thank you note either. I generally just wait to hear back, and only follow-up if I haven't heard anything within the expected time frame.
    – Simba
    Mar 21, 2018 at 16:07
  • @Simba I was always told to send a thank you note to interviewers (part of high school job-prep). But I've never actually done it, usually because I don't have an email address for any/all of the people who interviewed me. Even if I did have that info, I would wait until they got back in touch with me to send any more email. I certainly wouldn't send something snail-mail, as I was told to do in school...
    – senschen
    Mar 21, 2018 at 17:53
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    @Simba I've gotten a job because I sent a thank you note and nobody else did. It's uncommon but it definitely helps you stand out in a good way.
    – Kat
    Mar 22, 2018 at 0:25
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    @Simba It seems to be an American thing; I've never heard of it in any other context.
    – David Richerby
    Mar 22, 2018 at 8:55
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    I assume your email is associated to the same name you put on your resume. That being the case, they can find their copy of your resume if they want to see it. Sending the thank you is a good idea, but attaching the resume is a bit much.
    – Steve-O
    Mar 22, 2018 at 13:34

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Speaking as an interviewer, I barely want the thank you email. I know you want the job. I know you're pleased we're considering you. You came in for an interview. Presumably you told me at the end of the interview that you want the job and are confident you're a terrific fit for it. If you simply must send me a thank you note then please:

  • do not send an entirely generic one that could apply to any interview
  • do not send me information I already have, requiring me to use some time to see if it is the same as before
  • do include something that is both specific and useful
    • "I really enjoyed the tour of the lab" is specific, but doesn't tell me why to hire you. Same for appreciating thoughtfulness, friendliness, technical skills etc of the interviewers
    • "I was excited to learn more about your plans for X" is better
    • "I was excited to learn more about your plans for X, because I would really like to focus on X in the near future" is both specific and useful
    • "I was delighted to learn that you need my A and B skills and I would be able to work on C and D" is also specific and useful. Don't be too sales-y here (just "my skills" not "my world-leading skills" or "my outstanding skills"), but a one sentence summary of the interview can help me.
  • you can include any extra information, but it should be specific and relevant, and you must clearly label it. For example "here are links to my blog posts about A and B that I mentioned in the interview."

Focus on not wasting the time of someone who has a lot to do besides hiring you. They are back at their desk thinking "ok, I have to sort through all those interview notes and come up with some sort of decision, but first I need to deal with the 50 emails I got yesterday while I was interviewing" and in comes one from you with attachments that they already have, no new information, just "wanted to let you know I still want the job!" -- that sort of thing is likely to reduce your chances, not increase them.

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    +1 for using the thank-you email to follow up on interview items. That ought to help them stick in the interviewer's mind. But as far as attaching the resume goes, I was taught that the point of the resume is to get the interview in the first place. So it seems redundant to send it.
    – Matthew Leingang
    Mar 21, 2018 at 16:32
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    Agreed, either the resume is identical, in which case you're wasting my time and implying I can't find things when I need them (I generally put resumes in a specific folder, and rename them in many cases) or you changed it after the interview and (wrongly) think it's important for me to see the changed version. There's no benefit to it, really.
    – Kate Gregory
    Mar 21, 2018 at 16:45
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All the thank you letters are for is to follow-up promptly. They are a way that suggest your interest.A thank you note is your opportunity to get your name in front of people one last time and leave a positive impression.

Attaching resume save them of the time needed to search for your resume and directly have a look at who you really are.Because they might have interviewed quiet a few candidates so chances are less that they have resumes in hand.So you save them of scuffle to look for.

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    I would say in most cases if they need reminding of who you are, the answer is "no".
    – Derek Elkins left SE
    Mar 21, 2018 at 22:05
  • Yeah I agree with the in most cases as it helps keeping hopes alive sometimes minor steps results in great benefits.
    – Black Mamba
    Mar 22, 2018 at 4:40
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EDIT

After my post the OP has mentioned in comment that they are USA based and the practice of sending "Thank You" emails seems more common there. I'll leave my answer unmodified for general use.

I would, however, leave the resume off the email regardless. It's not going to help at this stage.

I'm sending email thank-you's to the hiring committee who interviewed me yesterday.

I would not and never have.

When people interview you, they also have sifted through a lot of other stuff to get to you and the other interviewees. My experience is that they're typically sick to death of interviewees by the end of this.

So when they get it it's a 50-50 chance that they'll consider it a sign you're too pushy or arrogant or impatient. It's not necessarily going to get you any advantage.

This would be something I'd only do if it was a cultural thing where you are (and they are). And if it's not the cultural norm for them they may even consider you are trying to "cheat" - you had an interview, why should they give you another look when the other candidates may not have the same chance ?

I've read a couple of places online that suggest attaching my resume to these emails. Does that really make sense? Presumably the people on the committee already have my resume, so what's the point of sending it to them again?

None. But it might irritate them.

OK, they might want to refresh their memories, but then again if they don't already have you in their minds after the interview, your resume is not going to make any difference at this stage.

The time to plant yourself in their minds was the interview. Anything after that is too little, too late.

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