[Allergic2CPA]

Alright folks. Here’s a cautionary tale of a rookie mistake for your learning experience. After the first and only round of interviews, I sent a thank you email. I made a spacing error twice. The first one was the most egregious as it cut off a line way too prematurely. The second error was not spacing after a period.

These may seem like trivial errors but searching for a job is a crapshoot as it is and hiring managers can at times be rather mercurial so this doesn’t help at all. Not to mention if you’re in a tight race with another candidate this might just break you.

The cause of these errors are two fold. I was sending from a phone and had previously saved the email as a draft that required formatting. The second was impatience as I was trying to get it out during my lunch hour rather than waiting until I got home this evening to send from a desktop computer.

At this point, not sure what the best course of action is since I interviewed on Monday and they would supposedly decide by Friday.

Another issue is that I read your suppose to send a separate thank you email if you happened to have been interviewed by separate people rather than one email to all, which I did. I’m thinking of maybe sending a very short but personalized sentence or two to each of the interviewers but not sure yet. If I do send them, they’ll definitely be tonight or not at all.

FAR 46*, 77
AUD 70, 79
BEC 67, 82
REG 75

Texas License July 2013

Used Yaeger lectures based on Wiley textbooks

*Studied less than two weeks, forgot I had purchased NTS.

[Missy]

While I think it's beyond adorable that anybody over 6 years old thinks thank you notes are geeky or about ass kissing I'll break down what it's really about. When you're interviewing you're MARKETING yourself to potential employers. The thank you note is about putting your name in front of the interviewer AGAIN and giving your final pitch is why you're the answer to a problem they have. Same as a realtor sends a crappy calendar to all their clients. Unless you're some kind of rock star who's made a name for yourself which I can say with all certainty nobody here has, you need all the marketing opportunities you can get if it's a job you truly want.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

I take it all back. Send out thank you letters. Otherwise, you won't ever get hired at the job you want. You people are way, Way, WAY too sensitive. Just accept someone else's comments for what they are and move on! “Arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics.” Why is that? Google it and you'll find the answer.

[Missy]

Leon you're calling other people too sensitive while you're practically melting down that anybody would dare contradict your input? I couldn't care less whether someone does or does not send a thank you but nobody was asking that question in the first place. You made it about that and further because you're insecure made it a character flaw. Go study and stop caring so much about people having opinions contrary to yours.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[alloverit]

Ironically, I've never gotten the job when I sent a thank you email. AND, I've never NOT gotten the job when I didn't.

[Anonymous]

@Missy – (1) People can send a thank you letter. (2) People can choose not to. My opinion was for the second option, and I defended my opinion. That's it.
When we start tossing around “character flaws” and speculations, that's where the line is drawn.

[Earla Riopel (NYCARE)]

This never occurred to me. I hardly applied for work. I am mostly self-employed (part-time) most of my working life. Recently, I went for a government job interview, non-accounting related. It's more like a transition position to a more permanent position in the government sector.

I didn't get the position. Probably, I am too old, unrelated experience, too much education (min. HS requirement for most government job), or they hire someone they know. No such thing like “Equal Opportunity Employer” anymore, even for a government job. Just to think, I am a Filipino-Canadian. Not so many Filipino origin in government sector, especially in taxation (CRA) or finance/audit related sectors. But after applying multiple times, I kind of give up, and just keep on with my US CPA exams.

Also, I followed HR related articles and hearing it firsthand, even from family members, it seems prospective employers hire you because they like you, and you know someone in the organization. Lots of qualified people in the accounting industry, the only thing that separate us from some of them, we have that desire on becoming a “CPA”.

Once, we get the CPA designation, more doors are willing to open, even if they don't know us at first.

As to sending ‘Thank you' letter, I might try that next time. In a way, it's a form of ‘marketing/advertising', sending a message, ‘hire me, I need a job'. In my state, I need a year of recent work experience, once all CPA sections are passed. Also, in case, my part-time self-employment experience won't get accepted, for CPA membership requirement.

[Lauren]

I have never sent a thank you letter to an interviewer in my life, and it's rare that I didn't get an offer after I interviewed for a job.

I have interviewed people when I was in a previous supervisory position, and one candidate sent a thank you letter. Honestly, it was a little off-putting to both myself and the other interviewer.

Interviews are a crap shoot. If you have the skills and, most importantly, the personality, you're going to get the job. Thank you letters don't make or break your chances if you really are the right candidate. Recruiters will not let an A+ candidate go for not having gone through a tedious formality.

And yes, while interviewers are taking time out of their schedules to meet with candidates, they're not doing the candidates a “favor.” It's part of their job, and they need good people.

Send a thank you letter if you want, but if you're the best candidate who walks into the room, it's unnecessary. Just be the best candidate.

[ultrarunner]

It all depends on what kind of job you are looking for. I got my current job (an accountant position in private industry) without sending a thank you note. However, if you are looking for a job in public accounting via campus recruiting, thank you letter is a must. You are competing against the many other qualified candidates for the limited # of opening. It won't matter if your interview did so bad and you were eliminated instantly, but in many cases, you are fighting for a position against the other candidates with similar background and resume.

I recommend @Hmmmmm‘s point especially if you are looking for a job via campus recruitment. When I accepted an offer, one of my interviewers (in early round interview) replied to my thank you letter that I sent a few weeks ago and congratulated me. I was surprised that the interviewer still remembered me. I doubt that the interviewer would remember me if I didn't send thank you letter. Please just do it. It won't hurt.

FAR 72,67,79 (Roger+Wiley test bank)11/15
AUD 80 (Roger)10/15
BEC 80 (Roger)4/16
REG 63,78 (Roger+Ninja MCQs)5/16

[r00shine]

If i was doing the hiring, it really wouldnt make much of a difference to me. I would appreciate the thank you letter but it wouldnt have an impact on whether I hire you or not. Except maybe if the job is in customer service or hospitality or something else along those lines where being nice (even if you are faking it) is in the job description. But I definitely wouldnt ding someone just because they sent a letter thanking me lol. How would that even make sense?

[Pete]

Why would someone not send a thank you letter?

It takes 10-15 minutes to write a very short thank you and this is a great role letter. You’re really too busy to spare 20 minutes (tops)/letter?

At worst, it won’t hurt or help you. At best, it will help; especially if both candidates are equal.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Anonymous]

If you have a candidate who was not qualified, would their thank you letter persuade you to hire them? I hope not! That's not a responsible managerial decision.

Upon further pondering this issue – not much, but a tad – I think a lot of it has to do with the person themselves. If you're someone who values close connections/relationships with people, and you felt that you made some sort of inroad with the person you interviewed with, then maybe you're more inclined to send one. If you're someone who is not much of a networker – you have more acquaintences than you have friends, you probably wouldn't be so inclined to send one. Seriously guys, in this day and age, WHO sends a paper letter to somebody? When was the last time you sat down and either typed or hand-wrote a letter and mailed it? Even email, as a way of keeping in touch with other people, is not nearly as popular as it was 10 years ago. It's used constantly within the workplace, but outside the workplace? Of my circle of friends, I have like TWO friends, in addition to my family members, who email me. The rest message me on Facebook or send texts to my phone. As for job interviews – seldom did I ever leave the interview with a business card or having the email address of the hiring manager. I could've mailed a paper letter to them via snail mail, but why would I do that? Especially when they had a stack of other resumes and cover letters….”Who's Leon? Oh yeah, the handsome Mediterranean dude.” I'd also think it would be a bit intrusive, unless the hiring manager invited you to keep in touch and actually gave you their business card. I usually only have had the contact info of the H.R. person that I worked with thru the hiring process.

Anyhoo, this has been a colorful topic. But, all in all, I still don't think that sending thank you letters is a prereq for a great job. Or, god forbid, “the thank you phone call” that was apparently so popular in days gone by.

[56_Moves]

It is a polite thing to do to send a thank you letter, but anyone that hires because of a thank you letter, or doesn't hire because they didn't receive one is missing the point. Which is, I want the best candidate for the position.

[Missy]

People get hired because of their thank you letters all the time. Think of it the same way as a closing arguments in a court case. It's not the thank you itself that matters, it's not about the interviewers time, it's not about the candidates time it's the part where you say, one more time,now that I know more about what you're looking for, this is why I'm the best person for the job. How many times have you left an interview and thought of something you wish you told the interviewers? This is the chance. Nobody cares about receiving a thank you for doing what they get paid to do and nobody cares about becoming chummy with some random. But reminding someone that of the dozen people they talked to you're the one who can streamline that report or the one who was part of a conversion from QuickBooks to SAP can go a long way. You won't find an article by someone with actual credentials advising against sending an email https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/power-of-a-simple-thank-you-note

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Author]

Replies