As I understand the world, it is common courtesy to write a Thank You note to anyone who takes time out of his/her schedule to interview you.From the Emily Post Institute:
"At the end of the interview, stand, thank the interviewer for her time, look her in the eye and shake her hand. A short note of thanks—nothing fawning—is also appropriate. "
Of course, in medicine and the highly competitive world of residency applications, students do not want to miss any steps. I'm under the impression that it is very common to send thank you notes after residency interviews. Students debate between e-mail and snail mail, but I don't think that really matters. Mr. doesn't have the email addresses for those who interviewed him, so he plans to send letters. I think a hand-written note on nice stationery is more appropriate, but will that be feasible during what will hopefully be a busy season of interviewing in December and January?
I have never been on "the other side" of residency interviews. The closest experience I had was as an assistant to an attorney on the recruiting committee. She received thank you notes (handwritten cards), but most of the time she shrugged them off "he just doesn't have the grades" or "there are no openings". So, while I believe it is common courtesy to send a thank you note, I'm not convinced it truly makes that big of a difference.
Later in the process, I hear that many write "love letters" to programs. I don't even know what Mr. will do when he hears about that. I think he just likes to get stressed out about inconsequential things. 13 hour surgery? Very cool. 3 succinct but personal thank you notes? The world will end. Ultimately, he just wants to do a good job and be good at what he does. Schmoozing is not his thing... but does he need to do it in order to do what he wants?
133 days until Match Day.
Update: Mr. tells me the etiquette for residency interviews is different than any other type of interview. I'm skeptical. Perhaps he's referring to the "love letter" process that will happen later on?
1 comment:
I think it's a good point that thank you notes may not push a mediocre candidate into "acceptance" territory... But I think that not sending one sends a bad message.
That said, my husband sent several notes via email. (Depending on whether the residency program directors contacted him in that medium as well.) It's such a tricky process. Good luck to both of you as match day approached!
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