Do Interviewers Respond to Thank You notes?

Is it a bad sign if an interviewer doesn't respond to your thank you note? I've been doing interviews through on-campus recruiting and some of them respond warmly while others don't bother to respond at all. Does it generally mean they didn't like you if they don't respond?

Should You Write A Thank You Note To Interviewer?

The simple answer is yes. Even if the interview did not go as planned, sending thank you emails are a quick way to build potential contacts in the long term. Although sending these emails ultimately may not make a difference in whether or not you get an offer or not, at the very least you have a point of contact within the firm to try again for the next position.

See what Cultivated Culture has to say about the thank you note.

What If You Do Not Get A Response To Your Thank You Note?

It’s not the end of the world if you do not get a response back from your interviewer. They sift through flooded inboxes constantly and would rarely have time to go and respond to every thank you email as it would not be an efficient use of their time. Just because you do not get a response does not mean that you are automatically out of the running, interviewers may make a mental note to reply but never do.

What If You Did Get A Response to Your Thank You Letter?

Now if you did receive a response to your thank you email, it’s important to not over-analyze their wording. So then does a thank you email response indicate an offer? Here's some advice on responses:

rufiolove:
If they do respond to you then it's a nice gesture on their part but not the norm

Typically, the decision on whether or not you receive the offer has been made prior to their email. For instance, some users around WSO have gotten responses but did not get an offer, while others who have not sent a thank you note have also received offers.

Based on your email, dissecting their intentions can be tricky and ultimately not worth your time. Sometime emails may include “best of luck with job searching”, but they still got the job offer. The best course of action may be to wait until the final decision on the offer has been made clear to you.

If you have other words or advice or previous experiences with thank you emails please comment them below!

Read More About Post Interview Etiquette on WSO

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Virginia Tech 4ever:
Heard back from the thank you note or heard back in general?

Heard back in general - with good news, to boot! So looks like lack of Thank You notes isnt a huge indicator of anything after all :)

 

Depending on who the individual is and how senior he or she is will infer different implications. To me, "Best of Luck" is not a good sign but doesn't necessarily mean that you should write it off. When were the interviews?

 
Wannabeabanker:
Depending on who the individual is and how senior he or she is will infer different implications. To me, "Best of Luck" is not a good sign but doesn't necessarily mean that you should write it off. When were the interviews?

the interviews were on friday. one firm's interviewer gave me the "best of luck" response.

i just got another response from the other firm saying that i seem like a really hard worker and she told me i will be very successful in the future and said if i have any questions dont hesitate to contact her. i think i read too much into this.....i am supposed to get the calls to see if I got the offer or not today or tomorrow so I will keep you posted.

 

It depends. I got a response from an interviewer telling me that he was "looking forward to the possibility" of me being his colleague only to get a rejection letter a week and a half later. The higher ups from the firm that I'm working for this summer responded with the whole "best of luck" thing and I wound up with the job.

Dissecting thank-you notes is tricky business. Not worth your time or effort.

 

i should hear back tomorrow. after my first round at the firm that gave me the "good" response, the interviewer emailed me back and said it was nice talking to you and if you have any q's please ask me, and i made it to the superday....

 

So I got dinged from the "best of luck" one, and I still haven't heard back from the other one. Is it possible I was waitlisted if they were supposed to call me yesterday, or are is HR sometimes slow with that?

 
SternMonkey:
I just got this reply from a super day thank you note I just sent, not feeling too confident now haha

"Thanks for your note and for taking to time to speak with us."

Uh oh - that doesn't sound too good. Anytime you hear doubt from their side, its generally not very good.

"We appreciate you taking the time to come out here..." "We'll let you know in a week or so - either way..."

Of course, I've gotten mixed signals from interviewers - dings when I've had good notes, good things when I've heard bad feedback.

 

i had a pretty good response to an email this past fall:

paraphrasing: "keep enjoying senior year, and don't forget to keep in touch with the people around here"

i got that job the next day, no big surprise! haha.

 

I already wrote this somewhere else, but i think it's important for you guys to read.

I think people way over emphasize the responses to notes. When i sent thank yous i got some no responses/some call me if I can help out/ some good luck stuff and I think it's just the person you interviewed with and their style.

Some may not want to give you false hope, others don't have time to write you an essay on your qualities and how much they loved speaking w/ you for 30 min because you know what they spoke with like 30 other people too. Soem people just aren't big e-mail people and express themselves differently in person or intentionally try to hide their opinion of you. Just worry about your performance and wait and see.

No point second guessing yourself based on an e-mail.

 

Two Things

First, usually by time I get a thank you note we have already made decisions regarding interviews and offers.

Second, very rarely do I respond to thank you emails. Basically, only if I really liked you or knew you in advance.

Don't worry about it.

--There are stupid questions, so think first.
 

Generally you should not expect a reply, unless you asked a specific follow-up question. I had one person ever reply to me in my interviewing history. It was actually a very positive one, but I found out later from HR that I did not move on for that one.

 

Way to go PowerMonkey. At first I thought you were being nice to this guy, then I realized he was owned big time. made me laugh.

############ ############ ############ The time is now, seize the day ...
 

dont worry about it pal.

I sent a thank you email after my interview and the guy replied something like "was nice to meet you etc etc...." and ended it with "good luck with your other job searches and studies"

I immediately thought that was a hint toward a ding. but I got an offer a few days later!

Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel
 

everytime I've gotten a positive response by email, I've advanced to the next round It's usually a good sign if they respond to your thank you email

 

Same topic. I 100% blanked and stumbled through technicals on a 1st round. Solid to that point and still ended up getting the technicals right just off on mental math stuff. Dude was totally cool about it though. I said aomething in my thank you email about thanks for not kicking me while Im down and that I blanked cuz of nerves (100% accurate my hands were shaking the entire call) and hopefully Ill get a chance at a 2nd impression. Got an almost instant reply saying "you did fine. Dont worry so much"

Ding? Interview was with a Director and is for an Associate role

 

Don't look too much into it - Ive gotten dinged when they replied to my emails and Ive gotten offers when they did not. I would take it as completely neutral with a very slight positive note

-
 

Try to never read into responses to thank you emails. I sometimes forget to send them and it never makes a difference, they are usually irrelevant and the decision has either already been made or will in no way be affected by your brief email. Ive gotten great responses from emails only to be ignored from that point out, and every offer ive ever recieved i didnt even send a thank you email.

 

And positive response is good. I've only gotten two responses ever. One was after a phone interview, and the guy pushed for me for the super day. The other just said great to meet you as well, have a good weekend, this guy pushed for me hard and led to an offer. I would take it as good news of you need help sleeping, but in general, you shouldn't read into them.

"Money doesn't talk, it swears." -Bob Dylan
 

don't read into it too much. might be good, might not mean anything. some people in the industry simply reply to emails out of courtesy, but usually when they had a positive or - at the very least - neutral impression of you.

good luck tho.

Capitalist
 

I know where you are right now, and my advice is to take a step back. You can't reliably infer anything based on something like this.

"There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat."
 
Sandhurst:
I know where you are right now, and my advice is to take a step back. You can't reliably infer anything based on something like this.
Disagree. You can infer a lot of information, with complete assurance and confidence, if they send back nudies. Op did they reply with attached nudies?
 

I think responses are good. Not because you are better than other candidates, but it means you are more than just a number in a sea of thousands. They wouldnt spend time replying emails to people they would be sure of to never see them in person anyway. Unless its automatically generated stuff.

 

i can confirm that have got the offer, people only ever reply when you have the offer. no need to turn up for next rounds, this is them testing your confidence.if you do turn up, they think you dont back yourself, if you don't, it shows that you know you smashed it in the first round and you know you're good enough.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

from my experience, it doesn't mean a whole lot, but it never hurts to follow up and be kept in mind!

Baby you're the perfect shape, baby you're the perfect weight. Treat me like my birthday, I want it this way and I want it that way. It makes a man feel good baby.
 

Final round interview was last Thursday, and I was told that I will either hearback friday or early this week. Will let you all know if I got the offer or not.

 
tkql:
Final round interview was last Thursday, and I was told that I will either hearback friday or early this week. Will let you all know if I got the offer or not.
you went to the final round? you blew it. next time come to me first for advice!
"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

As someone who just finished interviewing +15 candidates at a superday last week, responding or not responding to a thank you note has absolutely no bearing on the outcome. In fact, I try to reply to every one of them whether he/she has the offer or not, just to be polite.

BTW, a lot of kids try to "differentiate" themselves by trying to mention random facts/topics that came up during the interview. Do not do this unless you're genuine about it. I had kids who sent me "really liked learning your exp about ..XX.. and was really impressed by .. XX .. but I knew it was all BS.

 

Stop obsessing, they're fucking email replies. Some people politely reply to emails, some don't. This literally gives you zero new information from when you left the interview. It doesn't mean shit either way. Bump again and you get a swift kick to the nuts.

 

I think you may to let this one go, pal. You'll find out soon enough. There will be exponentially more stressful situations within this position, should you get the offer. Focus your energy on more important things like crushing your next interview or deciding on what bar you'll find that perfect weekend wife.

 

In regards to 'Thank You' etiquette after interviews, is it better to email each interviewer individually with a thank you note (which is semi customized), or to email the interviewers as a group?

 
precisepen:
In regards to 'Thank You' etiquette after interviews, is it better to email each interviewer individually with a thank you note (which is semi customized), or to email the interviewers as a group?

I've personally not heard of people doing a group thank you email.

"There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat."
 
precisepen:
In regards to 'Thank You' etiquette after interviews, is it better to email each interviewer individually with a thank you note (which is semi customized), or to email the interviewers as a group?

individually. definitely.

Capitalist
 

The guy has already given you enough for the time being. If your email shrieked "clingy psycho bunny boiler" like this post does, he's backing away slowly. Otherwise, he's likely not responding because what more do you want from him? A thank you for your thanks?

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 
johnsmithv001:

always send a thank you. no one will ever respond to it. it's just part of the game.

I agree that it is part of a dance that everyone does and one should not expect a response.

That said.. it is more than just "part of the game". In my opinion, if your thank you letter can show that you really took an important point home from the meeting (in just a couple of lines) then the other person would feel that the 30 mins with you were well spent. On the other hand, it is my opinion that you get negative points only if you either do not send a thank you note at all or try to become extra chummy.

 

No worries. Follow up with him in a few months/weeks if you have questions or around recruiting time or for "advice". Good Luck

I used to do Asia-Pacific PE (kind of like FoF). Now I do something else but happy to try and answer questions on that stuff.
 

Yep I've only received replies to my thank-yous about 20% of the time. No correlation with whether the interview was successful or not (I've received replies when I don't eventually get the offer just as many times as I got offers after having received no replies).

 

Very typical.

1) You and your fellow candidates are flooding the teams inbox w/ the same goddamn email (no offense) trying to lick their balls sacks via Outlook into handing out an offer

2) I personally hated doing phone interviews and interviewing kids on superdays, and afterwards felt like I'd just been drug through the Bataan Death March. I didn't give a shit, just hire someone smart / doesn't make extra work for me / cool to be around for +100 hrs a week and we're good. These guys who interviewed you prolly aren't much different

If you want your thank you to stand out, handwrite a, two to three sentence, thank-you note personally addressed and mention up something you discussed for each dude who interviewed and overnight it to the office.

A couple jr.'s may think you're an overzealous dork wad, but MD's will get a bit of a prestige boner even if they toss it immediately upon opening. Pretty much zero down side long as you keep it short and professional.

And come to think of it, every kid that's pulled that stunt that I can remember was handed an offer (granted the sample's pretty small). Or not, and fall in line w/ the rest of the flunkies.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 
Stringer Bell:
Very typical.

1) You and your fellow candidates are flooding the teams inbox w/ the same goddamn email (no offense) trying to lick their balls sacks via Outlook into handing out an offer

2) I personally hated doing phone interviews and interviewing kids on superdays, and afterwards felt like I'd just been drug through the Bataan Death March. I didn't give a shit, just hire someone smart / doesn't make extra work for me / cool to be around for +100 hrs a week and we're good. These guys who interviewed you prolly aren't much different

If you want your thank you to stand out, handwrite a, two to three sentence, thank-you note personally addressed and mention up something you discussed for each dude who interviewed and overnight it to the office.

A couple jr.'s may think you're an overzealous dork wad, but MD's will get a bit of a prestige boner even if they toss it immediately upon opening. Pretty much zero down side long as you keep it short and professional.

And come to think of it, every kid that's pulled that stunt that I can remember was handed an offer (granted the sample's pretty small). Or not, and fall in line w/ the rest of the flunkies.

Aren't intern/summer analyst decisions generally made on the same day as the interview? (I realize that candidates aren't necessarily notified on the same day)
 
cayo275:

You are way, way over thinking it. I've had no responses to thank you notes and got offers, and had very thoughtful replies to my thank you notes and been dinged. No point worrying about it now. What is done, is done, and there isn't anything you can do to change it.

This. Don't sweat it. Unless you get an offer, assume that you haven't (anywhere) and keep looking for a gig/interviewing. Having a number of offers and choices is usually better than 1 (which would be your upside here).

Good Luck

I used to do Asia-Pacific PE (kind of like FoF). Now I do something else but happy to try and answer questions on that stuff.
 
Best Response

It could mean a lot of things. What time was it sent? How was it punctuated? Font color/size? What was the signature - best? regards? sincerely? No signature? Was it misspelled the way you typed it in the body of your post or was it correct?

It's probably best to stay up thinking about all of these factors every night until you hear back definitively.

 
Hugh Myron:

It could mean a lot of things. What time was it sent? How was it punctuated? Font color/size? What was the signature - best? regards? sincerely? No signature? Was it misspelled the way you typed it in the body of your post or was it correct?

It's probably best to stay up thinking about all of these factors every night until you hear back definitively.

SB +1... You just made my day

 

usually getting an email, regardless of how vague or impersonal, is a good sign at best or a neutral sign at worst. 90% of the time interviewers don't email back at all in my experience.

Remember, once you're inside you're on your own. Oh, you mean I can't count on you? No. Good!
 

Are you serious? What if the admin that led you around didn't say thank you after you held the door... How bad is that?

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

it's not good, it's not bad.

Look up a thread GengisKhan posted a while back - specifically addressing follow up emails. He is an MD, and stated it was a waste of time. Of course it should be done, but it is not going to make or break your chances.

"Jesus, he's like a gremlin; comes with instructions and shit"
 

The reason why i'm asking this is because, I had an interview a few months ago and didn't get the job because my modelling was weak. I'm thinking about trying to get a second chance there again and was trying to judge there sentiment, thus why i asked if its a good thing or a bad thing to not hear back in a follow up thank you email

 

I think not hearing back from a thank you letter or email or note is ABSOLUTELY normal... they probably dont have time to even reply... but I would like to point out that have you improved your modelling skills significantly in the past few months? otherwise, you might get dinged simply because you havent showed intention in taking a further step into ER

good luck!

London BB ER 2nd year Research Associate
 

Not really a big deal either way. It really just depends on how the individual views the etiquette of responding to the email and has little to do with the outcome.

Unless, of course they indirectly/directly tell you the outcome in the response.

 

You got ding'd!

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

Thank you NoName! I was a bit worried that doing so would be a bit unnecessary as it probably was that Director that decided to move me onto the second round.

How did you put it last time during the interview process? Something like "Thank you for your kind reply. I'd like to update you that my next interview with head of equity research is scheduled on next Thursday. Thanks." Would it be ok? Or should I be proactively asking some tips for the next interview? Thank you again!!

 

Don't overthink it, doesn't matter too much. It's already nice you heard back, but doesn't say much either about your chances. Some people reply to thank-you notes, some don't, that's as simple as it is.

 

I'm thinking it's really positive. The reason is because there were only 30 of us for about 10-12 spots, and they are looking to hire people they want, not just trying to fill their class (ie. they will take as many or as few as they want, because they don't need any of us).

 

definitely very positive. like the poster above said - even if you do not get it now - stay in touch with those people and you will definitely get another shot later on.

 

In my experience, I've never received a reply to my Thank You unless they were interested in bringing me back. So it sounds good for you!

 

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