September 09, 2002 >
Job interviews are a vital part of the job search process, and according to a new poll conducted on the job site Monster.com, a majority of employers and job seekers still view sending a thank-you note after an interview as an important element of proper job searching etiquette.

But employers and job seekers disagree on which is the better means of sending that note.

Job seekers on both Monster and MonsterTRAK, an affilated career resource for college students and alumni, still prefer the traditional thank-you letter route.

Employers who use Monster would rather receive thank-you notes via email.

The question of whether or not to send a thank-you note after a job interview has been an age-old debate for decades. With the advent of email in the workplace in the 1990s, however, another option has been added for job seekers.

According to a recent Monster poll, 60 percent of job seekers send thank-you notes after job interviews. (Forty-one percent indicated that they send a traditional letter, while only 19 percent said that they use email.) On the MonsterTRAK poll, 64 percent of the college and young alumni job seekers send thank-you notes. (Thirty-eight percent mail their thank-you letters the traditional way, while 26 percent email them.)

Conversely, 65 percent of employers who participated in the poll expect a thank-you note of some kind. (Thirty-six percent indicated that they actually prefer thank you notes sent by email, surpassing the 29 percent who would rather receive the traditional letter variety.)

"Regardless of the current economic environment, sending a thank-you note after a job interview can be instrumental in securing employment or that dream job. By sending a thank-you note, job seekers are showing the interviewer common courtesy and respect, and appreciation of his or her time," said Marcel Legrand, senior vice president of product for Monster. "These recent polls demonstrate that a majority of employers expect a thank-you note of some form. Job seekers should use it as an opportunity to reiterate interest in the position and their qualifications."