I thought this Lifehacker thread was about “send a physical thank you note vs email?” Most people appear to be saying “Don’t send anything at all, they should be lucky to talk to you.” The entitlement mentality is pretty thick...maybe this is a product of this low unemployment I keep hearing about.
But in all my prior roles as a hiring manager, or as a person helping managers in panel interviews, a followup was absolutely expected as a basic professionalism — even if it got immediately deleted. This transcends trends, even though the medium of communication may shift.
What say you, Oppo? I’m of the belief that ANY thank you is always better than nothing at all. Zero followup is a very strong lack of interest — just like with a date. It’s the veritable “stiffing the waitress and I’ll never come back to this restaurant again.” A very low-involvement thank you will not hurt your chances; the lack of thanks absolutely can. For a manager to whom it doesn’t matter, do you really want to work for that person anyway?
(Note: If you’re interviewing 50 people for a low-level hourly staffer role, I’ll make an exception here. I’m referring to primarily white-collar college grad types of roles.)