One of the most commonly asked questions is
whether or not to send a thank you note after an interview. While it is generally appropriate to send
a thank you letter after an interview, please be aware that a sloppy or poorly constructed letter may
actually hurt your chances.
Remember that just as with your cover letter, your thank you note is a sample of your writing.
Make sure it is well-written with no typos. Whether your thank you is hand-written or typed makes
little difference unless you have horrible handwriting. If that is the case, the thank you letter should
be typed. A thank you letter should be relatively short and should thank the interviewer for his/her
time and mention something specific that you spoke about during your interview. If you really want
the job, it is a good idea to send a thank you to all of the attorneys whom you met with and to the
Recruiting Administrator, if the firm has one. Generally, you do not need to send thank you letters
after on-campus “screening interviews.” However, if you had a particularly memorable
conversation or felt that the interview went particularly well, send one.
In the thank you letter, you can mention that you enjoyed your meeting and thank the individual for
the opportunity to discuss opportunities available, etc. Be sure that the letter(s) are personalized by
referring to something you discussed during your interview. Never send the same form thank you
letter to all of the attorneys you met with at a particular firm - the letters will all be placed in your
file and the impression created will not be a good one. When sending thank you letters, do so within
24 hours - that way you will still be fresh in their minds and your letter may reach the firm before
they make a hiring decision. It is a good idea to jot down some notes as soon as you leave the
interview about what you talked about with the various attorneys.
You can base your own thank you letters on the samples included at the end of this section.
whether or not to send a thank you note after an interview. While it is generally appropriate to send
a thank you letter after an interview, please be aware that a sloppy or poorly constructed letter may
actually hurt your chances.
Remember that just as with your cover letter, your thank you note is a sample of your writing.
Make sure it is well-written with no typos. Whether your thank you is hand-written or typed makes
little difference unless you have horrible handwriting. If that is the case, the thank you letter should
be typed. A thank you letter should be relatively short and should thank the interviewer for his/her
time and mention something specific that you spoke about during your interview. If you really want
the job, it is a good idea to send a thank you to all of the attorneys whom you met with and to the
Recruiting Administrator, if the firm has one. Generally, you do not need to send thank you letters
after on-campus “screening interviews.” However, if you had a particularly memorable
conversation or felt that the interview went particularly well, send one.
In the thank you letter, you can mention that you enjoyed your meeting and thank the individual for
the opportunity to discuss opportunities available, etc. Be sure that the letter(s) are personalized by
referring to something you discussed during your interview. Never send the same form thank you
letter to all of the attorneys you met with at a particular firm - the letters will all be placed in your
file and the impression created will not be a good one. When sending thank you letters, do so within
24 hours - that way you will still be fresh in their minds and your letter may reach the firm before
they make a hiring decision. It is a good idea to jot down some notes as soon as you leave the
interview about what you talked about with the various attorneys.
You can base your own thank you letters on the samples included at the end of this section.