“I’m interested in the subject of thank you letters. Didn’t see anything posted regarding them. Any thoughts?”

Thanks for the question CJ. Thank you letters are still under-used and are incredibly easy to send now with e-mail. Anybody who uses it still differentiates themselves from the norm (my experience has been 1 in 8 send thank you letters and that number gets less frequent for entry level jobs). Keep the letter short and relevant regardless of method (e-mail or snail mail). Something along the lines of:

Dear [Interviewer First Name],

Thank you for interviewing me for [Whatever] position. [Insert personal note to help them remind them of yor hopefully great interview]

Thanks again and if you have any questions, please give me a call at [Phone number] or reply to this e-mail.

Thanks,

[Your name]

That’s it. And it is never a waste of time to spend the minute to compose this letter to tell the recruiter and hiring manager that you appreciated their time.

Search internships and entry level jobs at College Recruiter.com.

I’ll be the first to admit that Human Resources has some scientific principles in place but they aren’t everything and they aren’t the most important. Knowing what questions to ask may be scientific but knowing how to interpret those answers and apply them to a hiring decision is not about science. It may sound silly and very old school, but it has a lot to do with good decision making. It is about looking at your past decisions and what led you to those and what the results have been. You must hire like it is your job (because it…uh…is).

As testing becomes more a part of the hiring process, I have found that testing usually proves what the rest of my analysis tells me. And that’s through statistical analysis, not through some pompous view of what I think I know. Will I keep testing? Of course! And will I keep in place pre-screening and other techniques? You bet. Because nothing beats having additional information even if it simply confirms it (like a background check will do 99% of the time).

In HR school, the first thing they tell you is that in-person interviews are unreliable. The problem is that they are basing it on the fact that most in-person interviews are CRAP. Most interviews are done by people who have no idea what they are really doing. Often times, the concern is over how great of an interviewee are you which is pretty much a complete waste of time.

Anybody…ehem…excuse me…ANYBODY… can be a great interviewee. And often times, doing a great interview means jack to how well you can perform a job.

So why use them? Here’s a universal truth:

Every HR Guy thinks he can interview well

Every HR guy thinks he has a magical gut that let’s him know every last detail about how this person will perform. But it is usually bullshit. In fact, if HR guys were so confident in their statistics as they were with their gut, they would figure out that it usually isn’t that reliable.

So how do you get past this situation? Check back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion.

You’ll find accounting jobs in the UK online at AccountantCareers.co.uk.

This is awesome. I am going to interview them until I can identify what kind of booze they were drinking. That’s definitely not wine. Ask a long question and lean in closer. It’s not beer either. Oh, it is definitely whiskey. Oh man, how cool is that! This is a morning interview right. Yep, 9:30AM. Well, let me wrap this up.

If you need something to ease your nerves, there are very effective prescriptions to help. Booze will not help though. Most people who do interviews have gone to college. They know what booze breath smells like.

The audacity of also doing absolutely nothing to cover it up means you must have drank a lot. Or you are just an idiot. Or both. Probably both.