Ettiquette | People kicked off at woman who claimed she won't hire unless interviewee says thanks

Recruiters and HR experts have hit back at a senior business manager after she claimed that she doesn’t hire people who don’t say thank you.

Jessica Liebman, Executive Managing Editor of Business Insider and INSIDER wrote in a Business Insider article: “When I first started hiring, I came up with a simple rule: We shouldn't move a candidate to the next stage in the interview process unless they send a thank-you email.”

She added: “I wrote a piece in 2012 that explained the No. 1 mistake that people I interviewed were making: not sending thank-you emails. 

“Still, seven years later, I stand by it.”

She did caveat this by saying: “To be clear, a thank-you note does not ensure someone will be a successful hire. But using the thank-you email as a barrier to entry has proved beneficial, at least at my company.”

Yet, many people didn’t agree.

Gethin Nadin, Director of Employee Wellbeing at Benefex wrote: “This person’s recruiting advice: don’t hire anyone who doesn’t send you a thank you after an interview. The thing about this BS [sic] is it assumes the candidate should be grateful they were asked to the interview. Hiring is mutual process.

“In 2019, employers should be grateful for applications from quality candidates.”

Whilst some responded in a humorous manner:

I've been hiring people for 10 years and my personal rule is if they don't bring me one million pounds in cash packed into a golden briefcase at the first interview then don't give them the job

— Alex Finnis (@AlexFinnis) 8 April 2019

"I *only* hire people who eat the interview borscht with their right hand – and people call me crazy for it!"

— alex hern (@alexhern) 5 April 2019

I only hire people who are the seventh son of a seventh son

— Dr Fran van Plannaram Ph.D. (@dismalplaces) 5 April 2019

Hey! I’ve been hiring people for 10 years, and I still swear by a simple rule: If someone doesn’t gift you a square foot of the moon by way of thanks, don’t hire them.

— Chris Mandle (@chris_mandle) 8 April 2019

There were some who responded with genuine worries about the problems this would cause in the hiring process. Brian Glickman wrote that he would struggle to hire if he excluded everyone who didn’t send a thank you note.

Yes, job seekers should send a thank you email with something of SUBSTANCE after an interview.

But not hiring someone because they don’t send a thank you note is lololololololololololol. #jobs #recruiting

— Brian Glickman (@dmbriguy7) 8 April 2019

Others wrote from a candidate perspective, fearing it would come across as weird and pushy if they wrote a thank you after.

and thank you email to a job interview? God, I would never do that, I'd worry it came across as really pushy

— Jess Brammar (@jessbrammar) 5 April 2019

Some questioned whether this precluded certain people…

Lol this is so classist: 'I always base my hiring criteria on strange etiquette rules that hardly anyone knows about, rather than the interview tasks candidates thought they were answering'

— Rachel (@RachelConnoll14) 5 April 2019

…some questioned the methodology….

Seems pretty old fashioned and about hierarchy. I see good hires as a conversation and discovery to see if we have a good fit between the candidate and our company

— Dr Asif Qasim (@DrAsifQasim) 5 April 2019

…whilst some were just honest: hiring is hard.

I've been helping to hire people for less than 10 years and I swear there are no simple rules. Hiring is really hard and if you are sticking to simple rules, you are missing good people (and probably hiring some bad people too). #subtweet

— nrc (@nick_r_cameron) 7 April 2019

Whilst a Director at CIPD merely implied it was a bad rule.

I've been hiring people for much longer than 10 years and this is not a rule that should be followed.

In my humble (yet relatively well informed) opinion https://t.co/KzfplbeA2k

— David D'Souza (@dds180) 6 April 2019