This is one of the most important blog entries I will write. If you take nothing else from my website, internalize this message for the rest of your life:
The thank you card should be an essential go-to move every time you meet someone who is helping you with the college application process, your internships in college, and your future jobs in your professional life.
When do you write a thank you card?
If your school hosts a college fair or if a college representative comes to your school for a Q&A session, get the business card of the person representing the college sessions you attend.
Important note: The person representing a given college at your high school either during a college fair or for a Q&A is probably the individual representing your territory. They may be covering a state or a region.
This is your point-person for that college, and this person may well be the person fighting for you in the admissions process.
🗝️ If you are an athlete or a performing arts student, write a thank you card to every coach you meet and/or every school at which you audition.
🗝️ If you go on a college visit and meet an admissions person who greets you/interviews you, get that person’s business card and promptly write a thank you card after the visit.
🗝️ Write a thank you card to the teachers who write your college recommendation. It would be thoughtful to give them a personal gift—even a 10 dollar Starbucks card or Barnes and Noble card.
🗝️ Later in your career, write a thank you card every time you interview for a position whether it be an internship or a job position.
When I interviewed at Lafayette Jefferson High School in Indiana in 1989, I dropped off my thank you card after my full-day interview in Lafayette before I left town.
The principal later told me it was down to me and one other applicant. He said they were torn. The other candidate and I were dead even in terms of experience and overall impression the day of our interview.
While they were discussing us, his secretary brought in his mail, and my thank you card was sitting on top of the pile. He noticed my name, smiled, held up the card, and said, “Pam Fischer is our new English teacher.” He shared the story with me after he hired me.
That one thank you card I wrote the night before in Indianapolis landed me that job!
Maybe the other applicant was from Chicago and mailed her thank you card the same day back in Chicago later that evening.
Promptness matters.
Make this a lifelong habit to write a brief, thoughtful note promptly after every interview you have for the remainder of your professional career. Major life hack!
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