I once read that it is better not to send that follow up email that says a quick “Thanks!” or “I am swamped, but will get to this soon!” The argument was that it fills up people’s Inboxes. Um, ok- but it also fills people with confidence and a sense of reciprocity. Yep, after being on both ends- I have decided that one should ALWAYS send that little personalized follow up.
My most recent examples: I sent a weighted email to my advisor outlining my plan and resources. He wrote back within five hours stating, “It is good to hear from you. I will get to this this weekend!” Nice. That made me feel good and didn’t leave me wondering.
Example number two! I wrote to a company I did a work placement for recently and asked for a letter of recommendation to have on file. I wrote to my specific superior, as we had had the interactions and final presentation and culmination of my work. Weeks went by. I wondered if I had sent it to the wrong email… Or, maybe they didn’t like me as much as I thought they did. :( These were the thoughts running through my mind. Finally, I received an email- from someone I had never met in the Office of General Council stating that they would be happy to write me a letter if I could just outline my tasks and what I was involved with.
Yeah… doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of a personal letter of recommendation? Beyond the disappointment of the way they are going about providing said letter, is the manor in which the person I originally reached out to handled the situation. These things make an impression. I must say thank you- because now I realize the importance of keeping it personal, and giving just that little bit. They could have said, “We were pleased with your work and would love to write you a letter. My assistant will be helping me with this, so please give her the following details.” That would have been a better way of going about it- and those two sentences would have taken less than two minutes to write. Ok, lesson learned- a little goes a long way, and I will always implement that rule of thought.
