A Second Interview and Thank You Cards

I had a second-round interview yesterday for a job that has nothing to do with teaching (hooray!). It seemed to go really well, so here's to hoping I get the job.

In all of my research for job searching, I've seen that it is always a good idea to follow up an interview with a thank you note within 24 hours of the interview. Snail mail was obviously the method before the internet became so common-place, but now, most potential applicants don't have the luxury of time to wait for snail mail to arrive to the interviewer's hands before hiring decisions are made. Therefore, email is the way to send your appreciation. (It certainly takes longer than 24 hours to send and receive snail mail.) Or so I'm told. Me, I'm old fashioned. I still like to get letters in the mail. It's exciting, and more personal.

After my first interview, I went home and wrote out a thank you card on a leftover thank you card I had--probably from someone's wedding event--and put it in the mail. I thought to myself, "Self, good job. You actually sent out a thank you card," but then the what-ifs came to mind. What if she makes her decision before my card arrives. That card could be the difference between getting called back for a second interview or not! So...the following day I sent an email that said more or less the same thing as I had written in the card. However, one would be able to sit on her desk as a reminder of me while the other gets buried amidst all the other emails in her inbox. I liked the snail mail better. Lo and behold, I got a second interview. (Did the card make a difference? I have no idea, and I'm not going to ask.)

Going into the second interview, I knew there were going to be more people involved. I didn't know who, and I didn't know how many. I just knew that there was going to be a group of people interviewing me. One of the tips from a site I read said to have your thank you cards prepared to send out immediately after the interview. Mmm, yeah. Didn't happen. The second interview went well, and I began thinking about sending my thank you cards. I didn't want to send the same card that I sent the first time--it was boring, and I didn't think I had enough 😅--so I decided I would make my own. All in all, I'm pleased with how they turned out, and they're quasi-personalized for my interviewers. Now to wait and see if I got the job. If not, maybe Hallmark is hiring. 😉

Thank you cards for my interviewers made using sharpies and cardstock.

The only downside--in my first interview, the lady thought I might get bored with the job because it doesn't require much creativity. Creativity can be done anywhere, and it's actually more fun when there is no pressure for it to be done a certain way. See, this is some of what I do in my free time. (Note: the writing styles for the thank you cards and the St. Paddy's Day cards were "inspired"--ok, copied--from pictures I found on Google.)

Some of the Valentine's Day cards I made. (5/12)

St. Paddy's Day cards--I really love foreign words.

Springtime cards for my roommates.