Welcome to Edition #36 of Ask Gorick Anything. This AMA is part of Gorick's Newsletter, where Harvard career advisor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng shares what they don't teach you in school about how to succeed in your career.
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→ Read time: 4 min
ASK GORICK ANYTHING
“How to stay in touch with summer manager?”
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Subscriber’s question:
“I'm about to finish my summer internship and have already accepted an offer from another company. My current work already knows about this. What’s the best way to navigate this situation strategically so I can keep the door open for future opportunities at my current workplace? (Specially in the legal industry)”
—Claudio Klaus from Toronto, Canada
Gorick’s response:
Hi Claudio!
Congrats on what sounds like a successful summer—and congrats x2 on landing that other gig!
Here’s what I’d do to keep your relationships alive, even if you’re switching jobs and aren’t coming back:
1. Offer a smooth transition: “Can you make enough progress on your current project that your successor can take over easily? Can you organize your files? Can you write a training manual or transition guide? Can you help find, interview, or train your replacement? The more you can present yourself as remaining committed to the team, even when you are on your way out, the better an impression you will leave behind—and the more likely your coworkers will want to work with you again.”*
*Why the quotation marks? Because this is taken from page 218-219 of my book, The Unspoken Rules. (Here’s the Amazon link and here are other buying options.)
2. Thank everyone you interacted with. Make a list of everyone you encountered this summer, put them into 3 groups, and thank them accordingly.
- A. Mentor, sponsor, manager (people had career conversations with you, offered you opportunities, gave you feedback, and/or supervised your work directly): Let them know you’d like to thank them in person before your last day, meet with them, and give them a hand-written thank you note. Or, if you’re remote, either meet with them over a call or write them a personalized email.
- B. Coworker or client (people who worked with directly): Write them a thank you email (or thank them over instant messenger if that’s how your workplace works).
- C. Acquaintance (people you chatted with at least once): Either write them a thank you email or or thank them over instant messenger if that’s how your workplace works.
3. Add everyone on LinkedIn. You never know where they might end up—and whether they might want to find you again (but don’t have your email). Also, the more people you’re connected to on LinkedIn, the larger your “2nd degree” network becomes, and the more people you’ll be able to access.
A few life hacks:
1. When sending any thank you emails, CC your personal email. That way, if you ever want to get back in touch, you can simply reply using your personal email. You’re also subtly reminding the other person of how you met in case they’ve forgotten.
2. Stuck on what to say or write in your thank you note? Try filling in these blanks:
- “Thank you for _________."
- “It was great working with you on _________."
- “I appreciate _________.”
- “You went above and beyond with _________.”
- “I will always remember _________.”
- “I am grateful for _________.”
- “I loved _________.”
…plus the following which shows your C of commitment (defined here!) to keeping the relationship alive (and maybe even working together again)...
- “Looking forward to staying in touch and hopefully working together again.”
- “Hope to cross paths again soon.”
- “Please let me know if I can ever be helpful with _________.”
- “I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for _________.”
- “Please don’t be a stranger, especially when it comes to _________.”
- “I’d love to contribute to _________, so please do kindly keep me in mind.”
- “Let me know if I can ever be a sounding board on _________.”
3. If you’re working on a team, consider thanking the entire group. That way, you get to shout everyone out at the same time. (But send your personal thank you messages first. This does not take the place of a personal note or meeting!)
Here’s a template talent from The Unspoken Rules (here on Amazon and here for other buying options), page 220 (from someone who was laid off—but the general format is still the same):
4. Keep others in mind. If you come across a relevant piece of content, someone they might want to meet, a great candidate for their team, or anything I shared at the bottom of this AMA, let them know!
Good luck and hope you enjoy the rest of your summer!
See you Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,
Gorick
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