"9 Keystrokes" to say T-H-A-N-K_Y-O-U"
Jun 05, 2026
That is nine keystrokes if you count the space, and about 1.7 seconds of effort.
Years ago, when I was a recruiter at Ritz-Carlton, I would tell every applicant that those nine keystrokes were one of the best predictors I had, of who would get the offer.
A few years into that role, I was hiring for a senior position at one of the properties. I had fifty well-qualified candidates and fifty strong interviews. After the last conversation I sat back and did something on purpose.
I waited a few days to see who really wanted the job.
Within a week, ten of those fifty people followed up, and the other forty said nothing.
Of the ten who reached out, four sent handwritten notes, three sent texts, two picked up the phone, and one candidate did every one of those things and then did something more.
She put together a three-page document that she had printed at an office supply store, then paid to overnight it to me.
The first two pages were her resume and the job description.
The third page was her 30/60/90 day plan for what she would do if she got the role, with the exact changes she would make and the exact wins she would chase in the first three months.
She got the job, and she kept getting promoted for years after that.
I think about her a lot right now, because our team is expanding and we are hiring a virtual assistant. The applications are coming in, and I have been sitting back and watching what people send.
One applicant sent me a video introducing himself, but it was a generic clip he had clearly recorded once and was sending to everyone.
Nothing in it speaks to the open role or what we are looking for. It would have taken him seconds to hit "record" and send a new video. The impact would have been monumental.
Another person, when I asked for an example of their work, wrote back:
"Well, what do you mean by that? What kind of work could I share with you?"
Just send something. A link to a project, a screenshot of a result, a deck you have built, anything that proves you can do that type of work well.
Most People Don't.
That is the entire lesson, and it has not changed in twenty years.
The candidates who get the offer are almost never the ones with the perfect resume.
They are the ones who do the small thing nobody asked them to do.
Two ways to put your nine keystrokes to work this week.
1. First, send the thank-you you have been meaning to send.
Maybe it is the interview you completed last week, or the meeting that ran long because someone made time for you.
Pick one, open your email right now, and type the nine keystrokes.
You will be surprised how often that note becomes the reason something good happens next.
2. Second, when someone asks you for something, send more than they asked for.
This is the move that separates the people who get hired from the people who get passed over.
If they ask for a sample, send two.
If they ask for your availability, send three options with one already recommended. When someone participates on your podcast, send them an immediate thank you with a single clip from how powerful the conversation was... without waiting weeks until the episode gets published. (Yes, I started doing this and took my own suggestion).
The ratio of effort to reward on this is absurd, and almost nobody does it.
The question I am sitting with this week, and the one I will leave you with:
Who is waiting on a thank-you from you, and what is stopping you from spending the next 1.7 seconds on it?
Most People Don't.
But YOU do!
Bart
