Forum: workplace.stackexchange.com
Tags: <job-search><applications><email><email-etiquette>
Title: How should I respond to a potential employer thanking me for my application and telling me they'll be in contact?
Question: I sent my application to a Professor for a PhD position. His secretary replied:   Dear Mr Singh,  Many thanks for your application.  We will be in contact with you in due course.  Yours sincerely,  XXX XXX   What reply should I give to the secretary?

Answers:
sents: text: Don't send any reply.
text: They told you they received your application and will contact you when they're ready.
text: There's nothing for you to say, and any email you send with a non-message will just clutter their inbox and waste their time.
text: Unless you have something of substance to say or a question you need answered, don't send them anything.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/54765/Kat
score: 159
sents: text: Don't send anything.
text: They have explicitly told you that they will contact you.
text: They are not expecting an acknowledgement.
text: They do not need an acknowledgement.
text: If you didn't get their email, they would expect you to follow up, so
text: the assumption is you received it, until you prove otherwise with a follow up email.
text: Some may say that it's always a good idea to acknowledge communication.
text: It's true where there may be concern from the sender that the message has not been received, or an acknowledgement has been asked for.
text: It is almost completely inconsequential if you didn't receive their email, but the consequences of them not receiving your email are far far greater.
text: Which is why it was acknowledged by them.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/59502/Gregory Currie
score: 34
sents: text: File it away - either in your trash can or, if you are closely tracking the status of all your job applications, in a relevant folder.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/36993/amcdermott
score: 4
sents: text: If the "thank you for your application" message was the first e-mail they sent you, it is worth replying to confirm round-trip communication.
text: It can be a very simple quote of their message with "Thank you" added.
text: If you have already established that the secretary is sending to the right e-mail address do not clutter their mailbox with a message that adds nothing to their information.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/19325/Patricia Shanahan
score: 4
sents: text: You are not mandated to send any response, however, a thank-you response does not harm.
text: You can reply with something like Dear XXX, Thanks for the acknowledgement.
text: I will wait to hear back from you.
text: Meanwhile, if you need any further information, I'd be happy toprovide the same.
text: Regards, Rishab.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/61983/Sourav Ghosh
score: 3
sents: text: It is important to note that in most cases these days "thanks for your application" messages are automated emails generated by the company's online hiring portal.
text: That email is just to confirm that the hiring portal worked as intended and that the company is now able to review your application when they get to it.
text: Not only do you not need to respond to it, but there is a good chance that if you do respond that your message will go to an unmonitored email address and never be read.
text: If you need to follow up with the employer, make sure not to rely on that email's reply address to establish a point of contact.
text: Instead see the job listing itself for if it contains contact info.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/93817/Nosajimiki
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
There is no reason to reply and you risk cluttering their mailbox. You could send a simple thank you or an acknowledgement that you received their message.
Sending an e-mail to say "thank you" for their message could do no harm, but it's generally considered that there is no need to reply to this type of e-mail.