Like most of you, my parents and grandparents harped on me to write thank you notes whenever I received a gift.

And when someone gives you a job interview, they're giving you a gift – a gift of their time. As such, it's a good idea to send a thank you note within the first 24 hours.

That's not to say a thank you email. Because I just deleted one without opening it. Now I'm selecting 15 and deleting them without opening. Was yours one of them? Who's to say?!?

I advise my clients to go to a local dollar store or the discount bin of a card store and buy a small supply of blank thank you notes.

There are several reasons for this:

Size. Thank you cards have a distinct size and shape. That's good. Since it doesn't look like normal business correspondence, it will draw employers' attention. And they'll likely open it first. Why? Because it's not a bill or, worse yet (in their case), another resume.

Get past gatekeeper. There's usually someone in the office who opens the incoming mail. Once opened, the mail is inspected and routed. When a card comes in, it looks like it's of a personal nature and, as such, isn't usually inspected – it's usually just routed the to the person who it's addressed to.

Handwritten is personal. A handwritten thank you is far more personal and shows that you took more time to make it personal. While that may seem like a quaint notion, this sort of thing is noticed.

Remember – the hallmark of professionalism is manners. Sending a thank you note may not guarantee success, but not sending one could eliminate you from contention.

I had a highly ineffective supervisor several years ago who accused me of cutting too many corners. When I protested, she escalated it to the manager she constantly brown-nosed.

He asked if I was cutting corners. I told him I was being efficient.

She asked what gave me the right to cut those corners. I told her I believe it's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, and, because I was acting in an ethical manner, there was no need to even beg for forgiveness.

I explained to both of them that those corners I'd cut were non-essential tasks. They didn't help our customers, weren't required by company regulations and, in most cases, were redundant. I told them that these corners, in essence, were wasted efforts, which led to wasted man hours.

Still my supervisor protested. So I told them about my grandfather.

My grandfather ran the family business for several decades. He was a whiz at numbers, so he handled the heavy accounting for the business. He would use a calculator, then hand write the numbers he had added or subtracted, then actually show that he carried a digit. This process took him a long, long time.

My father asked him why he did things this way. Grandpa said that he didn't want the IRS or the State to think he was involved in any financial hanky-panky. My dad told him that these were extra, unneeded steps that wasted time. He told grandpa that taxing authorities didn't expect – nor even want – to see long math. He was creating more work than was needed.

I connected the dots for them, likening the extra, unneeded work grandpa did to the the corners my supervisor accused me of cutting. I told both of them that I had not cut corners, but rather trimmed fat.

Turns out, I was found to be right and my supervisor, wrong. Operating procedures were changed to utilize the efficiencies I had developed. My ineffective supervisor didn't work there much longer and I wound up getting promoted.

Last week, one of my in-person clients told he that he didn't want to spend time networking.

“There's the problem right there,” I said. “You're spending time networking. You're not sharing time networking.”

There is a difference. In fact, there's a market difference between spending, sharing and and taking time when networking:

Taking time. This is one-sided affair. If someone makes networking all about him/her, then s/he is taking time from others. Nobody likes to have things taken from them. Therefore, the one-sided, “me me me” approach proves to be highly unproductive.

Spending time. Like my client last week, people who spend time networking tend to think of it as a hassle or necessary evil. Spending, by its nature, means you have less wealth when you end than when you began. Is that the attitude you want to project?

Sharing time. Networking – true networking – is reciprocal in nature. You give some to get some. Sharing time networking means neither party loses anything and both actually gain. By making this simple shift in mentality – to sharing instead of taking or spending time – you'll project a more productive attitude. And, as a result, your networking efforts will become more successful.

When I meet a new in-person client, it's standard operating procedure to ask for a resume. A ridiculously large number reply by asking me “which one?”

Some have two versions of their resumes. Some have a half dozen or more.

When they tell me this, I'm obliged to ask how the heck they keep track of which resume they sent to which employer. Most admit it gets confusing.

Those who don't admit it are lying.

Imagine this: an employer calls you on your cell phone and wants to discuss your resume and maybe schedule an interview. If you have six versions of your resume, how will you know which one you sent to this employer? I mean, without looking foolish and actually asking the employer which version you submitted.

Both you and the employer are confused at this point.

A better way to go is to have no more than three resumes targeted toward related positions.

Three resumes is manageable when you're away from your desk and an employer rings your cell. Any more than that gets confusing.