Gift for Interviewing Officer?

bringbacknelsoncruz

5-Year Member
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Jun 25, 2016
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Hello.

Tonight my son will be presented his Army ROTC scholarship at his high school ROTC awards night. The person presenting it to him is the Colonel he interviewed with for the scholarship and DS feels that the Colonel’s report was instrumental in his receiving the scholarship. DS (and we his parents too) would like to give the Colonel some sort of gift. What might be appropriate?

Thank you.
 
IMHO....there should be no gift.

The colonel is simply doing his military duty and his job by recommending a talented young person for an Army scholarship, no more no less.

It IS appropriate to send a personal note of thanks. Either a typewritten letter or a handwritten thank you card is okay. (email is less personal, but better than nothing).
 
Ditto AROTC-dad. Military ethics prevents acceptance of gifts in most situations for doing routine duty.

A hand-written note is a rare artifact today and shows extra effort.
 
If you want to get serious about your personal brand (my post-military career is in marketing, and I have soaked up the lingo), browse www.americanstationery.com
They have been in business a long time and have nice products; I have ordered from them for years.

While I am fluent in most forms of social media used for business, I believe in the power of a hand-written note at certain times. In my current job search, I have often written the note to the interviewer, taken a pic and neatly cropped it, and embedded it in an email in the interests of speed. I was out of town this past week, on a second round of interviews, and took a stash of my cards with me. Everyone with whom I interviewed, plus the HR recruiter, had a few personalized lines from me on a card, by the end of business day. I just heard a few minutes ago I will be called back for a final interview next week with the senior region exec in Baltimore. Much notice was taken of the notes [emoji16].

I use what is called "correspondence cards," on heavyweight stock, with my name in a business-like font, usually navy (of course) thermographed (raised surface) ink on ivory card stock. You can also choose printed - a flat ink effect. With these, just a few lines are required. Old military habit doesn't let me spend a few more bucks for printed address on the envelopes - I moved too often.

Though Staples print center offers decent custom cards and notes, I like the ink, font and style selection of American Stationery. For my Army friends, they do have a double bordered correspondence card in black and gold which would look nice with black ink, a clear red border for Marines and many shades of not-navy for Air Force ... plenty of choice, as well as DYO choices of various icons. I use a fouled anchor, naturally, on one set of cards I have, for notes to friends.

Enough stationery minutiae - a lost art, yes, but still a pleasure to send and receive.
 
We had a long time friend and Colonel present our daughter's full AFROTC scholarship. Best part ... the Colonel walked up on stage in his flight suit instead of his blues and gave a great speech about service and our daughter. There were some tears ;)
We gave him a nice bottle of scotch immediately after awards night. Then a few days later our daughter hand wrote a thank you card.
 
Handwritten notes win, hands down. I sent a handwritten request for a letter of congrats for one of my Eagle Scouts- to the regional admiral of the USCG.

He sent back two handwritten notes. One for the scout, and one for me. One of the most treasured item I own.
 
All good advice here, but if you were all set to buy a gift, please feel free to send one to me. I am not certain what the limit was, but a nice set of golf clubs is thoughtful, and a trip to Hawaii even better. It would relieve that built up tension you have from feeling like you owe someone a debt of gratitude, and I am willing to step up and play the recipient role for you. It's just the way I am.

And don't worry, after reading the posts on this thread I will certainly take the time to send you a nice handwritten note, and tell you how nice the vacation was, how good the clubs feel, or both, should you decide to give me a set of golf clubs as part of the Hawaii trip package.

It is important that we be here for one another on the SAF.
 
All good advice here, but if you were all set to buy a gift, please feel free to send one to me. I am not certain what the limit was, but a nice set of golf clubs is thoughtful, and a trip to Hawaii even better. It would relieve that built up tension you have from feeling like you owe someone a debt of gratitude, and I am willing to step up and play the recipient role for you. It's just the way I am.

And don't worry, after reading the posts on this thread I will certainly take the time to send you a nice handwritten note, and tell you how nice the vacation was, how good the clubs feel, or both, should you decide to give me a set of golf clubs as part of the Hawaii trip package.

It is important that we be here for one another on the SAF.


What, no greens fees? :)
 
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