Is an unsolicited thank-you email intrusive?

Question

I had a phone interview this morning with two interviewers, and I am planning on sending a thank-you email addressed to both of them.

However, I was never in email communication with either of them, and I obtained their email addresses myself through the company website.

This is probably a silly question, but would it be intrusive to send emails to these two employees if they had never solicited email contact? The only person I had been in email contact with was the HR recruiter, and they were not a part of the interview panel.

Thank you for the advice!

Answer 1

If you worked through a recruiter (either at the target company or a third party) you might be better off composing the thank-yous for your interviewers and then sending them to the recruiter to forward along. It's a little less intrusive and still 100% professional.

Answer 2

A thank you note, even unsolicited, could never hurt. I'm assuming there are work email addresses you picked up from the corporate site? (seems silly otherwise)

Answer 3

Having been on the receiving end of a thank-you email after an interview, similar to what you're describing where the interviewee would have had to do even the tiniest bit of sleuthing to find my company email address, I (and my colleagues who also received emails form the same candidate) found it unnecessary and just a little strange.
We had no prior contact with the individual and expected no follow-up contact, particularly since no contact details had been shared.
In my mind, faced with 2 candidates who were absolutely identical in every other way, this would have tipped the balance microscopically in the other candidate's favor.

By all means, send a thank-you to the hiring manager or whoever else you've already been in contact with or who have shared their contact details with you in the interview, but I would not recommend an out-of-the-blue email to anyone else.