Sometimes, the end of the interview isn’t the end at all. If you’ve all done your jobs well, you, the talent and the crew remain emotionally (and sometimes contractually) invested long after the lights dim. As the lead interviewer, one of your primary jobs is to make sure that everyone -especially the talent- leaves the interview with a good feeling about the experience.

You’d like to think that your professionalism, quick wit, and sparkling personality alone would give your talent the warm & fuzzies (and, helpfully, want to see your project through to the end.) But it never hurts to leave them with a memento of your time together. It’s not too hard or expensive to give your talent a “thank you” gift, but that gift’s true value might be priceless.

We’ll be real here. Sometimes, interview talent is paid. Shocker, right? In those cases, there might be contract obligations, your people meeting with their people, you do the job together, part ways and that’s that.

But even in paid or contractual instances, the interviewee is invested in the project. They’ve offered their time, expertise and -yes, corny but often very true- hearts to your project. A willingness to go on camera and be vulnerable or exposed deserves gratitude and sometimes that gratitude needs to be expressed. In the form of gifts.

A more cynical but no less true take is that you want to maintain a good relationship with your talent because they may need to eventually sign off on a finished project. Leaving them with good feelings can make that process just a little bit smoother and might make your talent jump at the chance to work with you in the future.

Here are 5 ideas that might help with that:

Wax ‘Em

Candles make great gifts AND they’re functional set dressing. People love candles, which is why they make good ice-breakers or talking points. They’re inexpensive (well, usually) and feel substantial. And being a sensory experience, they’ll subtly make the day even more memorable.

If you use a candle to set the mood or make your talent more comfortable, giving them the same type of candle at the end of the shoot is a nice, unawkward momento of the occasion. Bonus points if they mentioned how great it smelled on the day of the interview.

Local Fare

Every town has some food, candy, coffee or baked good that locals claim is the best in the world. Offer your talent something local from your company HQ or your own hometown for a slightly deeper connection. You can take this idea beyond food, of course, if the city in question is famous for something or just has cool swag.

Know Your Talent

Using what you know about your talent can be a great way to leave a more personal gift. If you know that they have young children, maybe a onesie from your company’s home-base would work. If you know they’re a coffee snob, a bag of gourmet or otherwise unique beans can do the trick. Using something from their off-set life to get them a more thoughtful gift shows them that you really care and paid attention to what they said.

Gift Cards Are Easy But Effective

Yeah, yeah. “When in doubt, get a gift card.” Some think that a gift card means that you had no better ideas, and while that may be true at times, gift cards will almost always get used, whereas your bag of extra-dark triple espresso beans might never get grinded. Plus, a gift card can be personal; if you know your talent likes fishing, that card for Bass Pro Shops means just a little bit more. If you know your talent, you can get a lot more mileage out of a quick trip to the gift card aisle.

When In Doubt, Drip Them In Company Swag

A nice warm Rev hoodie might be blatant product placement, but also, who doesn’t love a hoodie or a knit cap or a thermal mug? Give them something cool and get a little exposure for your company.

Here’s a Real-Life Example

Here’s an example of a post-interview gift I gave after a shoot.

We were on an exhausting shoot in New York City consisting of a marathon of interviews taking place over a few days. We’re based in Austin, Texas so I got each person on the shoot an Austin-themed candle, mints, some chocolates and a thank-you card. The kicker was that we had everyone on the crew and other Stakeholders at Rev to sign it, just for that personal touch. Little things like that can turn a small gesture into a big deal.