A Job Seeker’s Frustration, Writing a Compelling Blog
This is the fourth article in my series for Toastmasters Leadership Development, Level 4, Write a Compelling Blog.
I’ve been on the job market for a while now. I’ve applied for more than a few jobs. Some of the jobs I apply for are a perfect match for me, other jobs I feel I can do, but might not look really good on paper. I don’t apply for jobs that are completely outside of my area of expertise. I receive an automated acknowledgment from nearly every job I apply for. Then I wait. Wait for an interview invitation or an outright rejection.
Some of the jobs I apply for, I never hear back. That doesn’t bother me. Some of the jobs say “we are not moving forward with you because there are other more qualified candidates”. That stings a little, especially if I think it’s the “perfect job”. I make a note and forget about it. Some rejections are quite patronizing: “We were very impressed with your background but are not moving forward with your application because we’ve received an overwhelming response and there are more qualified candidates. My favorite so far: ‘We received an overwhelming response to our job posting and you [me] have been selected for an interview”. When I read the first few words I was thinking another reject and almost skipped over it. Now, I’m looking forward to the interview. The bottom line is I don’t really expect to hear back when I apply, and rejects and non-replies don’t bother me much.
What bothers me is when I don’t hear back after a phone or especially an in-person interview. Most of those I follow up on. It really bothers me when I don’t receive a reply from my status request. I show up for an interview, felt I really made a connection with the hiring manager. The hiring manager promises a follow up, but doesn’t. So I follow up and don’t hear back. Nothing.
Whenever I’m invited for an interview, I research the company via glassdoor.com. See my blog posting Glassdoor review. I look at the postings about the interview process. It’s very, very common for companies not to let the job candidate know they aren’t going to get the job. It’s very, very common for companies not to respond to candidates asking for a job status. Job candidates on Glassdoor post their frustrations about how rude and unprofessional the non-responses are. I agree. Emails can be impersonal and it’s not hard to send a rejection email. I’ve received from phone a call from a company that decided not to hire me. That call was difficult for me. I can only imagine how unpleasant it is for the person who makes rejection calls all day long. Thing is, I don’t expect a call. A simple response to my status request, positive or negative. Maybe I should start calling people and put them on the spot and make them wish they sent me an email rejection.
