What is ironic is I had no reply on a job posting on landing.jobs after talking directly with landing.jobs too. I was able to leave feedback directly through the site that the company was unresponsive, but landing.jobs hasn't communicated since that feedback.<p>Update: Proof <a href="http://imgur.com/m34rFUX" rel="nofollow">http://imgur.com/m34rFUX</a>
The reason you don't get a reply (in the US anyways) is for legal reasons. If you say anything which could be even <i>remotely</i> (mis)interpreted as some sort of bias, your company could lose lots of money/time and potentially go bankrupt due to a discrimination lawsuit.<p>It's sadly safer to just not reject candidates at all. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
I've hired people before, and usually when it comes time to send rejection emails it can be very hard.<p>If someone clearly isn't right for the job, you owe it to them to mention why- I'm an engineer, I work in absolutes and "Culture fit" or something so wishy-washy doesn't roll well off my fingers.<p>But how do you tell people that they lack basic knowledge or experience in certain areas without sounding bitchy or attacking.<p>Even worse is the ones that interviewed well, or showed significant competence.. yet were not as strong as another candidate.<p>I agree it's wrong to send nothing- but it can be hard to formulate a pleasant email.. especially if you've interviewed many people. (10-15 at my last employment, I was replacing myself and had limited time to document/check everything).
This is funny, and probably very satisfying, but if you need to send this kind of email, you're doing it wrong. I get that other industries are different, but if you're looking for a job in the tech world, do your homework.<p>To (a small amount of) background research on companies that would fit with your situation. Find out what the open reqs are, and who the hiring manager is for each one. Pre-screen yourself by finding a req that you're qualified for and apply specifically for that job. Write a custom cover letter for each application, even if it's just an informal 4-line email. If possible, get a warm introduction.<p>If you do all that still don't get a quick response, move on without a second thought. You don't want to work for this company anyway.
We are hiring right now for a new bookkeeper, actually they start Monday, so we just finalized the hiring.<p>We regularly post ads for designers, developers and content writers too. Probably every other month I am reviewing resumes, so I have a bit of experience in responding to applicants.<p>Typically any given job posting gets around 50 to 100 resumes depending on the category. It takes time to read through everything. We use a mix of Craiglist, Indeed, various job boards, LinkedIn and our own website postings. It has worked well for awhile now.<p>Due to the nature of various job boards, some responses are often automated by clicking a few buttons so it is too easy to apply. With that you get candidates off topic (i.e. wrong skill set) and not putting in any effort (i.e. skipping a cover letter that we want to read). Other times, the cover letter and resume are comically sad in mistakes and grammar, so they do not warrant full attention.<p>Our biggest gripe is that at least 50% of the applicants never follow our instructions on how to apply correctly. We put very specific steps on how to apply and want it followed (i.e. subject line, cover letter, links to portfolio, PDF resume).<p>My take on this is if the applicant is not going to take the time to respond correctly, then we are not going to take the time to respond back. Sounds harsh, but kicking out 50 canned replies is tedious work for those who are wasting our time to review. Perhaps we could automate it somehow with scanning emails addresses in the "no" folder and sending out a batch bcc, but it is still extra work.<p>However, before everyone jumps on us. We do respond to every applicant we interview (phone or in-person). Often we respond with a personal note that helps them out and lets them know where they stand. Sometimes we even try them out on freelance projects in the future.<p>For every applicant that correctly fills out our application process, or at least made an effort, then we also reach out to them with a more automated message via email. I consider that the least we can do, but we do keep in short and sweet.<p>Finally, in the future, I am going to probably put our entire application process on our website. This will automate a lot of what we do and require the applicant to fill out set fields that we need answered. Then we could send batch emails back to everyone as needed.
People I actually interview will be informed if they aren't hired, of course, but I don't generally email people I don't interview. I guess I could start adding all the email addresses of people I don't hire to a list and then sending them a generic message once a hire is made, but I'm not sure it's realistic to expect the hiring manager at a startup to respond to every single applicant. If you send me an email asking for an update or advice, I'll usually try to provide a useful answer.<p>That said, I feel bad. If anyone has recommendations for candidate tracking software/services that would make it easier for me to make this happen, I'd be interested.
I recall a friend ~12 months ago (in their final year of university), hearing positive news back from IBM after 6+ months of silence since their interview, by which point they had accepted a job elsewhere.<p>I expect some companies prefer not to officially reject, so they have more applicants to potentially consider for future positions, although many may have taken jobs elsewhere by this point.
RedHat was the worst when it came to this.<p>In 2007, I interviewed for a professional services position within RedHat. I had a phone screen and then three or four weeks would go by, and then the recruiter would ask me for another phone screen. It eventually ended up with a stay in Chicago for an in-person...series of phone calls and one face-to-face interview.<p>Another six months(!) went by before they called me to ask me if I would be interested in working with them and started the verbal negotiation process.<p>Suffice to say, I turned them down (my work situation had changed and I wasn't looking to leave), but, I always remember that process and the length of time that it took to get there when I hear friends talking about applying to RedHat.
It sounds, based on the comments here, that both job seekers and employers can sometimes run into a frustrating lack of response (job seekers when they submit an application and never hear back; employers when they try to engage an applicant and never hear back).<p>I wonder if there might be a business opportunity here.<p>Suppose there were some way for both job applicants and employers to publicly commit themselves to offering at least a cursory reply (sort of how LinkedIn guarantees a response to each InMail, even if the response is just a boilerplate "Not interested").<p>If either party fails to respond within some designated timeframe, the penalty could be as simple as publicly noting the fact that they broke their commitment, which is likely to affect their trustworthiness.<p>This would be advantageous for both parties.<p>There might even be some decent money-making potential in being such a commitment clearinghouse. For instance, employers who participate might pay to have their jobs listed on the site, with the expectation that a "reply guaranteed" will be an effective way to bring in applicants.
I have another suggestion. How about giving some real feedback on how a candidate performed on an interview? I realize that its almost impossible for companies to reveal what they really think of an interviewee but it would be immensely helpful for everyone involved.<p>Was I really not qualified, or did you just not like my tie/cologne/hair? Did I know the material but am the wrong age? My whiteboard coding was great but I spilled my drink at lunch and ate with my mouth open?<p>I realize that most (all) of these things could get a company in truly hot water (ie. age discrimination) but without some additional information a candidate can be left feeling very confused and unsure how to improve. If I'm really too old then maybe I should get out of the business. If I flubbed the algorithm part of the interview then maybe I can study up and be ready for the next company.<p>I wish there was a way to give companies a one-time "Get out of jail Free" card and have them tell me exactly why they didn't want me to move on to the next step. :/
I guess this is a joke, but all the comments so far seem to take this seriously. So let me say what is obvious to me- there are many legitimate reasons why you may have not heard back in a manner that seems timely to you. There are also bad reasons, such as disorganization and poor communication skills. But what message does an email like this send? "If you hire me, be prepared to deal with complaints about my professional behavior!" Seriously, poor communication is an everyday workplace occurrence, so if this is how you respond...<p>And then there is general networking stuff- which is even mentioned in the email! He acknowledges he may one day be a client or partner, and yet still thinks sending this type of "cathartic" email is a good idea.
Isn't that the norm?<p>My career history is journalism (producing TV news). The vast majority of jobs I apply for never reply. Not so much as an automated or form-letter "thank you". Even if they do reply, and we talk a couple of times, they stop replying when they go with someone else.<p>Back in March, on a lark, I applied to a few tech and game companies. Five days ago one of the game companies sent me a "thank you for applying, but we went with another candidate" email.<p>I sent her (the HR lady) a letter back thanking her for caring enough to bother. Erica is good people in my book. She's absolutely an outlier.
These guys:<p><a href="https://www.manager-tools.com/all-podcasts?field_content_domain_tid=5" rel="nofollow">https://www.manager-tools.com/all-podcasts?field_content_dom...</a><p>have excellent advice for situations like these.
While I agree that companies who go quiet are behaving poorly and would think ill of an applicant who was not responsive myself. My reaction reading the note was that its a bit long to send someone who already blew you off. I hope it makes the sender feel better, I don't think there is much else you are going to do. In this case reporting to the job site that they are unresponsive is probably better (though depending on the site and their rules it may do little as well)
My approach with TrueJob to solve this is allowing employers and job seekers to favorite or block almost anything about each other. Employers get back anonymous analytics as to how to improve their job postings, and job seekers get back anonymous analytics as to how to improve their resume.<p>It seems to work pretty well so far, but there's a lot more to be done in the job space -- the lack of transparency and information can cause a lot of frustrations for both employers and job seekers.
Fun read!<p>I'm having the opposite problem. I'm trying desperately to get people to apply for mobile dev positions... and of the FIVE applications I've managed to lure in, none of them replied to my phone calls or emails back.<p>I was considering asking for an address in the application so I could go wait on applicants' doorsteps, but maybe a letter like this is a less litigable idea.
I think it also depends on how "cool" the company is.<p>Obviously, this comment should be taken with a grain of salt since I was not selected (so I'm probably biased), but I felt like Google's hiring process was pretty haphazard. I had actually assumed I wouldn't be interviewing further when they told me about my on-site.