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Just when you think people care could care less about the stuff that Emily Post and Miss Manners care about--that thing called good manners -- a situation bubbles up that makes you pause.
Turns out people who are looking for a job still care about manners particularly when it involves the behavior of corporate executives who interview job applicants and then never get back to them.
Not so long ago, there were protocols for job interviews. Job candidates understood the rules of engagement. They understood what kinds of clothes they needed to wear,and they absolutely understood that once the interview was over it was imperative to send the interviewer a hand-written thank you note.
In response, job candidates understood that if they didn't make the cut they would receive a letter letting them know that the organization had either hired someone else, or maybe was postponing hiring for awhile.
What was unimaginable was to hear nothing. But,in today's job market, it is not unusual to go on an interview and then never hear another word.
Not only is it rude, it's disheartening. It's tough enough to be out of work and try to keep up your self confidence without having some corporate executive treat you as if you were invisible and not worthy of a follow up letter.
Recently Kerry Sandberg Scott of Clue Wagon, wrote a post about the frustrations job candidates were expressing over the lack of response they receive from the people interviewing them for a job. In the comment section Sabrina shared an experience where she went for an out-of-town interview, taking vacation days and spending money on airfare and a hotel.
I thought the interview went pretty well. But I never heard anything. I had sent an invite and kept trying to follow up with the HR person a couple of times (nothing too annoying) and never a word. Not even an email saying no thanks. Nothing at all. I was TICKED! I mean here I had wasted my time, two vacation days, and several hundred dollars of my own money (and yes they were aware of that fact) and I don’t even get rejected? WTF?
Instead of responding to all the commenters on her blog, Kerry Sandberg Scott decided to write a second post, this one called 6 Things You Need To Know About Unresponsive Employers
1.Stuff gets lost.
2.Your spam filter might have eaten it
3.The recruiters lost their jobs months ago
4.The worst part of recruiting is the managers (at least a few of them).
5.HR people don’t hire.
6.If you have a bad experience, speak up. Tell your friends. Companies who treat candidates like crap need to be held accountable. I knew one person who had an experience so bad that she wrote to the company president (and really, the circumstances in that case were so extreme that he really needed to know). The worst offender got fired as a result, and she deserved it. It’s very easy these days to share your experiences, good or bad…and companies who haven’t figured that out yet are in for a rude awakening.
And that rude awakening could come in the form of an email from emailyourinterviewer.com Think of it as revenge of the masses. Email Your Interviewer is the brainchild of Alison Green of Ask A Manager a website that connects business managers in the music industry to answer questions of people who are trying to make it as entertainers.
Over the past couple of days Alison and I have been exchanging emails about her new venture. I wanted to know why she created the anonymous email service and how many people have actually taken advantage of it. I hope to have Alison's answers in the very near future.
But here's the concept. let's say you went on a job interview and then heard nothing. Let's say you followed up and adhered to the rules of engagement for being a job candidate. If the job interviewee ignores you, well, Alison's service will send them a rather snarky email to let them know that their behavior is unprofessional and rude.
Here is a portion of the anonymous email that is sent on behalf of the ignored job candidate.
Hi,
A job candidate you recently interviewed asked to have this letter sent on his/her behalf and is utilizing this anonymous message service because he/she knows that writing personally would burn bridges.
The candidate never received a response from you about the outcome of his/her candidacy.
As you probably know, most job candidates put significant time and
