A few weeks back, I interviewed for a part time position for a Systems Administrator. Four interviews…one phone, three in person. Was sure I had it, all interviews went well…I was told they would be in touch, I followed up with an email. Nothing.
I’m getting really sick of this. I’ve been unemployed for over a year. Sent out countless resumes, and still nothing…occasionally I get an interview. Maybe two. Its getting really damn old.
Flickster,
I agree with you.
I have been in position to see many different hiring persons at my and different companies work. My post was a summation of what I’ve seen.
I’ve been in position of hiring at 3 places so far. At my current one I have time to contact all applicants, and I do.
At the one two positions ago, there was too much going on and the company had a policy of only contacting candidates making it past the first interview, probably for legal reasons. It was greatly discouraged. It was a nice company to work for but the pay was not good which is why I left.
However, the “job from hell” ™ was a different story. They had no such policy and I was working 70+ hours per week and still falling behind. When I could go home, I did. Therefore, courtesies like contacting people was way off my radar screen.
Thinking about that…it could be a good indicator into the desireability of the company.
For vix and fluiddruid:
I should point out that most of my letters were the kind I stated earlier–form letters, but personalized, on letterhead, signed, and so on. But there was one I ran across that I made me laugh. Now, anyway; it wasn’t so funny at the time.
It was a form letter, yes; but it led with “Dear Applicant” and looked like it was run off on the public library’s old photocopier. That wasn’t the worst thing though. The worst thing was…
…it arrived Postage Due.
I found one of those as well. In fairness, it wasn’t for an entry-level position in my field; but rather, for a trainee position in another one. The principle was about the same though: “No, you won’t get the $XX,XXX a year job, but we do want you for $Y an hour” sort of thing.
No, I didn’t take it. I stayed in my own field and kept looking for work in it at other companies. But even so, I was glad to get it; and in a weird way, I was also glad to hear that they wanted me for something.
Or my favorite…
{interviewer}"You would be PERFECT for a position at {very desireable-to-me) sounding division in the company.
{Me} “Sounds good but I am very interested in this position here.”
{interviewer} “You would be a good fit here but a perfect fit there. Let me give you a name to contact…”
{me…getting excited} “Sure! However I am still interested in this position”
{Interviewer} "Nonsense. You are a perfect match for this other area.
’
’
’
call other person…
{very desireable-to-me sounding division manager} “Oh, were not hiring and do not foresee hiring anyone for quite some time”
A frustrating version of the ‘you are overqualified’ rejection but interjecting false hope.
I am in a bit of a different position.
I am the one doing the hiring for a few positions in my area. However, I work for a state university. I am only allowed to directly contact a candidate’s references. I am not even allowed to call the candidate to set up the interview, nor can I contact anyone afterwards. Everything is handled by another office.
<snark> I suppose I should be grateful that I even get to interview the candidates. </snark>
Every time, I am frustrated by the process. I would love to tell people why I didn’t hire them. I want to point out the numerous typos/inappropriate information/bad ideas/employers’ pet peeves that made me not consider them. I feel bad that the market is so tough that people who are waaaaaaaaay overqualified are applying for such low level jobs. I want to help these people do better in the future.
This is just one of the many reasons I hate my job.
SeGate…you get to interview them but do you get to hire them?
This is what I mean that it would be nice to have recruiters and HR but there is some advantages to NOT having them…
As long as my boss and I agree, I can hire who I/we want. However, I am not the one who callls the candidate to offer them the job. If I say I want to hire someone, the next time I talk to them is on their first day of work.
I’m definitely in the minority.
I prefer not to get the patronizing “we went with someone else call.” I had one of those a couple of years ago, and I would have rather been sliding down a giant razor blade into a vat of rubbing alchohol than listen to this guy go on about my “faults.”
The only way I would follow up with a company is if I had another offer and the first company was my first choice. In general, my rule of thumb is: If they don’t conact me within a week (unless they indicated a slow process during the interview), I assume they’re not interested.
4 1/2 years ago the plant where I had worked for the past 24 years was closed.
My layoff date was November 1,1999.
Over the next 6 months, I spent many hours in HR offices interviewing for jobs while holding down full-time employment with a courier company whose flexible work schedule allowed me enough free time to continue looking for a “real” job.
In June of 2000, I accepted the full-time job I still hold. (In that this job pays $4/hr.
less than I was paid in October 1999 and medical expenses incurred as a result of my wife’s recent chemotherapy have forced me to moonlight as a newsboy for a local bi-weekly free publication, I’m still in the hunt.)
During June and July, right after I would have run out of unemployment benefits should I have claimed any, employers started calling. In that I had just started a job that I wanted to give a fair trial to, I declined these offers–most of which were for jobs paying less than the ones I had originally applied for.
I also decided not to work for any employer who sits on applications until they think you’re desperate enough to take the shit detail. I doubt that any of the better jobs for which I had applied earlier had ever existed.
I rarely hear back from employers to whom I apply for jobs paying better than my current wage, though the ones who have bothered have been very polite about their rejections (these jobs probably really existed and these employers were probably good people to work for). Obviously, the non-repliers were bait-and-switchers wanting to deal with someone more desperate than me.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you thought it was right. I was just astonished that any company could do this as a matter of policy. It’s wrong and stupid in too many ways to count. I can’t imagine what someone would say if this company calls six months later. Supid, stupid, stupid.