OK, the ad in the classified section of the paper said to call if you were interested in the job. So I called. The job sounded interesting, and up my alley, so the lady said she’d send a job description and an application. Came in the mail today.
Having read the job description, I am now not at all interested in the job. At all. Not even a little bit.
Now, as a matter of courtesy, should I call the lady back and tell her I’m not interested? Frankly, I’ve never been in a situation like this before and I’m not entirely sure of the dictates of corporate culture in such a situation. My gut just tells me to fuhgeddaboudit.
Calling her won’t hurt, of course. Who knows, a better opportunity might come up at that same company in the future. Chances are you would be dealing with the same lady again, and in such a case, it’s an advantage if she remembers you as a polite man.
At least, you’ll brighten her day with your courtesy and politeness! I had a vehicle stolen & trashed once, and someone at the insurance company went the extra mile to facilitate some things for me. I called and thanked her, and she was so obviously surprised and pleased that I had done so, I figured she rarely got personally thanked for doing her job. Made both of us feel good!
I gotta disagree here. Calling her to explain why you’re not applying for the job is just wasting her time. And a little weird, IMO.
Now, if you’d expressed interest to the point where she’d actually spend some time considering you, that’d be different. But she just dropped an application in the mail. Forget about it.
I think you’d be surprised what a difference the polite call could make.
It’s true the woman’s just sent you an application. But every little advantage helps when applying for jobs.
Serious candidates turn up punctually, suitably dressed and with some knowledge of what to say. But what if there are several such candidates? Having a potential ally, who thinks you’re polite, could swing the job your way.
Also it can be pretty boring in Personnel. A friendly call is certainly welcome (not a waste of time) and sticks in the memory!
When I read the original post, I thought “Ah, the old telemarketing bait-and-switch”. You know, they say it’s a sales position with lots of opportunity for advancement, and it sounds really great until you find out they want you to cold-call people during the dinner hour and sell them timeshares on some alleged “undiscovered tropical paradise”, and if you’re good at it you’ll get promoted to a position teaching other people to do the same thing. If that’s the case, hell no I wouldn’t give them the courtesy of a phone call. In fact I’d take great pleasure in destroying every piece of paper they’d sent, for fear it would contaminate my house.
On the other hand, if it’s a legitimate job and just doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, and there’s a possibility you may want to apply for a different position at the same company later on, then it wouldn’t hurt to call or send a short, courteous note.