Interviewed for a job and then never heard back? No rejection, no anything? Let your interviewer know how rude that is — without burning any bridges.
You put hours into preparing for the interview. Maybe you buy a new suit. Maybe you drive several hours to get there, spending gas money you don't really have or taking a vacation day to do it. Then you sweat it out through the interview itself. They tell you that they'll notify you of their decision in a week. And then ... nothing. It's like you don't exist to them.
This behavior is inexcusable -- it's callous, dismissive, and rude. It's just not that hard to send a quick email, even a form letter, letting candidates know they're no longer under consideration.
Employers owe interviewees a response, period.
To make matters worse, sane job seekers aren't going to call employers on their rude behavior, lest they burn bridges. So employers get to act like this with impunity, and the rare person who does complain is generally dismissed as naive or crazy, simply because no one else does it.
No longer.
Now here, presented to you by Ask a Manager: a service that job seekers can use to generate an anonymous letter to the employer, telling them how rude their silence is.
How it works:
First, read the instructions to the right. Then, using the form below, submit the email address of the employer who never responded to you. They'll get a polite letter explaining why their silence is rude. The letter will be from this site; the employer will not know that you are the sender.
Here's the letter that will get sent anonymously:
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 effort into preparing for a job interview: Many spend hours reading up on your company and industry and thinking about how they could best offer something of value to you. They may take a day off work and spend time and money traveling to you. And then they wait ... and wait and wait, anxiously hoping for an answer, any answer.
A quick email or form letter letting the candidate know he or she is no longer under consideration -- that's all it takes. Candidates deserve that. And so does your organization, which looks unprofessional when you leave candidates hanging.
On behalf of your past and future candidates, won't you please reconsider your practices?
Sincerely,
A Fellow Hiring Manager
www.emailyourinterviewer.com
Disclaimer: emailyourinterviewer.com does not investigate the claims made by candidates using this service, and your email will not be stored.
Ready to take action?
28 comments:
GOLD. A valuable service.
(now just wait, you'll be flooded by people sending them to you as a joke)
You are brilliant and I love you.
Most of what I have heard is that employers are actually NOT hiring for jobs, but merely gathering resumes for a "pool" so when they DO start hiring, they will have MANY candidates to choose from. I think it's absurd to think that employers would lead the unemployed this way. Maybe the government is in cahoots with employers so the unemployment numbers will look "better" than they actually are. I've been unemployed since January 2009 and I'm about to go stir crazy trying to find employment!
The reason that employers are not sending replies to people they have interviewed is 1) they have interviewed too many people, 2) they can't remember the people they interviewed yesterday and 3) they have learned NOT to send a reply to candidates as part of their HR training or lack of! All I can say is if they do not reply back to you, consider it God's blessing. He has something better for you. Be patient and wait upon the Lord and he will make your paths straight.
I would love to hear about what happens after this letter is sent ie. if any employers make an attempt to respond or even apologise. Is it possible for them to respond in any way? Please keep us posted on your blog!
They definitely could email me back at the address that the letter to them is generated from. So far, 35 have been sent and no one has responded, however!
I am a recruiter and I think this is a great site!! There is one question I would like you to ask people who use this site. Would they be happy with an automatic email to let them know that their C.V has been received and a follow up email to let them know if they where not successful in applying for that role?
Definitely! I don't think people really care how the news is delivered, as long as it IS delivered.
This could easily be solved if employers use a job tracking system where candidates could check the status of a job. If a handful of people are interviewed, its not asking much (in my opinion) to provide some feedback to the candidate to help them on their next interview.
I would further contend that if a manager doesn't have much in the professionalism department, they taint my view of the company as a whole. I am a candidate for a position you have. I might be a customer too. And might not be a customer tomorrow.
It's even worse if the HM gives you a specific day they said they would call you back after the interview--- and you don't get the call. The let down is 10 times intensified--- Bad Hiring Manager-- Bad!!
Definately Great! I had an interview two weeks ago along with 40-50 other people. What a load of crap! Was perfectly suited for the job and emailed a thank you plus after a week another emailed to ask if the position was taken. I was told they would be doing second interviews whenever....thanks for nothing!
Not getting back to someone after an interview is unacceptable no matter what, but being anonymous doesn't really help - the person probably won't take any notice. You have every right to tell someone that you are upset with what they did, it's all about the way that you do it. Going to a Manager with a polite call or email will have far greater impact.
To the recruiter who asked about sending emails: Yes. All I need is an email acknowledging that you received my CV, application, etc. for the position, and one stating that you chose another candidate or that I'm no longer being considered, however you want to say it. It doesn't have to be personal, a generic form letter is fine.
As an unemployed HRM I now find myself sick of poor performance by recruiters, sadly lacking in customer service. Don't worry people I have your names now. As they say "what goes around comes around".
I think this site is a great idea. I have been in recruiting for many years and have outlined recruiting processes for several companies. It was amazing to me how overlooked the candidate experience was for the sake of ease for the employer.
Minimum communication from an employer to applicants when using automated systems: A job should never be posted unless it is live; an auto response should go to all applicants as soon as they apply; if you interview by phone and especially in person, you should get a phone call from a recruiter telling you your status either way (they cared enough at one point to call, they should care enough now too); and when the job status changes, you should get an auto notifier updating you that the job has been closed, cancelled, etc.
I hope the feedback to the recruiters and their organizations helps make a positive change in the candidate experience for all job seekers.
This works. I recently sent one for a friend who had interviewed for an internal position and never received the courtesy of a response--although she did find out through the grapevine several weeks later that someone else had been hired for the job. Within two weeks of me emailing this letter to the head honcho, she received a form letter notifying her that the position she interviewed for back in June had been filled.
Does this actually go through?
I sent several to myself and haven't gotten them.
Great idea nonetheless, even if it ends up being just a placebo.
Yep, it goes through. But they're sent manually so may take a couple of days.
Refering to the question by a recruiter, we want to know yes or no, thats it!! have your son or daughter call us, write it on a piece of toilet paper and stick it in my mail slot, but TELL ME some way so that im not wondering and hoping, and can move on to the next hopeless job interview.
Companies who practice this rude behavior should be informed at the CEO level of what's going on in their operation.
There are millions of dollars spent improving the company's imange while the rude managers are killing them in the market place.
SHAME ON YOU.
The mailer does not work... Tested it 3 times on my own email address to preview how it looks before sending it off to a very desrving recruiter. Didn't even end up in my spam box. Sorry folks, but it doesn't work :-(
No, it works. I have to run it manually, and I haven't had a chance to do it for the last few days. I just went in and ran it and the messages are now all out.
- the administrator
Several companies have kept me hanging for weeks after an interview or even multiple interviews. They expect interviewees to put time and energy into preparing for an interview, but can't be bothered (or don't have the guts) to say, "Sorry, we didn't choose you." It's rude. If they're ignoring my emails and dodging my voice mail messages, I don't worry about burning bridges with them, because I don't want to work for them. Once it's obvious I'm not getting the job anyway, I don't have a problem contacting them personally to let them know their tactics are unprofessional. I also (politely) tell them they've lost me as a potential employee AND a potential customer. I have nothing to lose at that point, so why not? Makes me feel better, instead of dragging their bad juju into the next interview. :)
the site is a nice idea but i think we are missing a point here : if the recruiter/ HR was so rude that did not have a common sense to follow up then why would we expect that sending them another letter ( the one that the site provides) will shake teir consience ? Those people are rude, insensitive, "busy", and they DO NOT CARE. I think the notice should be sent to Sr. Management, to let them know what is going on. thisi s probably the only way to change sometihng.
I think this is a great idea. I have had experiences in which the person interviewing me behaved in a totally obnoxious manner. I literally couldn't believe my eyes or ears! I wish there was some type of form letter on this site that would be applicable to a situation this type of situation. Well, good luck to everyone who is looking for work.
Is the site still working? I just send one to myself and have not received the email.
Yep, it's still working. But the emails are sent manually, so I send them in batches every few weeks.
Do you collect the names of companies that are submitted. It would be nice to see a list of evil doer companies.
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