Discussions

It used to be that when you had a job interview, an employer would have the courtesy to contact you and say thank you, but we’ve gone with another candidate. When did they stop doing that?  
 
Common courtesy! They tell you “I’ll let you know by ……..” and then ghost you. Prospective hires take the time to come to an interview and no one has the balls to tell them no, they just ignore follow up calls, emails or texts.  
 
It’s an opportunity for people who are looking for a job to get feedback on if there was something they did wrong in the interview so they can learn and improve for the next one. And it’s just a sign of decency.

Seriously, it's been decades since this was standard. the best you can hope for is a "only the successful applicant will be contacted' these days.

In my 25 years of being in the work force, the only time I've been told I didn't get a job was when applying internally with my current company.

It would take minutes for prospective employers to send a bulk email to unsuccessful candidates but only after interviews. I know they are flooded and while the "only those who proceed in the hiring process will be contacted" is great...I wanted to know I wasn't chosen. Follow ups not answered was frustrating. I took the time to look into your company an apply. Do I not get a little respect in return.  
I lucked out and found a great spot...but I still wonder why I wasn't chosen for some positions I applied for or even interviewed for positions I was highly qualified for. I adjusted every cover letter to reflect the job I was applying for. I would have like a response (again only after interviewing) to say I didn't get it. No details required.

thinking employers that do inform the applicants show a bit of respect by doing so .It was not always no call, no luck. With the shortage of workers, still not likely to change. Employers have had it their way too long.

The old adage of "The world owes you nothing" is in place at all times. I can definitely understand your frustration, especially if you feel that it would be of benefit to find out if there was anything you could have done differently in the application process. However, having known several people in administrative and management positions, I know that for most jobs these days, there can literally be hundreds of applicants for each posted position. Even with the use of email technology, it would still take a lot of time to bulk email everyone who applied. It takes a lot of time to go through each application and resumé, and also a lot of time to add each person's email address to a database, which makes no sense if an owner/manager /hr rep will never have to use it again. Same goes for a quick follow up phone call, it's just not a good use of time management and resources.  
Again, sorry this has had to happen to you, I'm sure you will be quite invested in each job or employment field you may be interested in, and I know opportunities will always exist for you out there, it's just a matter of trial and error, and sadly, either success or failure. Such is life.

I understand not calling everyone who applied - but interviews are a different story. As someone who hires, and calls those that were not selected, its not a fun part of the job. I'm thinking gone are the days that the people in HR for some businesses, actually took HR classes or courses and know the unwritten responsibilities.  
They don't call candidates after interviews because they don't want the responsibility of giving someone bad news.. and in todays society its easier to just ignore and they will go away.

 
 
Edited by LMC, 2024-03-13 10:09:39

 
 
Edited by LMC, 2024-03-13 10:11:04

I’m talking about after being selected for an interview and going through the interview process. I completely understand not getting a response for just applying. Most ads say “only those selected for interviews will be contacted”. No employer has time to tell everyone who applied they didn’t get an interview.  
 
I’m talking about them not contacting you after the interview to let you know you aren’t being hired. They typically tell you at the end we’ll let you know by a certain day if you got the job. It’s a common courtesy to let all those selected for interview know that they haven’t been hired.

I don’t expect employers to contact every applicant that they didn’t get an interview.  
 
I would like to see employers contact those selected for and interviewed that they weren’t the successful interviewee. So that people can get feedback on what the employer didn’t like in the interview. Would go a long way to help those looking for jobs.

I wonder if the interviewer has someone in mind for the position, but has to interview for the higher ups - then they dont want to call you back as they cannot give a reason why you were not selected.  
Or they are just lazy.. I often hear from people that they are just "so" busy - really!  
Sadly the world has gone from "it takes a village" to "it's all about me", and if making those calls does not benefit the person they can't be bothered

I can understand some wanting feed back and interviewers being criticized.  
 
What about when candidates selected for interviews simply do not turn up for the interview. No telephone call, no email nothing. They just don’t show up.  
 
It is easy to criticize companies, how about candidates taking some responsibility ? I sure that this could open up a can of worms!

But when a person is selected for an interview, shows up, does the interview, the interviewer says I’ll be in touch by (insert specific day here) to let you know if your hired or not. But then does not get in contact with the interviewee by said date, nor do they respond do any voicemail, text or email follow up from the interviewee. The employer ghosts the interviewee because they don’t have the balls to say “sorry but you aren’t the chosen candidate”. This has happened multiple times to a very close person to me looking for a job, recently. In fact, of the multiple interviews she has had, not one has ever had the balls to say no directly to her. Some are companies with HR departments, others are small businesses that don’t have HR.  
 
When people don’t bother to show up for an interview, it’s a given that they aren’t getting the job, no contact needed.

I once worked in HR for a department within a provincial government years ago. We sent emails to everyone - candidates who applied but didn't meet the initial requirements, emails to those who met the requirements but didn't pass the written portion and then to those who made it through the interviews but didn't get the position. It is super time consuming but I still think if someone has the courage to apply for a position that you have posted, you should at least let them know the outcome of their efforts. We also provided feedback to anyone who asked for it - whether it be "how do I write my resume better to be considering for an interview" to "what can I do to improve my interview should this position come up in the future". Sometimes, businesses just don't have the luxury of time. My department worked specifically on hiring - small businesses do not have the ability to provide such comprehensive HR services.

Spoken like a true baby boomer…

Nice try sweetie, but you’re off by a couple decades.  
 
Not sure what makes you think boomer, but I was born to respect people. Where if you interviewed for a job, they gave you a courtesy call if you didn’t get it. I also sure as hell would never set up an interview and not show up. I’ve also never asked for feedback on an interview, a no is a no, but some people want to know what they can do to improve for the next one. Ghosting was not in my dictionary.

This protocol has gone the way of the 'Dear John' letter. The prospective employer has also taken the mutual time to interview you. Asking a prospective employer to tell you why he didn't hire you is like you writing a letter to every company explaining why you did not reply to their help wanted ad. An employer is busy in the business of directing those in his employ not those that are not in his employ.

There was one job I interviewed for and did not get hired-they did contact me to tell me that they had chosen someone else. Otherwise I interviewed and got the job, so I am unable to say how many employers do contact the unsuccessful candidates.  
 
I know the job I worked long term does still send out notifications to anyone they interview-they contactvthe successful person first and then let the others know thebposition has been filled. Same with a temporary job I worked a few months ago-they would offer the job to their candidate if choice, then send emails to the other candidates to tell them the job has been filled. In one case the person hired backed out before the others had been released, so they were able to fill the job with the next person in line. Once the candidates have been notified that the position has been filled, it has to be posted again if the chosen person backs out.