By Ari Herzog
I responded to a job ad in July 2012 to work for an organization as their digital marketing manager.
The recruiter contacted me a week later on LinkedIn and scheduled a phone interview, followed by an on-site interview in August with a 4-person team.
The day after that interview, I said thank you.
I emailed my prospective colleagues a thank you note and indicated my excitement and passion for the position. I wrote that digital marketing was hardly a job to me but an extension of who I am. I said I wanted the process to continue and looked forward to a follow-up interview.
That follow-up interview never came.
Nothing came — until this week when I received a generic email with standard text. I’m sure you’ve seen it before.
After careful review of all applications for this position, interviews, and follow-up discussions with management staff, another applicant was selected to fill this position. As is often the case, the choice was difficult; each applicant offered a unique combination of skills and experience.
No kidding.
After 5 months, I could have written that myself.
Dear recruiters and prospective employers: If you’re not interested in a candidate, please tell that person. Thank the person for coming in and politely decline a follow-up interview.
I can take your rejection.
Other candidates can take your rejection.
Say thank you as soon as possible, not five months later.
About Ari Herzog
Totally agree!
… agree … “recruiters” aka petty functionaries.
IMHO, if you cannot (for whatever reason) meet with the decision maker, ONE ON ONE (no gang-bang interviews), then save your time.
“Human resources” (an inherent oxymoron) — paper-shuffling clerical parasites, far removed from actual job performance experience.
Hehe That is the best way to deal..Agree
Totally Agree!
This is how recruiters get bad names! I am a recruiter for Digital Media Ad Sales and Marketing and i would never leave one of my candiates hanging.
Please don’t drop all recruiters because you have had a bad experience with one, we are not all like that.
My issue wasn’t even with the recruiter — but the bureaucracy, the process. What’s the value in emailing me five months after the interview?
Although five months is a bit rediculous, let me explain why I believe this happens. When the client does not make a decision there is always the chance that the client will decide to bring the candidate back in. If the recruiter calls the candidate and tells him/her it is dead, the candidate will never be interested again. If the recruiter knows the candidate has been screened out, they should tell the candidate as soon as possible after the client makes that decision. It is not a fun call but an obligation of the recruiter. I try when possible to go a step further and get feedback to help the candidate interview better the next time.
Would your answer differ if the recruiter was an employer of the organization and not an outside person?
Hi Ari:
Your experience related above is partially why I got out of Fortune 1000 corporate recruiting in 1986 and became a skin in the game headhunter for private equity firms. For one thing, no HR “professionals” involved. In my opinion lack of a timely thank you has become epidemic behavior in general in the business world;courtesy is in a down spiral.
Ari, I won’t defend the employer, but I’ll give another possible explanation (this happens more than you think), having worked in a number of large corporate recruiting departments: Due to a key decision-maker in the hiring department leaving the company, a hiring freeze within the department (or company) or something else along those lines, the job was put on hold for 4 months. So actually you got your reply only a month after active interviewing. Nevertheless, I agree that the candidate experience was severely lacking (you should’ve gotten more than the form email generated by the applicant tracking system), but again, when a large company has 1,000+ job openings per year and an average of hundreds of candidates per opening, you can see why automation is often employed on these kinds of communications. The white glove treatment is typically given to people who make it to final interview stage: these are candidates who probably would be selected for another similar role if it opened up, so the recruiter should want to keep in touch with them, at least.
Hi Ari – and others,
As a lifelong and experienced career coach and now a recent freelance “recruiter”, I say be careful of your assumptions. The right recruiter, namely one who works in your field with employers and candidates who would like you and are like you, and does it successfully every day and all the time- is your friend. You must understand that a traditional “Headhunter” is working for an employer (perhaps retained by that employer) or is searching for an employer to match his or her known candidates (most likely called contingent). They focus on finding the best square pegs for the square holes. That is what their customer, XYZ corporation, will pay them for. BUT, like anything else in life, timing is key – and unpredictable. We have an opening. Everyone is all excited about hiring and being hired for a great job-tomorrow. Then theres a freeze or a vacation or an illness or whatever. We as recruiters have little control over these things. Or maybe we filled the position we were considering for you and now must wait for another. So if you’re dealing with the wrong recruiter ask for a referral to a better one – for you. If you are a career changer, personal networking will be a much more effective strategy for you than recruiting in most cases, unless you are willing to consider doing another job using your best skills even if you are tired of using them. Remember what I just wrote about square pegs. Finally, beware what you say and write about “recruiters” headhunters” HR, and so forth. Trying to bash or deceive or bypass them is futile or foolish, really. I realize this may sound cruel. If I don’t get back to you quickly, then please ask me again. I don’t mind that. I’d rather have it that way. It’s hard as a freelancer to keep in touch with everyone all the time. But if you stick with it, and give the recruiters a break, too, they will do their job and may get you one too. They are like a realtor. They get paid for making a match and getting an agreement. Their reputation depends on it. Sooner or later some kind of in house HR representative will be checking you out, references, organizational fit, salary and so forth. You cant really get around them. So embrace it. Thats my two cents. By the way, if you are or know a small business b to b type account manager or executive looking for a new opportunity pretty much anywhere in the US I know of some.
Well said Neil and no objection. My point was not to bash anyone, least of all the recruiter; but to point out how the entire HR process is flawed. If it worked, everything written above would be moot.
Ari,
Unfortunately, your thesis that the system is flawed is right most of the time. I do have many clients however that are very considerate of the candidates who apply and understand that the company’s reputation is affected by how the recruiting process works. I also happen to think that you can tell a lot about a company by how they treat people during the hiring process.
Yeah, I agree. I’ve been left hanging on waiting and waiting many times, too. I’m always surprised, somehow. I guess I expect better treatment from professionals who are in the career services biz, like I am. With all the so called advances in automation, its easier to get a reminder from the bank to pay the credit card balance every month than it is to get an receipt or update on a job application. Oh well. It’s the lawyers. Frankly, people in business are skittish to say no. Maybe you were too old, young, blue, weird, whatever. That’s why it’s so hard to do what every good career book will tell you to do when you don’t get a job, namely call and ask for feedback questions. Good luck with that!
Get over yourself. it takes a while to fill certain positions. Hiring managers are more concerned with finding the right person than dealing with how a candidate’s feels.
It’s life and business.
Put on your big boy pants, man.
I can’t agree more..employers are not doing this because they want to have a pool of candidates to replace the one they hired just in case he/she did not perform as expected..that’s their safety net to be assured that the project will still push thru..I know, it’s sooo unfair