Monthly Archives: October 2013

Slow employer responses? Yep, the new normal

Jobseekers – you are not alone!
Are you getting no or slow responses from employers after submitting your resume or after you have been interviewed? You are not alone and you should not take it personally. It seems there is a new “normal” going on in the hiring process. Read on to the end of this blog to see my interpretation of the new rules of engagement with employers and what you should do.

Let’s take a look at this for a minute.
You send your resume to an employer and there is no return email notifying you that your resume was ever received. Now you’re left to wonder if your resume ever got there. It’s kind of like sending a letter to Santa Clause. You know you sent it but did he ever get it? So you give it about a week and you start to get annoyed. You know you have the qualifications… so, why no reply? This is the new normal. Or, let’s say you have already had the chance to have your first phone interview. Wow, that interview went well! But, days and weeks go by and there is no follow up call from the employer. You are never informed that you didn’t get the job offer so now you are left to wonder if a hire actually even took place. Your interaction with the employer is left to what amounts to a slow death. It happens all the time.
This is not true for all employers. Many do it correctly and that’s the type of company you should be seeking to gain employment. Yes, there are still many good employers that follow a more professional and courteous set of standards.

So what’s going on???
Let’s give the employer the benefit of the doubt. It’s very easy for jobseekers to apply for multiple jobs, thus filling the employer’s inbox. Pity the poor hiring manager that is swamped with resumes. There are so many applicants that it becomes impossible to respond to all of them. I understand their predicament and we’ll give them a pass. Yep, it’s the new normal.
However I will not give employers a pass after they have conducted any part of the interview or made direct personal contact with you in any way. I’m not talking about a form letter response. They owe you a response such as an “up or down vote” or a “play me or trade me” type response. But, you didn’t get one….you are not alone. Yep, it’s the new normal

What do you do?
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