If you’ve been looking for a job over the past few years, you’ve probably felt the deep frustration of never hearing back from your prospective employer. If it’s any comfort, you are definitely not alone. Recent research points to the following:
“A new survey finds that 75 percent of employed people who applied for a job in the past year never heard from at least one potential employer.
The results were part of a broad survey of more than 3,900 workers conducted last November by Harris Interactive for jobs website CareerBuilder. Of the 1,083 workers who said they had applied for a job in the past year, more than 800 reported never hearing a peep at least once.”
The current excuses given for not following up with employment candidates run from the high volume of respondents to the automation of the selection process. But whatever the reason, it’s clear that what used to be considered common courtesy in the interviewing process has fallen by the wayside. With high unemployment rates still looming, employers are foregoing callbacks due to a lack of time and resources within their own departments.
So, what does this mean for job seekers? It means that you will have to reset your expectations when it comes to the traditional interviewing process. If you have applied for a position and haven’t heard anything for weeks, feel free to contact the company to check in and see what the status is. If you don’t hear anything after that point, you should just consider that you didn’t make the cut.
If you do happen to make it as far as an interview, it’s always best to find out what the interview process is and what happens next. You’ll also want to ask permission to contact your recruiter or corporate representative if you don’t hear anything in in the prescribed amount of time.
Basically, don’t expect to hear from a prospective employer unless they are really interested in you. It’s a sad state of affairs, but the reality is that not many people have the time or are inclined to observe traditional business etiquette in these tough times.
