THE RESUME & INTERVIEW FEEDBACK "BLACK HOLE"....
Technology is advancing in every aspect of our society. New planets are being discovered, we are making progress fighting diseases, we have the ability to split atoms...
THEN WHY THE HELL CAN'T SOMEONE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MY RESUME HAS BEEN RECEIVED...OR AFTER MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS WHY DO I SUDDENLY HEAR NOTHING???
How many times have you heard about this "RESUME BLACK HOLE"?
I speak to candidates everyday who tell me "I sent my resume to the "Career" or "Current Openings" page on a corporate website and never heard back."
There are several reasons for this LACK OF CONTACT
- it still takes a human being to sift through the hundreds, sometimes thousands of resumes being received....and choose yours to respond to
- many job postings are "stale" or "bait" postings - simply meant to keep candidate traffic flowing into their resume database
- you may simply be UNQUALIFIED for the position you are applying to....and therefore - this lack of response is a true reflection of interest
- many of these sites are not used efficiently by corporate recruiters - resulting in resumes not being routed to the person posting the job
I have to admit - that I too have been guilty of a lack of response after receiving 300+ resumes for an ad I placed on HotJobs or LinkedIn.
Without some type of automated response - it is unrealistic to expect that an individual will reach back to you to just confirm receipt of your resume.
This black hole is very frustrating for me as a recruiter too. There are many employers that will "check their database" to see if they have the resume of a candidate I present. Regardless of whether anybody ever called/emailed the candidate or was even aware of who they were - I am prohibited from representing these candidates if they submitted their resume - up to 6 months back.
So...this means that a great candidate could have been sitting in some over sized INBOX for 5 months...with nobody even knowing they were there - until I present them (having been interviewed/screened for their job - with a stellar "write-up"). All I did, was call attention to the fact that they had this person & never knew it. They will not pay my fee because they had this resume in their "database".
The bottom line is that being referred by an employee or represented by a recruiter is still the most effective way to secure an interview with an employer. All resumes submitted to a site - must...at some point...be reviewed by a LIVE PERSON to determine if the candidate may warrant follow up.
The other issue I wanted to examine was the incredibly discourteous BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION that results in a candidate having no idea where they stand....even after multiple interviews that I refer to as the "INTERVIEW FEEDBACK BLACK HOLE".
This seems to be at epidemic proportions over the past 6-12 months. Almost every candidate that I speak to has a story that sounds like this:
"I went on multiple interviews...met everyone on the team...met HR...got great feedback along the way...and then suddenly --------- SILENCE".
My theory is that companies have felt they were in the "driver's seat" for quire some time now...and somehow the economic/employment conditions gave them the ability to overlook basic courtesy/professionalism. I believe they felt there is such a pool of talent out there who WANT or NEED what we have - that they could just conduct themselves they want.
Regardless of the circumstances contributing to this SILENCE --- there is no excuse!
Now...in defense of many of my HR/Recruitment partners - they are often perpetually waiting for the person that interviews/makes the ultimate decision to get back to them with feedback --- that just never comes!
But c'mon man...you bring someone in to your organization several times - over a period of weeks - sometimes months - at times that were inconvenient....and then ---- NO REPLY AT ALL??? These companies could have sent a form letter, a quick email, left a voicemail....SOMETHING. I mean...just make something up - as opposed to leaving somebody hanging...wondering!
It's a New Year...a different economy...and a different employment market. I will tell you
that candidates do not forget being treated disrespectfully/unprofessionally. As a result of their previous actions - many companies will miss out on the opportunity to even consider some stellar candidates in this economy. Candidates have options now...and they are poised to pass up an opportunity as a big F-U to a company they feel mistreated them in a previous interview process.
The key in either black hole scenario is to have a "solid point of contact" whenever possible. A specific person to send the resume to...or to follow up with after an interview. Silence is either a reflection of interest or a demonstration of unprofessionalism. Either way...you need to have the viewpoint - that it is their loss!!!
The times - they are a changin...and employers are once again competing for talent!
BE SELECTIVE
HAVE A PLAN
GET REFERRED OR BE REPRESENTED BY A RECRUITER LIKE ME :)
FIND OUT YOUR MARKET VALUE
GET INTO A JOB YOU WANT TO GET UP & GO TO EVERYDAY
"YOU CAN BLAME SEAN...BUT I DIDN'T INVENT THE GAME - I JUST ROLLED THE DICE...TRYIN TO GET SOME CHANGE" - JAY-Z
THEN WHY THE HELL CAN'T SOMEONE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MY RESUME HAS BEEN RECEIVED...OR AFTER MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS WHY DO I SUDDENLY HEAR NOTHING???
How many times have you heard about this "RESUME BLACK HOLE"?
I speak to candidates everyday who tell me "I sent my resume to the "Career" or "Current Openings" page on a corporate website and never heard back."
There are several reasons for this LACK OF CONTACT
- it still takes a human being to sift through the hundreds, sometimes thousands of resumes being received....and choose yours to respond to
- many job postings are "stale" or "bait" postings - simply meant to keep candidate traffic flowing into their resume database
- you may simply be UNQUALIFIED for the position you are applying to....and therefore - this lack of response is a true reflection of interest
- many of these sites are not used efficiently by corporate recruiters - resulting in resumes not being routed to the person posting the job
I have to admit - that I too have been guilty of a lack of response after receiving 300+ resumes for an ad I placed on HotJobs or LinkedIn.
Without some type of automated response - it is unrealistic to expect that an individual will reach back to you to just confirm receipt of your resume.
This black hole is very frustrating for me as a recruiter too. There are many employers that will "check their database" to see if they have the resume of a candidate I present. Regardless of whether anybody ever called/emailed the candidate or was even aware of who they were - I am prohibited from representing these candidates if they submitted their resume - up to 6 months back.
So...this means that a great candidate could have been sitting in some over sized INBOX for 5 months...with nobody even knowing they were there - until I present them (having been interviewed/screened for their job - with a stellar "write-up"). All I did, was call attention to the fact that they had this person & never knew it. They will not pay my fee because they had this resume in their "database".
The bottom line is that being referred by an employee or represented by a recruiter is still the most effective way to secure an interview with an employer. All resumes submitted to a site - must...at some point...be reviewed by a LIVE PERSON to determine if the candidate may warrant follow up.
The other issue I wanted to examine was the incredibly discourteous BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION that results in a candidate having no idea where they stand....even after multiple interviews that I refer to as the "INTERVIEW FEEDBACK BLACK HOLE".
This seems to be at epidemic proportions over the past 6-12 months. Almost every candidate that I speak to has a story that sounds like this:
"I went on multiple interviews...met everyone on the team...met HR...got great feedback along the way...and then suddenly --------- SILENCE".
My theory is that companies have felt they were in the "driver's seat" for quire some time now...and somehow the economic/employment conditions gave them the ability to overlook basic courtesy/professionalism. I believe they felt there is such a pool of talent out there who WANT or NEED what we have - that they could just conduct themselves they want.
Regardless of the circumstances contributing to this SILENCE --- there is no excuse!
Now...in defense of many of my HR/Recruitment partners - they are often perpetually waiting for the person that interviews/makes the ultimate decision to get back to them with feedback --- that just never comes!
But c'mon man...you bring someone in to your organization several times - over a period of weeks - sometimes months - at times that were inconvenient....and then ---- NO REPLY AT ALL??? These companies could have sent a form letter, a quick email, left a voicemail....SOMETHING. I mean...just make something up - as opposed to leaving somebody hanging...wondering!
It's a New Year...a different economy...and a different employment market. I will tell you
that candidates do not forget being treated disrespectfully/unprofessionally. As a result of their previous actions - many companies will miss out on the opportunity to even consider some stellar candidates in this economy. Candidates have options now...and they are poised to pass up an opportunity as a big F-U to a company they feel mistreated them in a previous interview process.
The key in either black hole scenario is to have a "solid point of contact" whenever possible. A specific person to send the resume to...or to follow up with after an interview. Silence is either a reflection of interest or a demonstration of unprofessionalism. Either way...you need to have the viewpoint - that it is their loss!!!
The times - they are a changin...and employers are once again competing for talent!
BE SELECTIVE
HAVE A PLAN
GET REFERRED OR BE REPRESENTED BY A RECRUITER LIKE ME :)
FIND OUT YOUR MARKET VALUE
GET INTO A JOB YOU WANT TO GET UP & GO TO EVERYDAY
"YOU CAN BLAME SEAN...BUT I DIDN'T INVENT THE GAME - I JUST ROLLED THE DICE...TRYIN TO GET SOME CHANGE" - JAY-Z
