to wonder why it seems to be so hard for most organisations to send an email to tell a candidate they haven't got the job?

[IrianofWay]

Just a quick 'Dear candidate, sorry but you were unsuccessful this time'. Hell. even a text message would do.

Of course YANBU.

I hope you find a suitable job very soon.

Thanks but it's not me, it's my shy 18yr old DS. Who finds the whole business excruciatingly difficult. Having to try to sell himself, ring strangers up, troll round local business with his CV. But he's done it all. Had three interviews and not one response after the event.

Bloody rude. I am looking for a job right now and find it infuriating. I even had two interviews for one role and still haven't heard. Another pet hate is not even acknowledging that you even applied for a role !

"Another pet hate is not even acknowledging that you even applied for a role !"

Yep! He applied for about 17 jobs/apprenticeships in the last month - he got three interviews but for all the others just one 'thanks but not thanks' letter.

It's hard enough to motivate him as it is but even harder when he gets treated with such contempt.

I've been jobhunting for two years now. Most jobs I don't hear a single thing from. If I'm lucky I get a rejection email. Sometimes 6 months or more after the job closed, by which time I've forgotten I ever applied to it or what it even was You would think in this automated age of technology it wouldn't be hard to do...

I sympathise with your DS, but I'm afraid this sort of thing is normal, apparently. Please try to get him to see it's nothing personal - good luck to him! :)

I feel for your DS, I really do, but sometimes when you have over 300 applications for one job, HR or the recruiter can't always email everyone to reject them (particularly as, from experience, a generic "sorry, we're not taking your application any further" type email just makes people call or email you back wanting more feedback) - I try to whereever possible though, and almost always with the junior level candidates, especially if I can point them in the direction of something more suitable. I would suggest that he contacts the company directly if he's not heard anything within 2-3 days just to give them a nudge, even if it is a no.

However, for the companies to not come back to your DS after he's actually had an interview is just plain wrong and very unprofessional. Tell him that he's had a lucky escape from those sort of companies! Wishing him the best of luck.

Yanbu

I agree it's rude and infuriating and seems to be common practice these days. I could almost forgive a small company, but it seems more typical of large companies with HR departments.

I has always been the way (remember complaints all my life about it), have never get a single 'no thanks' letter ever.

so a job has 100 applicants, you want someone to sit and collate all those names to send an email, or even worse enter their phone numbers onto some system to send a text.

It's true- it's a huge job to collate the emails of all of those who did not get an interview and email them. And they will inevitably contact you to discuss the matter further. I know as I trialled this at work. There just isn't time unless we hire someone part-time to do just that 2-3 days a week.
I always give or arrange feedback for someone who has been interviewed though, and I make an effort to direct them to websites that they can research etc especially if they are inexperienced/young.
If the feedback wasn't offered, chances are if you request it, it won't be high quality.

In the past, when you applied for a job, you would receive a reply by letter, which cost money to send and time to type manually. Nowadays it's so much easier to send an email to a group. I really don't understand the reasoning that it's too much trouble. It's just rude, nothing else.

It hasn't always been that way though - when I was looking for jobs (many years ago) it was the minority of employers that didn't send a response. Now it seems to be most of them.

Regarding the interviews DS had had two of them were initial assessments through a FE college - in both cases a handful of candidates. It can't have been that many emails to send.

BTW I work in IT and it would be really simple to set up a basic database and generate auto-emails to all candidates.

I had an interview (I thought it had gone really well) and never heard back, despite the interviewer promising me that I would hear within two days. When I rang a week later, she said 'Oh, we were just going to write to you all'. Actually it made me glad that I hadn't got the job as they were obviously lying gits.
The irony came later when I had a mailshot from them - they ran self-esteem courses & the like - offering me this wonderful chance to pay them to go there, because 'we value you as a person'. Utter bollocks.
Am I bitter? Yes, because no-one likes being treated as if they don't matter. OP, YANBU, and best of luck to your DS.

I completely agree with you op. I'm job hunting and finding the exact same thing. No communication, not calling back after the interview. Asking for interview feedback and being told 'other candidates were stronger' I'm not asking for feedback on the other candidates interview I want feedback on mine .

I'm 6 months in and although getting interviews a lot of the jobs are already earmarked and are going to existing workers or 'friends and family'. It really is a case of who you know. There seems to be no acknowledgment of the preparation and hard work the candidates put into the application process.

I try hard to not take it personally but like your ds I find the process horrendous. It's very difficult and such a simple gesture of acknowledgement would mean so much to so many.

When I become CEO I will insists all applicants will be contacted!

YANBU. It's terrible when companies don't send a polite 'no thanks'. Especially when you've had to fill in their pointless application forms because they don't want CVs, or have wasted time filling in stupid questionnaires about how you'd treat customers etc.

I've now noticed a trend for HR departments not even getting back to you after interviews. You waste your time and money going to interviews, and just never hear a peep ever again.

One small company near me was advertising for a part time administration role. I had a first interview with the office and finance managers, went really well. Then for some reason I had to have a second interview with the director. Again, seemed to go ok, except for some unsubtle questions about whether I wanted more children. Never heard from the gits again. I called a week later just to see if they'd made a decision, a message was taken, but they never even called back. Such a disheartening experience.

It is pathetic to say that it's too much work to collate email addresses and send out a form rejection letter. Businesses used to write to people, so email must be quicker and easier.

Twenty minutes max to draft email. Probably less. A few hours to compile email addresses. I have done similar work so I know it's not that demanding.

There is no excuse whatsoever for such rudeness!

I also don't see why they can't include a sentence with the application form, saying that if the candidate doesn't hear within such and such a time, their application has been unsuccessful.

What message is this sending to applicants- you don't matter, we can't be bothered, we don't care!

Agree with Foxy, that is what I used to do when recruiting staff. Once the stated date has passed everyone knows the scene.

OP if your DS is posting applications nothing wrong with putting a stamped postcard in pre written saying application has been received and asking it be posted back to him.

My most cross-making one was Boots. Filled in their time consuming on-line application. Got a "You have been successful" email and a request to complete part 2 of time consuming on-line application. Got a message saying "You have been successful, we are passing your details to the manager at the store to which you have applied. The manager will be in touch to arrange an interview". Great! but the manager never got in touch and the website gave no indication of the name of the person or how to contact them. Tried calling the store, but they denied all knowledge. I think that all wasted about 4 hours of my time - which was annoying.

Would having 17 rejection letters make him feel better?
I would ask him to phone the places up that he had interviews for and ask for feedback.

A rejection letter or email gives closure and stops the applicant continuing to hope that perhaps they may still respond...

150/applicants per post- who exactly has time to sieve through their forms and pick out their email addresses,type them in, and send a standard rejection?
Most ads state explicitly, if you're not successful, you won't hear.
Only interview candidates get informed they're not successful.

PerspicaciaTick -- I applied for an Xmas temp job with Boots a couple of years back. IIRC, a couple of weeks after the application I got an e-mail asking me to choose an interview time, and this was all booked via the website.

Of course, I showed up and nobody knew what I was talking about! I think one of the team leaders had to interview me in the end as manager was on annual leave. At least they sent a rejection e-mail saying that they didn't have any shifts available for the hours I was available (couple of weekdays and all weekend). I'd told them of my availability when I first applied, so wasn't exactly happy about wasting my time going for that interview. Honestly, their whole recruitment process seems designed to waste as much time as possible.

It has always been this way. They have so many applications that I think most just get thrown into the bin. As a result, it's the done thing not to send any updates to unsuccessful candidates. The exception I'm guessing are those that are very very close and they might want you back if another post comes up? It's just another life lessons he has to learn. How long has he been looking? Three interviews is pretty good tbh.

However if he was interviewed, he should follow it up with a email/phone call. Did he feel he's done well in the interview? Ask in the interview when a decision would be made. Then you know when to follow up. If he's unsuccessful, ask why. Most likely you'll get a stock answer, but one of them might give some useful advice.

In my experience, if I don't hear within a day or two, you know it's unsuccessful. But it's dependent on the field. I usually go via agents and they always reply within a day if they think you are worth putting forward. And interview within a week. And in the interview, you'll get an idea how many other candidates have been booked for interviews. They'll usually interview the rest before making a decision, but in my current job, they told me the next day I've got the job and they've cancelled all the other candidates. Companies do want to fill their positions quickly. This is the private sector. I think the public sector has closing dates, instead of the first come first serve way of filling positions.