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.

I think he might have got one of the apprenticeships he went for. Second interview went really well and has to go for a taster day to see how he gets on. Best of all he's really excited about it.

This really gets on my tits. Applying for a job takes a lot of time and effort, going for interviews even more so. It's the least any decent company can do to contact the unsuccessful candidate and let them know. It takes 30 seconds to set up a mail dump based on a spreadsheet of names and email addresses, saying they have a lot of candidates to contact is no excuse.

Fingers crossed for your DS Irian! Applying for jobs is really soul destroying when you continually hear nothing back so glad it looks like moving forward!

Good luck!

YADNBU!!!
DH was out of work for years and applied for more than 350 jobs.The standard 'thing' was to put on application forms that 'if you haven;t had a response within 3 weeks of the closing date, then please assume that you have been unsuccessful'.Absolutely bloody infuriating!!!! If the closing date was 2 weeks after DH had applied, he would then spend 5 weeks constantly checking emails and stalking the postman-then get massively pissed off because he hadn't heard anything.....or what if they didn't get his application......or he'd sent it to the wrong place....
An email would've saved a lot of grief!

When I first started out, you would pretty much always get a rejection letter through the post. Now you're lucky if you hear back after an interview. It sucks.

I've even had agencies contact me about a job, leave a message and when I've replied about half an hour later I can't get hold of them/they don't return the call. Sadly now, I rarely bother to call agencies back unless I am truly interested as it much easier to deal with companies directly.

I advertised 3 part time vacancies and had 1146 applicants.

Would anyone like a job replying to all the rejected candidates?

I don't think it's that bad to not respond to the initial application but overall I think the whole recruiting thing is crap in general - too much smoke and mirrors. Surely the whole process would be much better if everything was more transparent.

"We like your CV, but we have also got some candidates with stronger experience in XYZ who we would like to see first. If it's ok with you, can we update you in 48 hours on where we are at?"

"Thanks for coming to the interview. Our policy is to see everyone on the shortlist before making a final decision. We have 47 more people to see. We're hoping to do this over the next 3 weeks, and then the line manager is out for 2 weeks and it's then time for the Annual Faff which takes up 5 days, so it'll be about 6 weeks before you hear back from us."

I realise I'm in the minority here, but I hate it when companies contact me to tell me that I haven't got the job. I just find it so disheartening when I've had an interview and the phone rings or I get an e-mail only to be told "unfortunately, you haven't been successful this time.

If I haven't got the job, I don't want you to tell me I haven't bloody got it. Just don't bother contacting me if I haven't got the job. I only want to be contacted if I've got the job.

I actually have a job right now which I'm happy with and am not job hunting right now however when I was job hunting and attending interviews, nearly every single one of them would contact me to tell me I hadn't been successful. I hated it and would much prefer they didn't contact me at all.

It also makes applicants think less of the company.

Does it?

It certainly doesn't make me think less of them.

I always respond to all applicants as I think it's only polite. My heart does sink a little though when people ask for detailed feedback as to why their application was unsuccessful.

If you've been interviewed it's common courtesy to send out a letter to let you know if your unsuccessful. I am still waiting to hear about a job I went for a second interview with and was told I would be informed later that week. That was 11 years ago, the company has since folded.

If you've been interviewed it's common courtesy to send out a letter to let you know if your unsuccessful.

But why?

Do you not find it really disheartening to get an e-mail/phone call/letter only to find out you haven't got the job?

I know I do.

Better to find out and move on than to waste a week in false hope.

waste a week in false hope.

People actually do that ? Why?

As far as I'm concerned, once an interview is over, it's over. I have already moved on when it's finished and I'm back to job hunting again.

If I've got the job, they'll contact me. If I haven't got the job, they won't. Or at least that's how I wish it worked for me. Even when I haven't got the job they still contact me to tell me I haven't got it. Why contact me then, you muppets?

There really is no reason to "waste a week in false hope".

I just think it's impossible to please everyone.

On one hand you've got people who prefer to be told they've been unsuccessful after an interview and get disheartened when they aren't told.

On the other hand you have people like me who hate being told they were unsuccessful and would prefer to have no contact unless the job is yours.

How do you please them both?

I'm just glad I have a job I like now and don't have to go through this.

Because obviously because they're hoping they've got the job and working on the 'no news is good news' mantra.

Not that confusing really.

I realise that people like the OP and others on this thread might find it hard to understand people like me who only want to get that phone call if the job is yours.

But the thing is, there are people who genuinely do prefer not to be told after an interview if they've been unsuccessful and only want to be contacted if they have been successful. I think that often gets forgotten about in threads like these and it's just assumed that everyone wants that call or e-mail if they haven't got the job. That isn't the case.

At the end of the day, you can't please everyone.

If every single employer decided to send a rejection e-mail out to every unsuccessful applicant, even those who had been interviewed, it would seriously piss me off and drive me crazy.

On one hand you've got people who prefer to be told they've been unsuccessful after an interview and get disheartened when they aren't told.

How do you please them both?

I'm not concerned with pleasing everyone. I work on the assumption that most people prefer acknowledgement of their application so therefore I contact everyone and let them know if they've been successful in securing an interview or not. If someone is offended by my method it's really not my problem.

Because obviously because they're hoping they've got the job and working on the 'no news is good news' mantra.

That makes no sense.

You can't really apply the "no news is good news" mantra to job applications. If it was good news then the employer would contact you to tell you the good news, therefore giving you news.

Honestly I've never met anyone who's attended an interview and not wanted to be contacted even if unsuccessful.

It may be what you like but it's not the norm. Most people would be seriously pissed off if they didn't even receive a 'thanks but no thanks' email or letter.

You can't really apply the "no news is good news" mantra to job applications. If it was good news then the employer would contact you to tell you the good news, therefore giving you news

You think job offers are always decided on the day of interview?

I've worked in places where the successful interviewee is informed over a week later. This isn't all that unusual.

If you've been looking for a job for a while and have fallen at the application stage and then get an interview after hundreds of applications sent seemingly into thin air you are going to have hope that this one might be the chance that you've been waiting for. If you then get no reply at all then you are left feeling disheartened, especially if you feel the interview went well.

I actually ask whether they will be letting people know regardless of the outcome, at least then it's possible to manage expectation iyswim.

I do understand that not being told at the application stage is normal, and I don't really have an issue with that. I've applied for so many jobs now that I send the application and then forget about its existence. I also am less bothered about not getting a job at application stage because so many companies have such varying criteria over how they recruit that sometimes if your application is even seen at all is down to sheer luck.

But by the time you get to interview stage they've narrowed that down to the last ten, twenty applicants at most. If someone can spend an hour interviewing each and every one of those they can spend five minutes sending a rejection email. it's incredibly arrogant to suggest that the employer's time is oh so precious but the perspective employee's time spent filling in an application, preparing for the interview, possibly even spending money on an outfit to attend said interview isn't worth so much as a "thank you for attending the interview for unfortunately you were not successful on this occasion."

I'm not concerned with pleasing everyone. I work on the assumption that most people prefer acknowledgement of their application so therefore I contact everyone and let them know if they've been successful in securing an interview or not. If someone is offended by my method it's really not my problem.

Nobody is talking about being offended here. I also don't think you understand what I'm saying. Then again, your post above just proves the point I've been trying to make so you're unknowingly agreeing with me.

The OP started this thread because she was annoyed that employers don't contact applicants to tell them they were unsuccessful to which people replied, mostly agreeing with her. The assumption being that everyone wants to hear from employers if they've been unsuccessful and get frustrated when they don't.

I was simply pointing out to them that this isn't the case for everyone. Some people don't want to be told they've been unsuccessful and find it annoying when they are told. They just want to be contacted if they've got the job, not if they haven't.

You say "if someone is offended by my method it's really not my problem", well yes and that's exactly my point. You choose to contact people who have been unsuccessful. That's your call.

However other people choose not to contact unsuccessful applicants and that's also their call. To quote yourself, if other people such as the OP and others is offended by that particular method then that's their problem, not the employers.

I have to grit my teeth and get on with it every time I get a rejection e-mail whilst thinking "piss off, why are you telling me I've been rejected?" whereas other people, such as the OP, have to grit their teeth and get on with it every time they don't hear anything.

Honestly I've never met anyone who's attended an interview and not wanted to be contacted even if unsuccessful.

I've met quite a few people who don't.