To think employers that won't provide feedback on job applications are BU?

[NeverInDoubt]

I thought it was the recommended thing, and totally normal and expected/encouraged these days, to ring the HR department of a company and ask for feedback for why your job application wasn't successful.

However, I am noticing more recently that the 'not successful this time' email is more commonly including a phrase along the lines of 'individual feedback can not be given'.

AIBU to think these companies are BU?

and

Would I BU to just ask for it anyway, on the basis of 'what have I got to lose'??

Of course it would be nice but people just don't have the time.

I'm in a job that I want to leave at the moment and have sent out about 30 applications. Most employers haven't got back to me at all. Not even a standard email to say I'm not getting an interview - this I think is rude. But I don't expect feedback on my application. Just a simple acknowledgement would be good.

Good luck with your search it is hard!

I would only request feedback if had got as far as interview.

Last interview I did was a 2 hour one including a 1 hour computerised skills test. I was on a shortlist of 3. Bastards couldn't even be bothered to tell me I was unsuccessful let alone why! Public sector org as well.

We get hundreds of on spec CVs along the advertised job applications. Would have to employ someone full time to reject them! Our adverts advise if you haven't been contacted after such and such a date, you've not been selected for progression to interview and if we have to re-advertise we tell previous applicants not to apply

YABU

I work for a very large company. Last year, we had just over 30,000 CVs submitted. No way could that level of feedback be given for even 1% of that number.

YABU

I understand that it would be nice to know why you have not been shortlisted, but it is not possible with the number of applications that can come through for jobs.

Some HR recruiters will have 30+ live jobs at any one time, they will get cv's from agencies, and direct applicants, they can get over 100 for each job. It is not possible to reply with feedback on each one, they would never get their jobs done.

However I would have thought if you are applying for specialist roles that require so much preparation, then there would not be a high volume of candidates, then it might be worth trying to follow up.

Have you gone to a specialist recruitment agency in your field? Maybe they could give you advise on which jobs to apply for and how to do your application to increase your chances of an interview.

Autumn, most large companies have dedicated HR staff who look after recruitment and a system that tracks it all. It is not difficult to have a standard 'thank you for applying, but on this occasion your application has not progressed' email that you can send to all the unsuccessful candidates.

I maintain that if a candidate spends the time and effort to write an application then it is not too much to expect some sort of acknowledgement in return.

We don't give feed back to applicants, just interviewees.

In fact we'd probably have to employ someone full time to give feedback to applicants, and half of the time the feedback would be 'we can tell this application has clearly been submitted to appease draconian jobcentre rules and prevent sanctions rather than any desire or ability to do the job and we would be wasting both of our time inviting you to interview'.

I do occasionally provide feedback for junior level roles which tend to be college or uni leavers off-spec - these are rarely advertised as we don't need to. It's difficult to thin down applications as we don't expect them to have any relevant experience, most have good grades and an interest in the area. For example, last September I contacted one to suggest she make her cv look more professional - clip art is not appropriate on a cv. I did try to say it nicely!

KP86, I'm still waiting for a theme park to get back to me about the summer job I applied for and had an interview for Summer 1991

I don't think I got the job

Why don't you just make a SAR to the organisation? They'll have to give you any info they hold about you, including any notes made about the merits of your application form.

A lot pf places don't even acknowledge that they've received your application I think an automated, Dear Applicant thank you for your application blah blah blah would suffice instead of outright ingoring it

As pps have said due to the volume of applicants yabu to expect feedback at initial application. Yanbu after interviews. As an organisation we used to provide detailed feedback on every application but this has had to be scrapped due to the time and costs involved. It was very frustrating as an employer to have to spend time writing constructive feedback for the large numbers of applicants who were clearly applying to hit the targets set to get their benefits rather than actually being interested in the post.

Of the remainder of rejected applications it largely came down to candidates ignoring the requirements of the application form. If you have ignored the format of the application form and clearly not read any guidelines on what is required you can't expect the employer to spend time trying to find the evidence they are looking for - not least because it would be unfair on the candidates who did complete it as requested.

You could try ringing the organisation ahead of filling in the application and asking what they are looking for. It can be a positive first impression and a general chat about the post can highlight what the criteria are so that you can ensure your application reflects that.

Having spent the last 5 months applying for jobs here and there I do see where you're coming from.
It may be useful to get an outsider to read your application/CV and get them to check you're being succinct and answering directly the questions being asked, making sure you're linking back each time you make a point, that you are explaining how you meet the skills criteria and how your previous roles have given you transferrable skills.
I probably applied for 10 jobs and was very surprised that they all got in touch to say i wasn't selected for interview - I wasn't expecting anything at all! Out of those 10, I was even more surprised that one of them offered feedback on my application if I had asked for it. I didn't pursue as I had been offered a job by someone else in the end but if I had, I would have been more useful to you because it may have given you some idea of what's going wrong.

It is really frustrating not knowing, in my case, I put it down to having been a SAHM for over 10 years and so no recent employment, which must seem offputting. However, how does that change if no one gives you a chance?

Unfortunately, I think whoever reads the forms must sift and sort according to a list of priorities and if you don't fit the first one or two, you get shredded. It's just not viable to send tailored emails to everyone, however You would have nothing to lose by phoning and asking where you went wrong, the worst they can say is no.

Good luck, I found the whole process soul destroying to be honest, it's hard going. I and many others know how long it takes to put in an application.

12-15 HOURS for each application? Nearly 2 full working days?

How can that possibly be?

You cannot seriously be spending 15 hours on an application?! . What on earth do you say...

Lovewineandchocs - I would be very surprised if there is anything written down for an unsuccessful candidate at application form stage. We get sent a bundle and pick the ones we think fit the spec best and ask the resourcing team to set up interviews with them. We don't provide any written or even verbal feedback on the rejections unless we feel that a recruitment agency is sending totally inappropriate cvs.

If someone made a SAR request they wouldn't get anything. We'd all be so shocked that it would be the talk of the team and the person would never get a lookin for any future vacancy.

If you want feedback, you could ask HR politely to see if anyone can provide and you might get lucky.

Yes, unless you are in academia 12-15 hours is an awful long time. Is this reflected in the length of the application?

Agree with much of the above. It's not uncommon for me to get over 100 applications when recruiting, it simply isn't feasible to give individual feedback. We do always send out ' application unsuccessful ' emails though.
I am always happy to offer feedback to those I've interviewed though, and consciously build that into my planning when recruiting.

nulgirl yes, if they're not invited to interview, in general applications get chucked. We certainly don't make any notes on why we think they might not be suitable.

Organisations that only process data for staff admin purposes including payroll don't have to register with the ICO & so are exempt from SAR

YABU. Companies are there to make money. Is giving feedback to loads of unsuccessful applicants who sent in a poor CV going to make them money? No. There's your answer.

I think it can depend on the industry/ job you're applying for.

Where I work we do competency based application- those awful ones where you have 250 words to write an example to show how you meet the competencies. To sift these we grade the answers and the candidate would get this grade. But its 2 or 3 words per answer. not useful feedback. To do tgat would take far too long.

I think it's interesting to see how many recruiters are saying that most of the time the reason is 'because you don't meet the criteria'. Because often on a thread about job hunting you get loads of posters saying that you can never expect to get anywhere if you're not willing to push outside your comfort zone and apply for things you believe you can do, rather than things you've done in the past.

The problem is that you don't know which potential employers will be impressed with your go getting willing to learn attitude and which will think you're a timewaster.

I fall into the 'must meet every requirement before I apply' school of thought, but then where I live, that is pretty much set in stone.

I've employed people who don't meet some of the criteria. But their application states how they plan to get around that/work towards meeting that criteria.

It takes bloody forever to put together even a few lines - you need to reread interview notes, write something that's not totally crushing (even if they were awful) and be honest, and kind without raising false hopes. And give them something they can work with that's helpful. And not say anything that could in any way be misinterpreted as biased or discriminatory in any way. And if they just missed it you also want to say please apply again - we actually do mean it you know, not just saying that.

And then the bloody agency probably won't even pass it on, because the recruiter will have dropped the candidate like a hot potato now there's no fat commission in sight.