Is this normal procedure nowadays? - job related

[Fairyliz]

DD is currently unemployed and spending all of her time job hunting. She usually spends about 4 - 8 hours per application; researching the company, tailoring her CV completing forms etc.

For the jobs where she doesn't get an interview she never hears back from them, which I suppose is fair enough if say 100 people apply. However she has had several jobs where she has been invited for interview, had her interview and then never heard another thing! She does leave it several days and then contact them, but then gets a curt you were unsuccessful email with no real feedback.

What makes it worse is that these jobs have all involved travelling to cities over 100 miles away so £30 plus travel cost.

You might understand it if they were very small firms, but we are talking household names, a university and a council.

So AIBU to think she should have the courtesy of a phone call/email to tell her she has been unsuccessful at interview?

Some Companies wait until the appointed person has started work before sending out letters, just incase something happens and they need to offer the job to the next person. I've had regret letters months after interviews, for jobs I'd forgotten about.

Dh would spend a good day per application when applying for jobs, he would receive feed back from interviews, or ring and request it. It's really time consuming. My mum recruited for her charity, and to produce a successful application this was the amount of work required to be the successful applicant. (I've been self employed for nearly two decades, so this is as close as I get to the job market).

Has she tried going to the places she is interested in in person and talk to a manager about the positions posted?

Some companies do like when people take the initiative to come to them in person so they can get a feel for them and see if they are more than just qualified but would also suit the dynamic of the company.

What's her degree actually in?

How is she job hunting? LinkedIn?

Agree with Pilot12.

I was advised by HR not to tell people they were unsuccessful in case the first choice falls through. I had to offer one job to our second choice as the first choice asked for more money and we couldn’t give it.

I was advised by HR not to tell people they were unsuccessful in case the first choice falls through

I got my current job after having been told I was unsuccessful. Two days later the successful applicant declined the role so they phoned me back rather sheepishly. It put me in a VERY strong position to negotiate the hours I wanted

In my experience applications arriving after the first 24 hours can and are ignored. Sad but that’s the truth.

I think that’s appalling. If they specify a deadline date/time they should abide by it and consider all applications complying with the deadline.

Sadly applicants have to deal with the world as it is, not how we would like it.
Frankly a well researched covering letter with a CV arriving on day three might never be seen.

I think it's incredibly rude , I always ask for feedback even if I know I haven't got the job .

Unfortunately normal, and often HR departments will say that interviewers shouldn't provide feedback to unsuccessful candidates which I disagree with too as it's hard to know what the thing is that you're getting wrong at interview if nobody tells you.

Has she tried linkedin and recruitment companies for contacts? Always useful!

What about asking agencies for temp work posts for experience?

Job hunting is rubbish, I was looking on/off for two years and it got exhausting. I think it’s incredibly rude to invite someone for an interview, said person to look time off to come and never hear anything

I've been on the other side of this recently and selecting applications to call for interview. I've waded through almost 1000 CVs. Emailed to arrange interviews and then emailed the shortlist after interview for final interview.
I didn't get any extra time to do this on top of my normal workload, and was told up front that I wouldn't get overtime if I stayed late or started early because of this. So obviously they knew that it was likely to take some time. I did put all unsuccessful applications before first interview into one folder and sent a blanket reply - that's about 950 emails, and I got several back asking for more detailed feedback - over 100, I simply don't have time to do that unfortunately, though I gladly would if I could.
They're still dicking around deciding who they want at final interview, so I can't move forward with it at all, and I'm getting emails from candidates asking when they'll hear.
I think it's wrong to treat people like this, but ultimately it's pretty much out of my hands because the process is utter shit - bouncing applications from person to person for decisions that take far too long. It's an employers world, and really everyone is feeling the pinch from employers taking the hard line on everything. I don't agree with it, but I also don't work for free.

It is normal. You are unlikely to hear even after an interview unless they want you. I have had that happen even though it was a 1/2 a day long second interview.

My pet hate is local authorities who "have to advertise" because their rules say they must waste peoples' time applying and interviewing and then employ the person already doeing the job on secondment or as a temp.

Has she requested feed back?
I was always told interviewees could request and were entitled to feedback

We always reply to those that have had an interview. Really poor not to imo. I hope she finds something soon - has she practised interviewing with anyone to make sure she's coming across the best she can? I've interviewed a lot of young graduates really and was very disappointed in the majority of candidates. Poor answers, not asking good questions, not demonstrating real interest in the role etc.

The norm. But so rude. I hate it.

I can sympathize. I've had some horrible experiences lately trying to find a job. One where I went to the interview and whilst I was in the waiting area two members of staff were there, and one was coaching the other on how to get through the same interview. They were around a corner from me so couldn't see me but it was pretty obvious to me that I was there as a token gesture and they were going to give it to the internal person. When I got the inevitable rejection email I responded with a note of what had happened, expecting an apology of some sort but it was ignored.

Had another interview lately where I was told I would definitely hear either way the next day via phone call. Next day comes and no phone call. I give it a few days and email the HR team to confirm I was unsuccessful and ask for feedback and again, ignored.

I used to interview people and we'd always let the unsuccessful interviewees know.

I've noticed that recruitment has changed a lot lately. There are lots of roles offered as apprenticeships that really don't need to be, but it means they can pay £3.90 an hour. Recruitment websites are full of scam posts and it's almost a full time job just sifting through it all. Application processes are ridiculous. No one seems to want a CV it all has to be on a ridiculously long application form.

Honestly the whole process is doing my head in. I wish there was a website similar to GlassDoor where instead of what it's like to work there you could rate what it's like to apply for a job there so people know what they are letting themselves in for.

YANBU.

What especially annoys me about this is when they’ve gone to the trouble of creating a site that you upload your details to, it extracts data from your CV into a form and then asks you to do a test. But they for some reason can’t programme it to automatically send a ‘thanks but no thanks’ email?!

I'm terms of interviews... We take the view that we want candidates to walk away having had a positive interaction/experience with us even if we're not making an offer.

Someone who's not the right fit for today might be the perfect candidate in a few years. We might find ourselves needing to work cooperatively with them in their future role or we might be trying to win business from them in a future role. They might send business our way in future or have contacts who do.

And just generally we don't want to build a reputation for treating people badly!

I've had two wildly different experiences lately:

1. Called to two interviews for job, was down to me and one other. Heard nothing for 10 days after the day I was supposed to hear.

Then on day 11 they asked if I would speak to the CEO about a different role he wanted to offer me. I declined and said that I would never work for an outfit that had so little respect for potential employees. When there are TWO FUCKING PEOPLE to email, even if it's 'sorry, not reached decision yet, bear with' you just bloody do that. They were most put out I wouldn't consider the other role.

1. Applied for job, great and personalised communications from the outset - acknowledged receipt, gave date by which I'd hear if I was shortlisted, got the 'more applications, date for shortlist now later' (bcc'd to lots of us I guess). On that date, at 9.30, got a personalised email to say I was unsuccessful but offering a call to give feedback.

Missed that call as I was tied up at work, the lady even bothered to call back.

I emailed their CEO to say how amazing I thought HR were and to thank them sincerely for a pleasant and easy process.

Why? Why is it so hard to be option 2?
Mail merge to applicants to say 'sorry no'. Especially if you solicit online applications - it can be automated through a CRM or similar FFS.
Bcc email to notify shortlisted candidates of any delays.
Email the two/three/four/five/six people to say 'sorry, great interview but no' - just copy the email and replace the name.
It's rank bad business, bad manners and bad karma. Candidates get a choice if they want to work for your company you know. They aren't beggars at your grand table. It's fucking appalling.
As for 'unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted', well, you can shove that up your arse and I hope it chokes you. Maybe you did get 1000 applications. Not my problem. Mail merge was invented for precisely that circumstance. Frankly, even a platform like MailChimp would handle it in minutes.

I interview people and I always phone to tell candidates they were unsuccessful and offer feedback - it’s incredibly rude not to, though I have to admit it’s a job I hate doing! After reading some of these replies I’m wondering if I can just get away with emailing people in future and offering a phone call if they want feedback.

I’ve never record personalised feedback even when successful. Realistically there’s no reason why they would take time out of their working day to provide feedback to applicants - it’s a complete waste of resources.

Sadly I think it is normal. I work for a County Council, when we are recruiting we tell candidates when they should hear by and that if they are successful they will receive a phone call, if they are unsuccessful it will be a generic email from HR but please contact named person for feedback.

I think if companies can't even be bothered to contact you to tell you you've been unsuccessful, it doesn't reflect well on them.