I know they're not obliged to reply but....

[NoisyBrain]

Maybe I'm being a sensitive little snowflake but I just find it rather depressing that a business CBA to even have a token "Thanks but we're not hiring" standard email ready to send in reply to someone who has taken the trouble to email them.

I've reached out speculatively to a couple of local creative agencies recently, just to sound them out informally about whether there may be any employment opportunities with them, in a concise, polite, professional email. I have over 20 years' experience in their industry, so it's not like I'm some 'wet behind the ears' hopeful.

I spoke to a friend who runs an agency in another area and he admitted that they don't reply to speculative emails, though he acknowledged that they should really out of courtesy.

AIB too sensitive or is it just rude? It can't take that much effort to fob someone off can it? I'd be interested to hear from anyone who receives speculative emails in their line of work. If you ignore, what's the reason? (I'm genuinely interested to know, not going to attack anyone for it! lol) Is there something I could include in the email that would make it more likely to receive a reply?

Unfortunately I think many people are just too busy. I receive loads of unsolicited emails. And I find it hard enough keeping on top of my real business emails. So the unsolicited ones tend to get binned quickly.

You've mentioned reaching out to creative agencies. Can you approach them in a different way (eg post not email) and include samples of your work? That might have more impact.

YANBU, I've sent two speculative messages internally in the last 2 weeks & has no reply which has shocked me, I would always reply internally.
If I received a speculative message externally, I would wonder how they got my email address firstly, but I may or may not reply, depending how busy I was when I read the message. If I replied, it would risk opening a conversation that I don't want /have time to have. I am also always extra conscious of bias and employment law so saying nothing is a 'safe' option.

However, YABU to reach out, did your email use that phrase? If so, I would've hit delete instantly.

Haha, no Chewbacca I definitely did not use 'reach out' in the email. Or 'touch base'

The email addresses of the people I contacted are publicly available on their website. If they had replied with "Thanks for your interest but we're not hiring in the foreseeable future" I would take that as meaning conversation over and leave them alone, but I appreciate that not everyone would take the hint.

I suppose I'm just feeling rather despondent after applying for 4 advertised jobs in the last 3 months and not even getting an interview. I know I'm good at what I do but it's hard to stay positive in the face of repeated rejection (actually it's not even rejection, it's more like deafening silence!)

Chewbecca even. Attention to detail is one of my strong points, ahem.

Lots of companies don't bother to reply when you put in an application for a job they are advertising if they aren't going to interview you. So yes, you are expecting too much from an unsolicited email.

Ah, it is tough I think.

Are you going via agencies for the applications? They sift so much, employers often don't see many of the apps at all. Which I guess is the idea but my point is you may not be even be rejected by the employer. Are you friendly with the agents, have you got one hunting on your behalf and "selling" you?

I've noticed in the last few years that CVs (when not re-hashed into the agents standard format) are increasingly, well, funky for want of a better word. Mine looks staid and grey in comparison. & this is in accountancy, I can't imagine how funky a CV for a creative job needs to be.

My husband recruits a lot and would respond only if you were lucky enough to catch him at the time he was looking. He gets too many speculative to respond to all apparently.

Good luck with the hunt.

One of the jobs I applied for was through an agency whose books I'm on (and I actually got feedback to say there were other candidates with more of the specific experience they were looking for) but I can't recall about the other 3 jobs - they were featured on Indeed and Totaljobs.

I emailed another two local creative agencies over the weekend and just to restore my faith in humanity a little, one of them replied today. Although it was to say they aren't recruiting at the moment, it was still a really nicely worded email.

Thanks for wishing me luck, I know I just need to keep plugging away.

It is soul destroying. I know its because of the reasons named above - too busy, too many emails - but it feels like youre not worthy of a standard email reply. Equally bad is when you dont get called after an interview.