Are you waiting to see if you got the job?
Why don’t companies say “Yes” or “No”? What can I do about it?
Most of your frustration in a job search comes down to 3 situations at the company you are applying for.
First the receptionist is told:
“Jill, there are 250 resumes in my in-box. Please go through them and give me the 10 best resumes. Throw the rest away.”
Maybe the hiring manager was told:
“We’ve got to redo our budgets. Put everything on hold.”
Or, the recruiter is told:
“We have a candidate we like better, but we want you to keep Jim warm, okay? We might end up hiring Jim if this other guy doesn’t work out. Don’t tell Jim anything.”
Those are the three scenarios that account for most of the frustration in a job search. In either case you will get no useful reply to your job inquiries. In the first case, you will never get a reply. In the last two cases they may be forbidden to give you a reply.
You still should call and ask for information about your application. Many times your call will cause them to pick up your resume one more time and take another look. One unusual
company I know of rarely hires someone unless they have called 3 or more times. I only know of one company that does that as policy. I know a lot of companies that need their memory to be jogged.
If a company is hoping to hire you, that’s good. It may be frustrating to wait for a month while they make up their minds, but so what? If another job comes along, take it. Anytime you go two weeks without an interview or an offer, assume the job is on hold while they look at other candidates. Call regularly, look for another job, but leave yourself available in case something good happens. What can it hurt to be patient?
Deal with reality. At the job you apply for, and get no response whatsoever, they are trying to work quickly. If it takes one minute apiece to answer each of 250 job inquiries, that is over 4 hours of drudge work. That’s why most companies don’t reply anymore. The time it takes is too great. Many times you won’t get an answer. That’s reality. If you follow up with a call, you have a little better chance of something happening. That’s also reality.
Don’t get mad, deal with reality. No one wants to insult you. It is best not to be offended. Just accept the fact that unless you are hired, your job application will end up in limbo, not in a straightforward “Yes!” or “No.” Deal with it. Follow up, but also keep your job search active.
Something To Do Today
Call the companies that have not given you a final response every week or two. Jog their memories. Don’t get mad, just let them know you are still interested.
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Tomorrow: The company’s reputation
Later: Lose 10 pounds in 3 days–is not job hunting
Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone? (James Thurber)