MetaChat - Am I just a geezer?

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08 January 2008

Am I just a geezer? Or is it now standard practice for employers not to contact finalists letting them know someone else was hired for a job?→[More:] I interviewed for a job back in early December, and it was the full-court-press, all-morning, do a presentation, meet lots of people kind of thing. I was told "We'll get in touch with you very soon about our decision," and then ... nothing. I refrained from noodging people, having been on search committees before and knowing how slowly they can go, especially over holidays/during term break. Today I finally e-mailed and got a reply of (basically), "Sorry, yeah, we hired someone else."

It seems to me the height of rudeness and unprofessional conduct to not even fire off a form letter or an e-mail to finalists, in such situations; but a lot of younger friends of mine are telling me that that's standard operating procedure these days. So tell me, oh bunnies who are better connected to the real world than I: have we indeed come to this? What's been your experience?

post by: kat allison at: 15:45 | 22 comments

Most places I've interviewed for in the past never told me I didn't get the job except if it was a public sector type position.

posted by drezdn 08 January | 15:51

That's incredibly ill-mannered. Surely they could send a bcc'd email to all the unsuccessful candidates.

posted by essexjan 08 January | 15:53

My experience with single-person interviews (not as fancy as full court, to be sure) has shown it to be standard.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 January | 15:56

Welcome to Seattle. That's how they do it here. You get used to it. Eventually.

posted by bmarkey 08 January | 15:57

Fortunately, I've not been in your shoes in a while, so I cannot address your question, but...Sorry that you didn't get the position after all that work! It's a nasty world out there sometimes.

posted by mightshould 08 January | 16:03

It's pretty standard but certainly bad form. A company should want to be on the best terms with just about everyone it comes in contact with, especially those that it would consider hiring should an opportunity arise.

Hiring strategy is pretty pitiful across the board, and it's not limited to this.

posted by pokermonk 08 January | 16:05

My company does contact those that have come in for an interview, but not until the selected candidate has accepted the position, which can take a while sometimes.

posted by misskaz 08 January | 16:07

If I remember, it was about 50/50 for companies sending rejection letters or not when I was doing a lot of interviewing ten years ago. Usually the rejection was in the form of a postcard saying "We'll keep your resume on file for six months..."

posted by octothorpe 08 January | 16:07

I've never been contacted for a "no thanks". I call them and find out. Sometimes this makes me feel like a stalker who caused the "no thanks" by calling them all the time, but you get over that too eventually.

No wait, once I did get a "no thanks" letter, that must have been what, twelve years ago. I think I still have it, I knew that wasn't the norm in advertising.

posted by dabitch 08 January | 16:13

I've never gotten a notice of any kind. I've had to call THEM back and inquire. So, I get told to piss-off over the phone. Woopie! This is not enjoyable and almost always leads to eating junk foods and escapist napping.

posted by MonkeyButter 08 January | 16:15

A comment from a friend who'd had similar experiences: "I can take rejection; I just don't think I should have to pursue people in order to get it!" Which, yeah. (And, on preview, seconding MonkeyButter.)

Thanks to all for the reality check; I shall adjust expectations accordingly, grin, and bear it.

posted by kat allison 08 January | 16:17

But how will you change being an old geezer? I mean, will you have to put you teeth in and use a doughnut pillow to make the adjustments?

posted by MonkeyButter 08 January | 16:19

What misskaz said. I do a lot of the hiring here and in my previous job and I always, always send out an email. Actually, I send three: the first one to the people who get Noes right off the bat, the second to the maybe pile after everyone has weeded through them and the third to the interviewed candidates (and we usually interview four or five people full court press.) I just wait for that final email until I'm sure the chosen candidate has accepted, because I've had refusals and I don't want to start the whole process over again; I want to call the runner-up and say, hello, you are our first choice, start tomorrow. It strikes me as unbearably rude and sucky not to contact people and let them know they didn't get the job. Creeps.

posted by mygothlaundry 08 January | 16:21

Well, I'd better put my teeth in, if I'm going to be grinning and bearing it. (Now where the Sam Hill did I leave 'em? ... *shuffles through stacks of Readers Digest and AARP Magazine and Old Country Buffet coupons*)

MGL, that's just how I've always handled hires, so many thanks to you and misskaz for reassuring me that I'm not a lone kook, on top of being a geezer.

posted by kat allison 08 January | 16:29

I've gotten notice twice on jobs I didn't get. The first was from the autobot HR computer at a computer company telling that the req I had applied for had been closed but they would keep my resume on file (and they did, they actually contacted me a year later out of the blue on another job).

The other one was for a job that I applied to on a lark working in marketing for Williams Street. I got a T-shirt with [Adult Swim] Reject and a nice letter.

Welcome to Seattle. That's how they do it here. You get used to it. Eventually.

I had a phone interview with a company in Seattle* where the hiring manager specifically told me they'd let me know "one way or another" about my status and he hated that so many places didn't have the common courtesy to do that.

Except he didn't. The req is no longer on their hr site. But I didn't want to work there anyway.

*Redmond, actually.

posted by birdherder 08 January | 16:54

It's ill-mannered and very common now I'm afraid. I had one place not even bother to return my email or voice mail. mgl you are a class act.

posted by arse_hat 08 January | 16:56

Yes, it's become common, and I think it's appalling. Last time we hired someone, I emailed finalists, and called the in-house finalist. They've taken the time to come in, the least we can do is let them know. I got really steamed about this when I was interviewing. So, when you get a fabulous new job, make sure your company behaves batter. Sorry, I ranted.

posted by theora55 08 January | 18:07

This practice is rife and incredibly poor. If you're recruiting someone, your recruitment budget should include the cost of contacting unsuccessful candidates whether that be by email, phone or letter. Unfortunately it seems to be common practice for HR departments to, ironically, be poorly run. I suppose it depends on how much they truly value the "human" in "human resources". Are we humans or nothing more than a resource?

posted by TheDonF 08 January | 18:11

Plus, you are a geezer. So am I. I kind of like it.

posted by theora55 08 January | 18:12

Our HR director has been sending out "No thanks" letters all week. I think it would be incredibly rude to just ignore all of the non-qualified applicants.

posted by rhapsodie 08 January | 18:34

Mr. V is in charge of hiring for his company. He will tell prospective employees that they need to have clean driving records and be able to pass drug tests, otherwise they're wasting their own time and his. If they should fail, yes, he does call them to let them know. He does it professionally, but he admits to doing it for his own satisfaction. He'd love to say, "See? I told you not to waste our time if you knew you wouldn't pass!" But he does refrain from that verbal version of "Nyah nyah!"

posted by redvixen 08 January | 19:08

I've only ever gotten one rejection letter.

posted by Eideteker 09 January | 09:47

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