EXPERT WARNS EMPLOYERS: ‘BLANKING FAILED APPLICANTS IS REDUCING YOUR PROFITS’
Companies who claim they only have time to reply to successful candidates are risking the reputation of their brand, an industry expert has claimed.
Will Shepherd, Managing Director of recruitment specialists PPS Works, warned that arrogant attitudes towards unsuccessful candidates are costing employers custom – as ignored applicants punish them by shopping with their competitors in future.
“If a young graduate invested several hours applying to one of the big supermarkets and felt hurt by a lack of courtesy, you could see the competitor finding a new customer by this channel,” Shepherd explained. “We all know consumers can be very fickle and poor treatment is a good reason to spend elsewhere.”
He also warned recruiters not to use the current ‘buyers market’ as an excuse for dismissing the hard work that candidates put in to their applications.
“The difficult jobs market means employers really do have the pick of the cream of the crop right now, but they should treat with caution those who do not make the cut.
“Whist job applicants realise they are not going to get every job they go after, they will have invested a substantial amount of their time in job hunting, which is an arduous process. Many will feel they are within their rights to expect at least some form of communication thanking them for their interest.”
Attacking the typical recruiter response that replying to everyone is simply too time-consuming, Shepherd pointed out that new technology mean there is now no excuse.
“If a company has invested in an Applicant Tracking System, then to properly reject a couple of thousand candidates would cost no more than a couple of hundred pounds,” he said.
The alternative – blanking them – could prove far more costly than this in the long-term. “The invisible impact if you don’t let applicants down gently could have a big financial impact, even over a short period,” Shepherd warned.
The expert’s message is clear – recruiters must realise that poor treatment of candidates is not in their company’s best interests.
“There can be no doubt that showing respect for the candidate from the start can only help organisations strengthen their brand,” he said. “It is an issue that should be taken far more seriously.”
*Do you wish recruiters were more polite?
What’s the worst experience you’ve ever had when applying for a job? And the best?
The worst experience I had was with a small wealth management firm that advertised the position of tax broker for which I have applied but never heard of my application status even after the deadline was closed. One month ago I found advertisement for this position on the same website and it is only 2 month passed since the deadline for it was closed. So, why not send me e-mail telling me that I am not the candidate they are looking for!!!
Companies used to actually tell you that you hadn’t been successful? :O Though seriously, how hard is – at a minimum – an automated rejection email, rather than “If you don’t hear from us after X months…”
Yes, they did. And you’re right – it sounds positively quaint now!
To be fair, I have a had the odd rejection letter (from an admin post in the local paper and a council grad scheme, for example) and automated e-mail rejections. But it’s still a very small minority of recruiters who make even that tiny effort.
I recently applied for a role via the CV and covering letter route, which was requested. After a week of submitting the application, I followed up with an e-mail to check on progress. It’s now been a month since initial application, and I’ve still not heard back! I feel that’s incredibly rude to not even give an acknowledgement – I feel it’s definitely tainted my impression of the company.
I think it is absolutely disgusting the way job seekers are being treated these days. I don’t care how busy employers are it takes less than one minute to send a simple email saying I’m sorry you were unsuccessful. I understand they receive possibly hundreds of applications for one position and I do not expect them to email each and every single one of those people, however the select few that they have actually chosen to come in for an interview well don’t we deserve at least a simple email letting us know we were unsuccessful? They obviously have no understanding of how excruitiating it is waiting to hear back from a company you have interviewed with and even when over a week or two of time has lapsed we still have the pathetic hope they perhaps we still might have a chance of being offered the position. It’s funny how you people hiring employees are able to persistently call and email me to arrange interviews yet when I send you an email following up from the interview you just ignore me. You are absolutely pathetic scum and you all think you are so high above the people you are interviewing. I hope karma does in fact exist and one day you receive yours.
You’ve made some decent points there. I looked on the web to find out more about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this site.
In the U.S., I have come across situations where recruiters who have shortlisted me were interested in interviewing me on a preliminary basis over the telephone. However, they would simply go incommunicado when I said I wasn’t in the country at that time. They simply wouldn’t respond or take calls in spite of clear indications that I would be returning to the U.S. soon, suggestions of alternative communication means, or offers that I could call them from overseas if they couldn’t invest in an international telephone call with a job candidate. What’s the deal, huh? Reaching out to a job candidate 2 months after he applied – which is extremely rude in itself – and then running away when they hear he isn’t in the country at that time? I mean do these recruiters seriously think that the job candidate is either lying about where he is from or on the verge of scooting to another country for good? Or any other perceptions? They don’t even give the job seeker a chance if he doesn’t happen to pick up a random call or be in the country at the time they decide to pander to their own whims and reach out to us. Haven’t come across such behavior in the UK and Europe, where I have worked extensively.
a lot of jobs now say this “if you havent heard from us with 7 days you have not been unsucessful”
i think the reason they do this is to stop people contacting the company about their application.
Not only is this rude behavior bad business, it’s bad Karma!!! These people are AWFUL!!!! IT will ALL come back to them one way or another!!!
I have too,
done the go to college several IT courses, been trained hands on in classrooms and written tasks ect ect.
Now i remember the goverment go on and on and on about how kids need to be educated and would stand a much better chance of getting a better paid job and into a career forward thinking approach.
And yet ……..
i know so many people now in a line for example that have spent thousands on education only to be ignored / left behind and just no response / applicaton after application. Cv,s are the vain of life and yet so dam difficult not one person knows what the true CV is and/or what it looks like, figures really.
Most employers don,t even look correctly at educated humans and also forget it has cost them nothing for a trained person over all, self funded no debt all paid for and held down a rubbish full time job to get my self there, travelled all over uk to take exams ect and completed several certificates.
now its silly things like this
a human brain in reverse to manipulate people just trying to earn money to live.
that is
get out of here kid – you have no experience
your over qualified
i know of an instance a guy i knew got a job but had no qaulifications in the skill over me, yeh i know insane right.
Uk bangs on and on and on about go to college go get an education.
So why has no one set up a business to help get experience the one thing missing and its no where to be seen as starting place, i even asked for advice at job centres, they told me we are not sure, or where i should go – again figures.
More and more are just not bothering with college, its not worth our dedication and efforts we put in, which according to employers is not a commitment, of course its commitment, its just you refuse out right to see the truth.
Contract work is ok i suppose but they rope you in with a promise of a full time job and how good the place is to work, then a few weeks later your out of work, no way to pay rent and buy food and pay elec bills and your in the red, so contract work is huge risk, and even if you try to speak to these agency personal they are extremely arrogant people, and a lot of people now spread the underlying current of job agencies and there hidden tact to get you in a job only to get rid a few weeks later leaving you in debt with out a care in the world.
such a shame that the modern day uk is excactly this and its really hurting jobs and business alike
this is the truth
WRONG IS RIGHT
&
RIGHT IS WRONG
Too many things in employment applicatin and way too much red tape, the simple answer is this, you have purposely gone out of your way to over think and over complicate job applications.
software programs do no know human beings who alive and software is just written guessing program and nothing more that 1 & 0,s.
all those people trained people you have side tracked.
the next thing is the program or news artical stating this.
we don,t have enought trained people in these area,s, yes you do, they proberly walk by each day in the street, you have failed to see above and beyond your thinking pathways.
it still comes down to one, thing talking face to face, no matter what you say.
I was unprofessionally treated by this stupid ass Shannon Trinh at Acumen LLC in Burlingame, California. See this stupid ass’s LinkedIn profile page–barely literate….’nough said.
Shannon Trinh of Acumen LLC, UCSF is lazy as hell and dumb as a rock. Absolutely no professionalism, a bald-ass liar telling candidates one thing and doing quite the opposite. It’s been over 10 years and I’m still pissed at how I was treated by Acumen; this cretin made false promises and then never me called back. 2008 Crash hit and I couldn’t find real work for half a decade. Go to the devil, Shannon!!!
A decade on this issue of company’s ignoring job applicants has gotten worse, here in australia its the rule rather than the exception there are dozens of unemployed who are WILLING AND WANTING work but have had their confidence shattered by companies refusing to respond to yet alone acknowledging applicants who put in for jobs.
If the applicant is unsuccessful how hard is it for the company to respond to them with a “your application will not proceed forward”? By doing that your showing the jobseeker respect and in turn the jobseeker will hold no ill-will against your company and move on.
But now its 2023 companys who ghost job applicants can feel the wrath of google reviews as they are bombarded with one star reviews based on ignoring job applications alone and 20 others agreeing to it, Some of these companys will accuse the jobseeker of damaging their reputation hit reality is the company itself has damaged their own reputation by ignoring job applications.