There are many factors that influence whether or not we find that job we want so much, or at least one that will allow us to survive until the one closest to our ideal appears.
We are interested in knowing both sides of the coin: how a candidate goes through this process and how an employer or consultant sees it. On either side of the table, there are unspoken rules to be followed when dealing with people: there are implicit and explicit mutual expectations that we must consider and to which we must respond. We will now position ourselves from the candidate’s side.
He who waits, despairs.
So goes the popular phrase. And no wonder when someone is looking for a job. Nowadays there are tools on job portals that allow you to follow up online the applications made: an encouraging message of «The employer has read your resume» can be followed by a message such as «Your application is not still in progress». Keep participating.
At least this message expresses certainty. Certainty that we will not be contacted, but it calms the anxiety of waiting.
Candidates prefer and value negative feedback in cases where they are not selected for the job, rather than dealing with uncertainty regarding their application.
The question is: why do many HR professionals find it so difficult to give negative feedback? Why is it that even in top-tier firms there is no transparent process of communication with the candidate? This is not only a shortcoming at the corporate level (if we want to and can «blame» it on the lack of software that manages this feedback automatically once the candidate is «discarded»), but also – according to the job search population surveyed – most recruiters refuse to give feedback to those who do not continue to participate in the process.
Unethical and unprofessional, right? How much have recruiters put themselves in the shoes of the desperate job seeker?
A little empathy, colleagues. One day we are on one side and the next we can be on the other.
It is truly amazing the response of candidates when they are personally informed that they will no longer participate in the selection process. Their appreciation and acknowledgement of the surprise of such a contact should have stopped being commonplace many years ago. Or should we recruiters be fined for not giving feedback, so that we can start doing it? We don’t want to think it should be, but …. what is the way to generate awareness?
We need recruiters who are aware of the expectations they have of the people whose CVs they are reviewing, selecting or rejecting. People who are putting part of their future and their family’s future in their hands.
Respect, empathy and professionalism are needed in selection. It takes human people to manage human expectations.