I want to make it clear I'm not talking about a gentleman that said those famous ill-fated words: I'll call you, but with no intention do follow through on his throwaway sentence. I am instead talking about one of the most frustrating situations for job seekers - the joy of someone getting back to you and saying they like what you do, only for them to completely ignore you afterwards.
Do I have the right to get cross if they say they'll call me and never do? If they say they'll email me something, but have no real interest in contacting me ever again? If they build my hopes up only to dash them again when I never hear another word from them?
I realise that employers are busy, and I'm not the only one to apply for the position. I might not even be applying for a position so there's even less reason for them to get back to me. Initial contact isn't something that I have 'beef' with (as the kids on the street say). If I never hear anything after applying for a job, or sending something a little unsolicited, then I never get my hopes up in the first place.
What really gets me is when someone contacts me, shows an interest in me and my work, says they'll contact me again, but never do. There is something manipulative about keeping a potential employee at the end of a piece of string like that. I'll get you interested about the job we're offering, leave you hanging for a couple of weeks, and then call you to offer you something meagre.
This is a best-case scenario. There have been times I was offered a nugget, when there was really only a crumb on offer - a crumb I had to take. But more often than that, I never hear from these people ever again.
So do I have the right to get angry? I realise that these people are all busy, they've got their own jobs to do without having to deal with me and my CV. Most recruiters in small companies aren't recruiters in their day-job so can't give all their time and effort to it. Still I think they should give a second thought to the people they're rejecting and not telling. I would much rather know if my CV had been put in the bin rather than stay in the state of umeployed limbo, waiting for an answer.
I know if I haven't got a job by April, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get any old job from any old agency. But what happens if there are still jobs applications out there in the stratosphere? Do I wait or do I just go and get a mind-numbing office job because I can't be assured of anything? But what happens if someone contacts me after I've got a mind-numbing office job and gone through the rigmarole of signing contracts? What happens if my ideal employer won't let me work my notice with my less-than-ideal employer?
I don't know. I just don't know.
It's not like it's a hard problem to solve. I was taught how to do a mail merge at high school - it wouldn't be difficult to send everyone that letter, or to save on costs, that email that we scan for the 'unfortunately' and bin afterwards.
I do appreciate that people are busy and have lives of their own, but if I can understand this and act sensitively as a result, surely they can do the same for me. I've been unemployed for about six months now and haven't heard back from dozens of applications and CVs I've sent. Fair enough. Some websites say that if you haven't heard in x amount of time, then, we're sorry, but it's a no. I can deal with this. What I really struggle with is when someone calls you full of enthusiasm and give you the impression you're on the hotlist, but that time is the first and only time you ever hear from them.
Ouch. It hurts.
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