Being a candidate is not an easy job. You send your resume in response to an Internet posting – or even a recruiter call – and don’t hear a word for weeks. Even when an organization is sincerely interested and invested in your candidacy, you can wait what seems like eons for feedback between steps of the hiring process. It’s only natural to think at some point, “Do I really want to work someplace where it takes so long to make decisions?”
When a recruiter is involved in the process, there is a live person to tell you about the inevitable delays. This doesn’t always make it less painful but at least there is contact and information (even if it is sometimes non-information). When there isn’t, how do interpret the signals? Who should you call or e-mail? And what’s going on here anyway?
There are many reasons for lapses in the hiring process, some justifiable, some not. Let’s look at a few common scenarios and what might be going on behind the scenes.
Scenario #1: You respond to an Internet posting on a broad job board such as Monster or a more targeted board for a communications association. Although you think the job has your name on it, it’s been three weeks, and you haven’t heard a word or even received acknowledging e-mail.
What may be going on: Organizations that post a job on one of the general boards are deliberately casting a very wide net. They may receive several hundred resumes in response to a single posting, many of them wildly inappropriate. It’s time-consuming for an internal HR person (who is probably working on 79 other positions at the same time) to sift through and make an initial cut for the hiring manager to review. If the company plans only to contact the candidates it intends to pursue, it should say so. Back in the day, print want ads often contained language to this effect. This isn’t all that unreasonable or out of proportion to the search method.
For a more vertical communications forum, you should expect a slightly higher rate – and pace – of response, since presumably the audience is savvier and the search campaign more targeted. However, again, resumes can get bogged down for weeks before they go to the hiring manager.
If you see a job on the Internet that you really believe you are qualified for, consider taking the plunge and tracking down the direct hiring manager (through networking or research) to make a personal pitch. After all, the worst that can happen is it ends up back in HR! And best case, you’ll attract more attention because your credentials are coming across multiple channels.
Another strategy: if you know –or can find—someone who works inside the organization, find out if that person can also forward your resume. Most large organizations provide incentives for employees to refer candidates. Once your resume comes across as an employee referral, it usually moves up a notch (assuming your credentials fit the role).
Don’t do all this extra work for every posting; consider it a numbers game and save your energy for the roles you really want to pursue.
Scenario #2: You apply for or are recruited for a position. You agree to the first step, a phone screen with a recruiter (either internal or external). You are told that the organization is talking with several candidates and that you’ll hear back within a week or so about next steps. After two weeks, nothing. You e-mail the person who screened you and get no response.
What may be going on: The organization may be approaching this as a “slate process,” i.e. evaluating a group of candidates comparatively and then making recommendations on next steps versus passing candidates through the process one at a time. Often, organizations are well-intentioned but notoriously over-optimistic about time frames. One week quickly becomes three.
As a hedge against this, try asking the screener what steps to take – or what to infer – if you don’t hear from him or her after the estimated time frame. Is better to call? To e-mail? By taking responsibility for the milestone on your end, you demonstrate how you would behave on the job.
Another possibility: the search has been de-prioritized or is on hold and this hasn’t yet been communicated to candidates in the process. Is this fair? No, but organizations are made up of human beings and some are better project managers than others. Is it fair game to conclude from a frustrating process that this is how everything works at the organization? Probably not. If this is a role you really want, it may be worth hanging in and reserving judgment until you collect more “evidence.” If it’s not a job you are all that interested in, again, conserve your energy and move on.
Scenario #3: You have now been through at least one round of in-person interviews and are told you are a finalist. You’re expecting a call about another round of meetings and nothing happens. Is this how an organization that is now courting you behaves?
What may be going on: While it’s counter-intuitive, interview processes often slow down as they move forward. Think about it. Earlier in the process, you may meet with the hiring manager and an HR person. But as the game continues and a larger cast of interviewers joins in, schedules can be nightmarish to coordinate. The higher you go, the worse it is. Your best strategy is to keep the hiring contacts current on your schedule, for example, notifying them right away if one of the days you have been holding open is now off limits. There’s nothing worse than putting together an itinerary with 7 people only to have to start from scratch.
Focus on what you can control – continue to research the organization, learn more about the new geographic area if the move will require relocating. And if you have other opportunities on the horizon that are moving more quickly, let everyone know. Hiring organizations can often be flexible in converting some in-person meetings to phone or video interviews, drop off less critical interviewers, etc. Just be sure to use this leverage when you really have other viable irons in the fire.
While no one can take all the “pain” out of being a candidate at times, you can learn to shift your perspective and to correlate your expectations with both the scope and stage of the hiring process.
By Janet Long, founder and president of Integrity Search, Inc
