“Never hear back?”
If you’re frustrated that you don’t hear back from a company after you send in a resume or even after an interview, you’re not alone. It’s a common beef among job hunters–and it’s not new. What may be different is how much more frequently it happens today.
This rude, but not surprising phenomena of leaving you in limboland after you make contact, is probably a reflection of how many business people operate today. They simply don’t take time to respond to some e-mail or phone messages–and not just those of job hunters. It’s downright discourteous.
This ill-mannered behavior doesn’t help matters when you’re job hunting and feeling a bit insecure as it is. So the only solution is to change your expectation. Don’t expect to hear back.
Unless you have made an agreement with the interviewer that you will call them or you will hear back by such-and-such a date, don’t expect a response. I know this is not the way you’d like it to be and is not how professional business should be conducted. But it is for many people–for now.
If you can lower your expectation you will minimize your grief. You won’t be as frustrated and you won’t be as likely to play the “waiting game,” which only hurts you. This can take shape in several ways. While waiting to hear back, you:
Put all else on hold. Don’t do this–even if you think the interview was a shoe in. You could be waiting weeks or longer. You’ll have wasted precious time that could have been spent contacting other employers and interviewing other places.
Create stories in your head. You start thinking, “I haven’t heard back because they talked to my old boss and he gave me a bad reference.” Or “I really messed up when I answered that question about why I left my last job.”
Of course, it’s a good idea to review how an interview went, but don’t rehash it and create new problems for yourself.
There could be a dozen reasons why you haven’t heard back–some of which have nothing to do with you. The position could have been scrapped the next day.
The needs of the business may have changed and the company isn’t even thinking about filling the job you interviewed for. The budget could have shrunk and they eliminated the position. They could have decided to hire someone internally. On the other hand, your interviewers could still be interviewing other candidates.
You probably won’t be privy to what’s going on. So if you’re wondering, call and ask, “Where are you in the hiring process?” In the meantime, get on with your life and your job search. And now that you know what it feels like, make a vow that you will not be one of those people who doesn’t return phonecalls and e-mail.
