In Which, I Rant About Job Hunting
One of the things that I was taught about submitting resumes to prospective employers is that you submit the resume, and then about a week or so later, you should call the company you applied at to check on the status of your application. Personally, I've begun to wonder about this....
One of the things that my husband and I have noticed as a trend on MANY of the jobs that we applied for is the fact that the listings do not include a phone number and state that they do not want to receive phone calls regarding the job. In some cases, all you get is an email address for the human resources department, in others all you don't even get that... Just an on-line web form.
In a nutshell many employers looking for new employees are saying to applicants, "Don't call us, we'll call you."
Between the lack of ways to communicate with companies that I'd applied for jobs from and the fact that I was rarely getting a response back that someone had even received my resume, I was feeling rather frustrated.
Is it really all that wrong to want a response? It was getting to the point where I did not care whether the response to my resume was positive or negative, I just wanted to hear a response from someone. I would have been perfectly happy with a mail merged form letter (or email) telling me that my resume had been processed and I was either A. not what they were looking for, B. interested and someone would be contacting me shortly or C. the position was already filled. The programmer in me says that creating something to make this process somewhat automated isn't that hard.
Is it just me, or is the combination of not being able to contact someone and not getting a response, just a tad bit rude? Or are companies looking for prospective employers exempt from common courtesy due to the fact that they may be receiving large amounts of applications?
In the end, I lucked out. I got my job simply due to some social networking.
But my husband's still looking. Anyone need an IT person or an entry level programmer? I can give you his resume. ;-)
The Job Hunt
I'm in the same boat as you, Nicole.
I've been submitting to blind e-mails; corporate e-mail; fax numbers; all to no avail. Sometimes the company will be bold enough to come out and say who they are, ie: Austin Stone Works. And in some cases, I've been bold enough to reach back and request information as to where they are in the hiring process. Lowe's initially told me that they liked my resume, but their company policy is to post all jobs internally, then to look externally. In my case, that means that I probably won't get hired, despite my retail & management experience.
I've also sent a number of e-mail to large builders (KB Homes and the like), and they do send a computer generated thank you note.
Personally, I'm rather appalled. If you are a small company, you should take the time to send each & every applicant a nice note, acknowledging reciept of their resume, and a description of the process, and that if you meet their qualifications, they will get in touch with you. A template letter would be fine. Click, copy, insert, and away goes the thank you note. Again, I do believe this comes all down to common courtesy, and the lack thereof, probably do in large part to the busy-ness which has taken over our lives.
Several years ago, I intentionally stepped back from all the 'busy-ness'. I was commuting to work in Boston, missing out on my kids lives, and generally had no time for myself. I assessed my situation and realized that I could take a much lower paying job in Manchester, if I made some changes in my own life. This is a step I took which I never regretted.
As for your hubby...There are an abundance of IT Jobs here in Austin. It reminds me of how much a flurry Boston was before the dot com bust.
OK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
????,?????!