If there's one thing that really annoys me, it's getting e-snubbed after having an in-person interview. Getting snubbed after sending in my resume is reasonable. I can understand it after a phone interview. But surely when I travel long distances to interview, I at least deserve a "please drop dead" email.
I remember a similar situation a couple years back, when I was thinking of working in EE. Many calls with the recruiter, two in-persons, and then crickets. Nothing.
It frustrated me at the time, at least until I came to my senses and got two Perl jobs within a week.
But I admit, it felt pretty good when a few months later, I accidentally dialed the recruiter and interrupted her sleep. I still keep her in my address book, just in case. Treat people fairly and they might forget it; treat them poorly and they'll remember for sure.
I'm the process of looking to change areas and so I've been talking with various companies about employment. So far, the only company that has e-snubbed me is Google. I'm not sure what happened. After a phone interview, in which I was assured they'd set up another interview shortly, the communication just stopped. After a few days of no contact, I emailed the people I had been talking to, the very people who had been calling me the week before to verify timing, and I haven't received a reply.
Perhaps I should be calling them so they can't duck out on me, but it feels rather unprofessional to simply ignore someone or have a promising candidate fall off their list without anyone noticing. I don't think I want to work with that department at Google anymore.
I too have been e-snubbed by Google. In this day and age I don't really expect a reply after an interview if I flunked it (though it would be nice), but emailing your recruiter a few days after the interview and having that email go into a black hole is not at all professional. Hell, last time this happened I pinged my recruiter twice, both messages disappeared into the ether.
"See Randomness" by Paul Graham fits here. Yes, you didn't get the job, but the person never meant to make you mull and wait. You just weren't their first priority, put e-mailing you back on the back burner, then went off to do something else and forgot.
It's unfortunate and inconsiderate, but it's part of life. After a week, give up and move on to the next one.
I'm not even sure you should wait a week before moving on to the next one. In situations where you're going to get little courtesy (as in the majority of job hunting), you might as well blitz your way through as much as you can and then cherry pick from any positive responses.
That's true, and if you think about it, that's what the employer is doing as well. Simultaneously moving forward with many people, and choosing the best match. Nothing wrong with it on either side, as long as everyone is courteous. A reasonable employer should have no problem with this.
I don't blanket email my resume places. If I send it to your company, I've done at least a couple hours of research on your company (home page, crunchbase, glassdoor, first page of G results, etc) and written a custom cover letter explaining why I'm interested, where I think I fit, what I can do for this company in particular, and how I think that matches its needs. Good companies, in particular, send an email saying yes, no, or maybe inside two days (to an interview, obviously, not to a job). And if the answer is no, it's not personal; just not the right fit / right time etc.
Companies that don't email me back? I keep a spreadsheet with their names. Companies that don't give me a quick no thanks email after a phone screen or test or in person interview? I actively share that blacklist with friends.
Edit: Also, companies that email me back promptly -- even if the answer is no -- go on my spreadsheet of companies to look at first next time I'm thinking about a new job. What I want is an employer that treats people with respect, even when they can't be forced to do so or have no investment in that person.
Even if it's not clever, it certainly illustrates the gist of the story in a succinct manner. I had an inkling of what the post was about from the headline alone, so knew I might enjoy reading it.
