Used to be, back in the day, that you would get called for an interview, go on the interview, write a nicely worded Thank You letter and either get an offer or a rejection letter. Or you would send your application and/or resume somewhere and get either an interview offer or a rejection letter. Most of the time the rejection letters were a form letter type of thing and I have files full of them to prove that they existed. Then, as things became more internet based, you applied online and either got an interview offer or a rejection email. Which is fine, too. Because although it contains crushing defeat, it is also more “green” than cutting down a tree to tell me that there is no way in hell you’ll hire me.
But in the past few months… go on interviews…. never hear another thing. Get called by an agency, go in and fill out a ream of paperwork, am told to call and when I do, get told the person I want to speak with is on another call and never hear back from them. Nary a peep.
I had a couple of interviews I thought went well. I followed up with Thank You letters. And… **crickets** NOTHING!!
And you know what the big problem is that I have with that? It screams to me “your time has no value, MsCleanslate!” And maybe these folks don’t place any value on my time. But, if that’s the case, why did they bother to interview me? Was I overconfident? Did I ramble too much? Come off as too ambitious? Come off as not ambitious enough? Did I ask for too much money?
Yeah, I had one of the companies ask me what I thought after having looked at their website. And had I only found their website when I Googled them, it might have been a different story. But I found NUMEROUS links to “this company is a scam” and “ripoff report” and “shady practices” and “lawsuits” and a very lengthy “rap sheet” with the Better Business Bureau and so it really caught me off guard to be asked what I thought of them after having researched them on the internet. What I honestly thought was that I was going to be in a position daily where being bent over the desk and sodomized with a 5 gallon water jug would have been preferable if I was offered and accepted the position.
I miss professional courtesy. Even if it is in the form of a form letter. I hope it comes back into vogue, but I’ll not hold my breath waiting.