“Employers are so rude! No one gets back to me even after an interview.”
I hear this all the time. It’s hard not to get angry or feel rejected. Yet those responses are “victim” responses, based on fear and insecurity. Instead, get more information about how the hiring process works in today’s still-tight job market. One recruiter writes on itHow Recruiters Work and Why.
Recruiters are people who are inundated by applications for one or only a few jobs. They have one mission: find the candidates best qualified for the position, and send them on to the hiring manager. They do not make the final decision.
This means you have a chance of making it past the recruiter ONLY if your qualifications closely or exactly match those of the position in question. So target your applications only to those jobs for which you have the most qualifications.
EMPOWERING THOUGHT: I won’t waste my time applying for jobs that I am not qualified for and for which I won’t get an interview. I won’t set myself up for that kind of disappointment. Instead, I’ll spend my time writing powerful cover letters to accompany my great resume that highlights all my skills and talents – the things I do well and enjoy doing.
A recruiter may work inside a company or outside a company. They may be a recruiter by title or someone working in Human Resources who does the initial screening for candidates.
This means they care about the hiring manager, not the candidates. So it’s not that they are rejecting you, it’s that they don’t want to be rejected by their client. If you can make their client happy, great. Otherwise, you are not important to them.
EMPOWERING THOUGHT: I am looking for my right fit work just as the recruiter is looking for their right fit candidate. So if they don’t think I’m the right fit, I will move on to the next possibility. And I won’t think about that recruiter one little bit. It’s not that I reject them, it’s that they aren’t relevant to my search anymore.
Recruiters are experts only on the hiring process. They are not subject matter experts. So they don’t know the nuances of chemistry or computers, marketing or manufacturing, sales or SEO. They can’t evaluate you except by what you put on paper. They don’t know the jargon or acronyms in your field. Nor do they have any context in which to place your experience.
This means you need to present yourself in a way that is easy for recruiters to read and digest – a clear, simple format that highlights your results/impact/accomplishments/achievements.
EMPOWERING THOUGHT: My job is to get an interview and that means I will explain my experience in plain English, so that anyone can understand it. I’ll save my industry language for my interview with the hiring manager, who will know more about what I have done and can do. I won’t think the recruiter is stupid, because s/he will definitely pick up on that. I’ll be respectful of their HR expertise and role as gatekeeper in the hiring process.
Recruiters reflect the culture and values of the company for which they work, and the economic choices a company makes as to where to spend its resources.
This means there generally will be no replies to candidates who do NOT meet minimum qualifications, and often means there is little communication with candidates who don’t make it past the first interview. If you don’t get a reply after you’ve had a couple of interviews, it’s probably not a company for which you want to work. Don’t blame the recruiter, though.
EMPOWERING THOUGHT: I accept that the job market is very tough and that it is a rare recruiter or company that responds to every applicant. I am grateful for those that do, and will patronize their services because of how they treat me. I will not badmouth the ones that don’t tell me what’s happening or take on any negativity that might slow me down in my determination to get the right job for me.
Find out more about how recruiters work by visiting websites like HR.com andWorkforce.com. Putting yourself in the recruiter’s shoes will empower you in your job search.
I’d love to hear how you’ve used information to empower yourself in your job search!
