Do potential employers owe you an explaination?

[Marshall1]

Often times on here I've posts on here where a an interview has taken place, maybe even a second one, the person is told "you will hear something soon" but "soon" turns into a week, two weeks..no response. The interviewee may email or call to "check on my status" but gets no reply at all. So this leave the person wondering what they said wrong, why the job they were so sure they would be offered was not only offered but dead in the water without so much as a "thanks again for meeting with us" for the 2nd or 3rd time.

Someone I know who is going through this now said "I think employers owe the interviewee a follow up to the interview - either yes or no, instead of having people hang on hoping. Professionalism and courteously run both ways." He drove 2 hrs one way for an interview, had a second interview a week later at another office an hour from his home and was told he was going to move onto the last interview and would be contacted for a date/time with 24 hrs. It has now been 2 weeks. He has tried contacting the two people he has previously been in contact with but is not getting a response by phone or email from them.

While I agree with him about the professional aspect and I do think employers "should" follow up appropriately, I don't think they owe interviewees anything. Am I wrong?

As we move more and more into a system of online applications and applicants who apply to 100's or even 1000's of jobs, often for which they're not even qualified, I don't think the companies 'owe' applicants anything.

Ideally, they keep their database updated but in general (I hear all the anecdotes coming out now), if you haven't heard anything within 7 business days, you're probably not moving on in the process.

[KJM-RN, BSN]

As we move more and more into a system of online applications and applicants who apply to 100's or even 1000's of jobs, often for which they're not even qualified, I don't think the companies 'owe' applicants anything.

Ideally, they keep their database updated but in general (I hear all the anecdotes coming out now), if you haven't heard anything within 7 business days, you're probably not moving on in the process.

Just saying, I applied for a job in July and received a call regarding my application for an interview in December.

[BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN]

Ideally, they keep their database updated but in general (I hear all the anecdotes coming out now), if you haven't heard anything within 7 business days, you're probably not moving on in the process.

I applied for a job online in Feb or March, heard nothing at all, until today.

[EaglesWings21, ASN, RN]

I can be very OCD and if I am serious about something I research it and look at it from all different angles and here is what I have found:

When you apply online often you can check your job status. If you have interviewed and are waiting to hear back and the status is open that means you are still in consideration.

Ask when they plan to make a decision and would it be appropriate to follow-up. Send a thank you email and if they say they will let you know in a week and it is now a week and a half send another follow up email to reiterate you interest and ask for an update. If another week and a half to two weeks go by it might be ok to send one last email but after that if you haven't heard back just keep it moving.

It would be wonderful if companies would let you know whether you got the job or not within a reasonable amount of time. If they really want you usually they will let you know ASAP. But sometimes the process takes longer. And other times they are only concerned about contacting the people that did get the job and figure they don't owe you an explanation or anything. That is where following up can be important.

[grandpaj]

How hard is it to send a form letter saying another applicant was chosen? I feel that's the most courteous way to handle applicants that weren't chosen, especially those that might have interviewed.

[bmenyea]

I think its crappy when interviewers do not take the time out to inform interviewees about the result, (good, or bad) of their interview. As previously mentioned, the interviewee also took time out of their schedule to accommodate the interview. Furthermore, nursing is all about education and empowerment, the interviewee can learn the experience, in order to do better in the future.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

I don't think they owe you anything, however if you make it to the interview stage I think they should at least send an email saying thanks but no thanks we went with someone else.

[livRN2012]

I interviewed back in March; wasn't my best interview but seemed to go ok. I called a week later to reexpress my interest in the position-got his voicemail and left a message. I never got a call back. Called about a month later, same situation. I then called about a month after that, no answer for either the NM or the HR Rep I was in contact w/. I personally think that's very unprofessional. I don't even expect an email but a phone call to let me know 3 months later isn't a huge deal.

[DLS_PMHNP, MSN, RN, NP]

I think its crappy when interviewers do not take the time out to inform interviewees about the result, (good, or bad) of their interview. As previously mentioned, the interviewee also took time out of their schedule to accommodate the interview. Furthermore, nursing is all about education and empowerment, the interviewee can learn the experience, in order to do better in the future.

Can you imagine working as a recruiter and interviewing 100 people over the course of 2 weeks (just an example)? And then you have to CALL (and play phone tag with) every single one of the interviewees, and explain why they didn't get the job?. How could you even remember after that many interviews? When would you have the time?

I'm sure HR departments (ESPECIALLY in health care) and bare bones w staffing in these times.

Food for thought.

Best,

Diane

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

HR has email addresses on most, if not all, applicants.

It's easy enough to send out a thanks, but no thanks, email.

I sometimes feel like giving feedback to unsuccessful candidates, but never know how it's going to be taken, they might feel insulted, & would probably become defensive and feel like they need to argue the point. No one wants to open that can of worms.

[nursel56]

I view interviews as a particular type of transaction where the concept of "owing" doesn't exist, because neither side has agreed in advance what each will bring to the table or agreed to consider how difficult your travel arrangements were or how many other things you had to do that day. Negotiating generally means each side has something the other side wants. That isn't the case most of the time anymore. It's just one more unfortunate byproduct of the huge number of nurses seeking fewer jobs.

Having said that I would always call back if you don't hear from them in a week. Sometimes things just drop through the cracks and you wouldn't want to miss an opportunity you were not aware of due to the wires getting crossed.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I don't think the employer owes candidates an explanation of why they weren't hired. However, it's not professional to keep people hanging. Since HR has every candidate's e-mail address, why not take 5 minutes to send a form e-mail stating that someone else was hired?