Tuesday, June 3, 2008

a hypothetical story

Alright, here's a story. Let's say you saw a posting for a job you really wanted. You read the posting, and you were mostly qualified. Meaning, you had every qualification they asked for, with one exception (a very specific degree), but that was only preferred, not required. So, like any other ambitious girl, you sent out a sparkling cover letter with your smashingly updated resume to the HR person listed as the contact. The same day, you received an acknowledgement from said HR rep, saying thank you for submitting your resume, they'd be in touch, blah, blah, blah. You waited. Maybe three weeks later, you emailed the HR rep and asked the status, and were told applications were still being reviewed, thank you for your interest. Two weeks after that, you email again and again, were told that you'd be contacted should they want to speak with you, and thank you for your continued interest.

Say that was three weeks ago, and say the job posting is still listed on the website of the organization. Would you email the HR person a third time and ask about it? Or would you not, because you don't want to annoy the crap out of them and kill any chances that you may have had? Or, would you do something else, and email someone else at the organization, the head of the department for the position you applied for?

Thoughts?

9 comments:

Jen said...

I don't think I would contact them again. Thats just me, but I'm also not a very assertive person. Hope this helps, good luck!

Katelin said...

i would hold off on contacting them again too. at least for another week or so. maybe they really do have a lot of applicants?

Janssen said...

I think I'd email the head of the department. But maybe wait a week or so.

Ashley D said...

I agree with Janssen. I would wait another week and then email the head of the dept. Good luck! Be sure to let us know how it turns out!

Anonymous said...

I've been so disenchanted with employers recently. A sister and a close friend of mine are both in the throes of the job application scene, and both have stories of terrible HR people, and totally no communication. A lot of what you're saying, in other words, from two very different parts of the country. What's WRONG with these people? I mean, if for some truly stupid reason they weren't interested in meeting you, it would be so easy for them to let you know.

I don't really have any advice ... but I feel for you!

Jackie said...

Hmm I dunno whether I would contact them again or not, but if you do I would definitely ask if there was anything about your application that was not right for the job or if there was a reason you would not be a good fit for the job? With a positive spin of course :)

Lauren said...

Argh, I hate situations like these. There's never a right answer. I'd hold off, though, because I hate being too pushy for things. They may be busy or have a ton of applicants. YOu never know. Some jobs interview and still take months to hire.

L Sass said...

I'd hold off at this point. Our HR guy gets really annoyed by overly persistent people. If you made your case well in your cover letter, it should shine through!

(Of course, if they get a slew of applications from people with the "preferred" degree, then you might not get an interview through no fault of your own... thems the breaks sometimes.)

Dolce said...

I used to be a recruiter and showing interest like this is all in your favor. You're not calling every day or even once a week, but taking your time and following up (great skill). I don't think it would harm anything by contacting again, especially since it 3 weeks have passed.

It's probably one of two reasons the company doesn't have more info for you.

1. the hiring manager is in no rush to fill the position, so they haven't reviewed any of the resumes yet.

2. the company has enough people who fit all the preferred requirements and they are interviewing them first. If they don't find anyone they like, they may dip into candidates with most of the preferred requirement.

just my 2 cents.