Hey Hiring Managers, Please Be Kind
Let’s face it friends, interviewing is painful process. There’s research time, prep time, actual interviewing time, thank you notes, follow up notes, and the dreaded “thank you for your interest, but we have decided to move forward with another candidate.” It’s exhausting.
The last 3 months I’ve been in the thick of job searching and last summer after my company closed I was doing the same thing. Needless to say I’ve had some unusual experiences and what I’ve learned is that interviewing has taken on a new approach following a pandemic - and it’s a long and tortuous process. So I wanted to do some research to find out why.
This Forbes article outlined findings from a survey that found “hiring managers are taking longer to hire thinking a better candidate may come along.” So, it some cases employers are taking their sweet time to wait for the unicorn while stringing other candidates along. Yikes! On behalf of us hard working folks struggling with the job search process, please be considerate hiring managers.
I realize the employment market has shifted and companies are likely receiving hundreds of applications. I understand that companies may have concerns with making the wrong decision on a new hire, particularly as most interviews, if not all, are being done virtually right now. But this virtual process is hard on both sides. Candidates are competing with more applicants these days and finding ways to stand out has become more challenging. Knowing some companies are purposefully extending the interviewing timeframe to see if they can find someone better is disheartening. Especially when applicants are suffering from the pandemic aftermath.
Let me tell you about some of my recent interviewing experiences these past few months.
With two separate companies, I went through three rounds of positive interviews each, only to be told they decided to change the role and look for someone more junior or that they are going through “internal changes” and have decided to put the job on hold for 6 months.
One of the longest interviewing processes I’ve had was a company that put me through six, yes six, 1-hour interviews. Three of them included the same person and the reason I didn’t get the job, was for experience reasons I clearly outlined in my very first interview.
Another company had me go through five interviews but I was told they didn’t have a clear timeline in place for when they were going to make a decision. Four weeks later they indicated they were ready to continue the interview process but advised this would be an in-person role. I live an hour and half away and was told this would be remote. At least on this one I got to be the one to say no!
And finally, probably the most surprising experience has been being ghosted by an employer. This one actually shocked me. I went through two rounds of interviews that felt like they went really well. One of these interviews was even with someone I knew. A week after my second interview and thank you notes, I followed up with the HR contact. Nothing. A week after that I sent another follow up email. Nothing. Yet another week after that I sent a third email and included the hiring manager I met with. Nothing. At that point I figured it was a lost cause but guess what… two months later I got an automated email saying “Thank you for your application…(blah, blah) We received a large number of applications… (blah, blah) unfortunately, we will not be moving you forward in the selection process.” Come on HR!
Seriously, these experiences happened to me recently and this is just a fraction of jobs that I was applying to or had a high interest in. Most companies don’t even respond to your application or follow up emails. At least let us know if we’re in the running!
Throughout it all, I did my best to remind myself the right fit would come along and with everything I went through professionally these past 12 months, I wanted to provide thoughts and guidance on how to stay positive, keep grinding, and avoid self-criticism.
First and foremost, try not to beat yourself up. This is seriously easier said than done. My anxiety and insecurities were in rare form these past few months. But I continued reminding myself that I am good enough and I will find the right fit. Focus on the things you can control and don’t stress on the interviewing pieces you can’t control.
Reach out to your contacts. Leverage your network letting them know you’re in the job search process. You can keep it simple and thank them for any help they can provide. Also, when actively interviewing with a company, look up their contacts on LinkedIn and see if you have any connections.
Be sure to polish your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile. Also be strategic about what you’re applying to and don’t just send your resume everywhere. This is something I did for a short period of time and realized it was a terrible tactic. Find what feels right and fine-tune your resume accordingly for that specific posting.
Find a recruiter. In my industry recruiters are very helpful in finding leads. You may also go months without a single lead so it’s important to job search on your own as well.
Expand your job search location. In office work is a thing of the past, well mostly, but remote work is pretty popular so take advantage of that and look for opportunities across the country. It can’t hurt.
Create a job searching and prepping schedule. Allocate a set number of hours in your day to focus on job researching and don’t deviate from this plan.
As it relates to companies taking their sweet time, don’t be afraid to follow up. I would give it 3 rounds of follow up emails before crossing them off your interest list. Unfortunately, it’s not meant to be.
Finally, stay active. Keep a daily routine and in addition to regular job-related activities, include a self-care schedule. Find ways to keep your mind off the job stuff. For me, this included a daily 5-mile walk, weight workouts, yoga, gardening, and cooking (go figure, right?).
It’s a crazy time friends and if you have any interviewing or job searching recommendations, please leave a comment below. We’re all in this together and can lean on one another. If anyone is searching for a job, let me know if I can help in any way.
Peace & Love,
Nikki