Chasing up Job applications.

rcool80

Would anyone advise chasing up job applications to see if they've received them? I applied for a job a few weeks ago and the closing date was last Friday so should I send them an email to see if they've received it? Or am I just being impatient?

Also does anyone know roughly how long the application process is? So if I'm applying for jobs with the closing date of May 15th, when would that job be likely to start? I applied to a job which closed on April 2nd and haved only just received a rejection letter. The whole process seems so long winded!!! And I'm getting annoyed by it!! The situation is that I'm just about to finish uni so want a job asap. However although I started looking for jobs in Feb/March I though it would be too early to apply then. However now it seems that it wasn't too early as the application process takes so long! So I didn't apply at the time I should have and now I'm panicing!

DCFC79

The length it takes to decide who to interview is about as long as it is broad, it could depend how many people sift through the applications and/or how many people have applied for the position.

re your first question, if the closing date was last week, i would leave a little longer, depends if they have spent this week looking through the applications or not. You may not get a rejection letter/email for every job you apply for but saying that i have had more rejection letters than rejection emails for jobs ive applied for.

taliesin

Recruitment takes a lot longer than those who aren't involved in the process expect. The big employers who (still?) have graduate recruitment rounds will have been out looking and making offers at least since New Year, possibly since before Christmas.

As far as the stage you are looking at is concerned, once the closing date has been reached, the Personnel/HR office in a large organisation has to screen the applicants to remove those that do not meet any minimum requirements. That can take a few days. Then, depending on the organisation's protocol, the rest of the applications will have to be copied and copies either sent to the managers involved individually or (slower) circulated amongst them. Then those managers will have to decide which if any of the candidates they wish to interview. Some organisations manage to do that part of the process efficiently, but in those that aren't (and even in those that are, when a key manager is absent) it can easily take weeks. Finally the managers have to agree an interview panel from amongst them and a date to hold interviews. At this point, HR is in a position to send out invitation or rejection letters. Candidates should be given at least a week or so's notice of interviews.

If there are some excellent candidates and also some good ones, the managers may decide to hold a list of reserve candidates, who will be invited for interview if any of the highest-ranked candidates decline the invitation or even, if none of those on the short list prove suitable, if they decide to hold a second round of interviews. Candidates in the reserve list may not hear anything until after the first round of interviews have been held.

So it can very easily take a month or more before candidates hear anything, and it could take two or three. A good-practice HR department will keep candidates informed of the status of their applications if the process starts to take a while. (It's called "keeping candidates warm"). As long as you don't badger the HR people, and if they are a good-practice department, an occasional phone call (say, every couple of weeks) to ask about the progress of your application is likely to be considered positively, as evidence of your interest in the position.

On the other hand, there are those organisations (an increasingly large number, it seems, of late), who simply don't tell candidates anything about the progress of their applications. The worst don't even send out rejection letters. To my mind, it's poor practice, but they say it "keeps costs down". I would say, feel free to phone that sort as often as you like - it's unlikely to help your application though.

rcool80

Thanks for your replies....it sounds like recruiting is a very long winded process. Its so frustrating though as I just want to find out one way or another. And there's two bank holidays this month so that'll slow things down as well!!

olly300

taliesin wrote: »

On the other hand, there are those organisations (an increasingly large number, it seems, of late), who simply don't tell candidates anything about the progress of their applications. The worst don't even send out rejection letters. To my mind, it's poor practice, but they say it "keeps costs down".

It is poor practice.

Lots of employers require email addresses on application forms so it's not expensive to sent an email out to rejected candidates.

rcool80

olly300 wrote: »

It is poor practice.

Lots of employers require email addresses on application forms so it's not expensive to sent an email out to rejected candidates.

Yes its frustrating when you supply an email address and don't receive a rejection email. It really doesn't take too much effort to write a quick email template and send it to all candiates who have failed. I'd actually rather receive an email than a letter as my post service is rubbish!!

kizdeb

I have received only one rejection letter in the past six months and have applied for numerous jobs. Very uncorteous. Even worse was the interview when i was promised a phone reply either way on the Monday and guess what no phone call. I waited in all day for that ????
Seems to me most employers just look at the candidates they believe are suitable and to hell with the rest.
Very unprofessional and annoying and sometimes i wonder whats the point in applting
Anyone else experience this????

rcool80

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences, kizdeb. Sometimes it certainly does feel like they just think to hell with all the unsuccessful candidates. Its so frustrating waiting to hear back from a job...it would be so much easier if they just email yes or no!!

MarzipanFish

I've applied to about 30 jobs in the last few months and only got 2 rejection emails. Lots of jobs print something about if youve not heard back by a certain date you've been unsuccessful in the vacancy description.
I was annoyed that i didn't get told i didn't get the job after attending an interview, just got left waiting.

Claire2831

Hello!

I would leave it longer if the positions you had applied for have been direct to the company, if the company has a number of positions that they are looking to fill then they may be dealing with more urgent roles in front of the position you have applied for. In my experience, positions within the public sector tend to take longer as they often have strict procedural guidelines that they need to follow.

If, however, the positions you have applied for have been through agencies then I would definitely pick up the phone and try to speak to the consultant about the position available and your relevant experience. I worked within an agency as a recruitment consultant for three years and would often receive 100+ applications per day for every role I had advertised. You can understand that if a recruiter is working on five positions then that is a lot of email applications to come into each day and it is therefore very hard to get back to every applicant quickly sometimes. Although if I may just add that I was always very aware of this and worked many many extra hours to try and respond to everyone within a timely manner (excuse me while I blow my own trumpet ha ha).

I have myself applied for a position to work for WorkDirections and they have advised that after the closing date it will typically take six weeks for me to hear if I have been short listed for interview. It’s a long time when you’re sitting waiting and hoping but at least they have advised of the timescales and more companies should be doing this. At the end of the day it reflex badly on them when they leave candidates hanging on for so long.

I wish you the very best with your applications J

ts_aly2000

A little story about companies not giving a toss, and not letting people know.

Once upon a time I was a Project Manager for a bank, and my job this week was to spec costs for a particular project. One of the companies concerned was on my list of candidates, and they were VERY eager (a bit like recruitment agencies when you advertise a job).

Suffice to say that that company wasn't chosen because they'd messed me about in the past when I applied for a job with them.

It only cost them oh, about £250k. :rolleyes: