Looking at the Application Process from Both Sides

posted by Edward Sussek on Feb. 4, 2010 on ERENet

I was reviewing my job search log for the past 12 months and could
not believe that I had applied to over 150 jobs in that period.  It
then occurred to me that very few recruiters actually followed up with
me other than sending the Thanks for your Resume e-mail.  My frustration grew. "How could recruiters be so inconsiderate?"

It seemed to me that recruiters should, at a minimum, let a
candidate if the company was interested.  After all, it's common
courtesy.  Companies say that employees are their greatest asset, often
making job seekers complete exhaustive job applications and follow a
clumsy application process.  If they really cared, I thought, they
would at least get back to you.

Then I thought about some of the great recruiters who I have worked
with over the years.  They are very talented, skilled at building
relationships and will communicate with candidates.  What is wrong, why
is there a breakdown?  I knew the best way to answer these questions
would be to go to the source.

There are a number of Recruiting Groups on LinkedIn so I targeted
four and asked the question "Why don't recruiters communicate with
candidates."  Three of these groups were based in New England and one
was National.  The responses I received were eye opening to say the
least.  Responses seem to come from two groups, job seekers and
employed recruiters.  Both responses provided different perspectives

Job seekers aired their frustration about falling into the "black
hole."  Typically, they would apply for positions then receive an
automated response indicating that the resume was received and that a
recruiter would contact them if there was a match against current
openings.  The vast majority reported that they never heard anything
else from the company.  The frustration was loud and clear.  Many
people were in a similar position as I was in that they applied to
countless jobs without receiving any final decision on their
applications.

Some went on to comment on the interview process itself.  The most
common scenario was that people were interviewed only to wait weeks to
learn of interview results.  Interviews were rare and job seekers were
very excited when they had one.  The difficulty was in the waiting. 
They just wanted to know the outcome either good or bad.

Employed recruiters shared a different perspective one that I think
is not understood by job seekers.  Recruiters reported that they were
overwhelmed by the volume of responses.  When posting a job, Recruiters
anticipated receiving between 100 and 150 responses.  Throughout 2009,
Recruiters saw this number triple with some postings having over 600
responses.  They are just not equipped to manage this volume. 

Most Recruiters will take an average of two minutes to read and
evaluate each resume.  At the rate resumes are received today, this
would take 15 to 20 hours to read all resumes.  With an average of 20
requisitions per recruiter, reading resumes would take between 300 to
400 hours to read every resume. When you combine this with other duties
such as scheduling interviews, interviewing candidates and other
administrative tasks, their workloads are huge.  This, combined with
the fact that companies will not provide additional resources, makes
the job very difficult.

What Recruiters found most frustrating was the fact that job seekers
are applying to any and all jobs.  In a number of cases applicants do
not have any of the skills required by the position.  In others, they
have one or two of the skills and apply anyway.  So, for Recruiters, a
great deal of time is spent reading resumes of job seekers who should
have never applied in the first place.

Hearing from Recruiters helped shed light on the current situation
and made me more empathetic to their plight.  They are under tremendous
pressure to find top talent with hiring managers saying to them "With so many people out of work you should have no problem finding good candidates in a day or two." 
In addition to everything else Recruiters are doing, Job Seekers want
them to respond to every resume submitted within about 48 hours.  All
things considered, it is not going to happen.

I think the answer to this situation is twofold.  First, Job Seekers
need to be honest with themselves and only apply for jobs where their
skills closely match those required by the position.  Job Seekers
should use cover letters to tell Recruiters why they are a good match
to the job.  Don't leave all the guess work to the Recruiters.  Lastly,
Job Seekers should try networking into a company before applying for a
position.  Insiders will help Job Seekers determine if, indeed, they
are a good fit for the role.  Insiders can also endorse your candidacy,
thus making it easier for Recruiter to determine fit.  Keep in mind
that it is the Recruiters job to send strong candidates to managers,
not just any resume.

Based on the volume, it is becoming clear that Recruiters cannot
provide the personal touch that they would prefer to give.  Recruiters
should shift their focus from all Job Seekers to those under
consideration.  Rather that communicate with everyone who applies,
Recruiters should improve their communications with candidates that are
under consideration.  By this, I recommend that Recruiters provide
weekly updates to candidates who are in the interview process.  Whether
it's good or bad news, candidates will greatly appreciate knowing where
they stand.