Okay, I am trying not to personalize my continued rejection by employers. They haven't met me in person yet (most of them) so it can't be that they're repulsed by my hideous face or the fact that I walk like Quasimodo, and I certainly am not a member of the stanky armpit brigade. I do, however, have a bone to pick with the way it's being done. It seems like business etiquette is dead. No one bothers to return phone calls, or be respectful of those seeking employment. I think the fact that, especially in marketing, it's an employer's market has lead to a degradation of proper correspondence and manners. If I am no longer being considered for a job for which I spent a lot of time, consideration and work to prepare for, then just send me a danged letter! I can take it. Are you, the employer, AFRAID to let me know? It seems just and courteous to do so.
I had a great phone interview last week with an organization for which I would be PERFECT. The qualifications section almost seems like it was written from my job history. Following the Q&A of the phone call, the man assured me he would call to follow-up last Friday, send an email detailing benefits and asked me to call him should I have any questions. He never called, never sent an email, and when I called to ask about scheduling interviews for the week never returned my inquiry! Seriously, I know everyone is busy, but if you were to turn the tables it would be completely inappropriate behavior. I think that just because you are in need of a job doesn't negate the fact that companies advertising positions should be courteous and equally timely in their communication. If it had been one job, or two, or three out of the eight million to which I have applied, I might understand - but it's every freakin' one. I think part of my impatience is the fact that prior to this I have been sought out and stood out in the job pool. Perhaps the market is so saturated employers feel they don't have to follow the rules but honestly, I am not excited about going to work for one of these companies that use barnyard manners.
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You know, I've been getting crap at my office for not communicating well enough... not letting people know where I am every step of the way. I get totally annoyed because I don't think people want to know where I am until I get the stuff done... I'm going to use your story as a cautionary tale for me. If I don't get back to people more often, it's not just about corporate oversight, it's more about a continuation of those appropriate mannered behaviours I expect in the daily world. Since I'm supposed to be setting a positive example of my kids of the ways in which they're supposed to be behaving in public, I should probably set a better example of dealing with busynessy stuff, too.
Hey bpende, I think there is definitely a difference between business correspondence and the infultration of email into daily workflow. I agree, it's not necessary to inform people of each step of a process or project. People have incorporated email into their daily workflow so much I think they've come to depend on instant information - whether or not it is a) disruptive to the process or b) they really frickin' need it. It's the ability to have it that makes it desireable. I think it's also about a desensitized society: if someone had to pick up the phone and speak to another human being or walk down the cubicle aisle to get the same information they now say they require via email, no one would do it. It's the fact that email provides a sort of comfort zone of space between human beings that allows them to be more demanding or to value the efficiency of requests and correspondence less. So, lesson is: pick up the damn phone and tell me I am not being considered AND then quit frickin' micromanaging Brad, ding dongs.
I think I might be the world's worst speller. Seriously. Ever.
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