Recruiters who don't respond to applicants. Common?

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1

Ok, so I am a bit hacked off. I am a professional person who has spent the last 8 years of my working career as a Marketing Director. I like to think that when applying for jobs here in sunny and very beautiful Switzerland that I take care to ensure that I apply for jobs for which I not only meet the criteria but for which I also take care to research and provide high quality application documents.

Is it policy in this country to not even respond with a courteous 'thanks but no thanks'? As someone who has recruited many times I always, always responded to all applicants. Surely it's only manners?

Is this common / to be expected here?

Getting over it and not being put off - honest.

2
I thought ignoring applications was normal everywhere?

3
Don't know about job applicants but I remember someone complaining bitterly about not hearing from Housing Agents that the flat they had applied for was no longer available. Then it was pointed out that there had been three hundred applicants.

Probably that is off-topic and this is irrelevant but what sort of numbers did you turn down? Maybe here in jobs, too, it is a pure question of quantity of replies which would be necessary.

I'll be interested in the answers from those more into this than I am.

4
My own experience over the last three months: 38 job applications, of which 19 resulted in no response whatsoever (I am not counting automatic emails from JobUp as responses).

It's not the "no responses" that count at the end of the day though, it's the positive response - and you only need one of those.

5
I have noticed since moving here 3 years ago that there is a lot of what can only be described as bad manners in the way in which corporates handle their relationships with customers/clients let alone job applicants. I do think this is an increasing problem throughout the western world and is not unique to Switzerland - these entities are becoming ever-larger in revenue, smaller in staff and arrogant in attitude - as a rash generalisation.

Therefore is it possible that things have simply changed in the eight years since you last changed job?

I would still maintain that the sign of a company that would be pleasurable to work for, on a human as well as efficiency standpoint, would at least acknowledge and dignify a well crafted application with a response. Otherwise they are naturally burning bridges - they should be taking every opportunity to impress anyone who deals with them, because who knows what the future may hold - you may potentially be a high-spending client now or in the future, personally or professionally. To be rude/careless/arrogant and not acknowledge someone's interest in working with you is to damage the reputation of the firm.

To the OP - good luck with the job search and I hope you find a well-mannered employer soon.

6
HR are generally incompetent. One of the facts of life that sadly needs accepting.

Also, regardless of experience, getting a job in these uncertain times is very difficult. You're competing with potentially hundreds of applicants for 1 spot.

7
I got called in for an interview, the interviewer got sick and asked to postpone it, interviewer never got back to me despite 3 phone messages being left with the receptionist for them to get back to me. Its okay if you dont want/need me anymore, but at least have the courtesy to ask.

8
I think it's pretty normal (I don't say "nice" or "well mannered") but par for the course I think.

I know that the company I work for (which is one of "those" large Basel companies) does not routinely reply to people who haven't been successful. They may respond to the ones who come to the absolute last round of interviews, but even then, rarely within 3 months of the job being offered to someone. If you were applying for a job where I work if you don't hear from them within a week of the interview you can assume you did not get the job. I am also reliably informed that they will not discuss any reasons for not hiring you so even if you phone up and manage to talk to the right person they won't say why they didn't hire you.

It may be rude but unfortunately I think it's a fact of corporate life these days - at least in big companies - they don't have time to be nice to people (and believe me, they are not especially courteous or nice to their employed staff either!)

9
I did a Starbucks chat on this 3 years ago as a mini-EF event and covered these topics amongst others.

Generally if you don't receive interest pretty soon after applying, it's likely they're only focusing on tracking the applicants they're interested in.

Remember Swiss business culture might have a different view of "Obligations management" similar to their "Obligationsrecht" legal system than what you might intuitively expect.

Think of it as something like "just because you apply, doesn't mean I owe you a reply because you unilaterally contact me, unless I asked you specifically to". This is why the unemployed on RAV benefits, need only prove they applied for jobs, not that they received a reply/rejection.

Second if you're applying through a third party, maybe your application isn't going further, and all they think they owe you is the automated acknowledgement you mention you've received? The "target" may feel they owe you nothing as they technically didn't hear from you directly.

Also hiring these days has a lot more to do with networking than in the past. An inside track is invaluable. Bear in mind recuiters headhunters here tend to recruit based on matching a position to an applicant, rather than finding applicants a specific position in their network of vacancies/contacts.

Personally I was fortunate that an agent kept with me once until our third position success together based on my previous "good applicant" performance. However it took a year (luckily I wasn't unemployed). He wasn't Swiss, and the Agency wasn't based here either.....

Are all your application materials consistent? Is the flow of your CV consistent with your profiles on LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook etc.? Being a premium member will tell you how often you're being checked out.....Important also is some 360 degree references online to bolster your career history.

Finally are you doing any voluntary work with any insitutions that could benefit from what you have to offer? An ex-colleague of mine got work after volunteering in the local professional organization chapter of his profession due to the contacts he was able to make at the organized events.

10
Well if a generic copy-pasted "we have recieved your application but unfortunately..." would make you happier, just pretend the lack of response is just that.

The problem is the amount of applications, the HR-person have hundreds of CV:s to go through and usually they just scan for key words in the CV before even bothering with the personal letter. There is no time to answer to all of them.

If it is a recruiter at an agency its even worse, they will ONLY get back to you if they feel they can make money out of you. When I did recruiting i told myself i wouldnt be one of those guys as i know how frustrating it is never to recieve feedback, but the pressure to find good candidate in a short amount of time combined with the volume of CV:s made me one of those guys

Just ignore it, if you get a negative response it really wouldnt make a difference would it?

11
Sadly, I think it's pretty common. Of the 40-50 applications I've sent off over the last couple of months, I think I've only received 'thanks but no thanks' emails from four. Of those, there was one that acknowledged the time and effort that had gone into preparing the application. The others were abrupt to the point that I actually wrote back to one of the HR people to let him know that, in English, it's verging on rude to inform someone who meets the position description that you have 'decided in favour of candidates who qualify far better for the post'.

12
If you apply for a job that you are not qualified for & have zero chance of being accepted you will probably get 2 replies.

1)Acknowledgement of your application.

2) Very polite saying that there was a huge response & unfortunately you have not made the short list. It's nothing to do with your qualifications & they are very pleased you applied & wish you good luck in your job search.

I think they know you only applied to make the RAV happy so play along with the game!

13
Applying for advertised jobs is a bit like entering the lottery. Only one winner and lots of losers. The Lotto people are not going to send an email to you saying "you haven't won this time".

Same with job apps... you may get an "acknowledgement" of receipt but don't expect anything else. Move on to other opportunities - that's the best you can do .

Good luck with your search .

14
I can imagine it is frustrating because you don't know if you should wait or if they are not interested. Hope you find a great job.

15
A few years ago, when I was in job-applying mode I used to put "you don't need to reply if you don't believe I'm suitable" at the end of the email. I think that guilted most places into replying

16
Based on that you should also be aware that HR (as stated already) has become very copy/paste and imo is far from the 'good' HR of 18 years ago. The personality that was HR is long gone.

I know for a fact that HR or others reviewing your application will/can just dismiss it based on your photo alone. I regret to inform the OP of another thread where they stated that looks don't have anything to do with it. That's wrong. If there is a female reviewing your application, then looks are important. I have personally witnessed this, where a female project manager would not hire anyone (females) she thought looked better than her.

There used to be a policy of replying to all applicants either good or bad, and that was common HR practice.

On that note, for us foreigners (with no contacts in any companies), the job huntng process is a pain in the ass.

17
In the contract world it is common practice not to respond.

18
As others have said if you don't get an invitation for an interview within 10 days, assume it's a no. What difference would a cut and past "Thanks but no thanks" letter do? Other than getting your hopes up when you se the letter in the mailbox.

If personal feedback is important to you, then I recommend you to go through headhunters instead. They usually give you some feedback as to why the potential employer wasn't interested.

19
There was a thread a few months ago about that (shameless self-promotion). The only way to increase your chances is through your network or have someone inside the company recommend you when you apply.

20
Actually, in my experience, Switerland is one country where contact is of much less importance than other countries. If you have the right qualifications and the right profile you will be invited for an interview if hou apply to an ad.

Out of all the job offers I have landed in CH, only one was through contacts.

Much, much more important than contact is the fact if you speak German or not.