No Call Back After a Great Interview

@Patty thanks for your comment. I have to say that I agree with you. I, too, have been in your shoes more times than I would like to count. It truly can get discouraging when you do everything right and then they treat you that way. I wouldn't want to work for them, either! Don't give up though. Have you tried to go through a recruiter. Sometimes it's worth the hassle because the recruiter will "interview" you first and then will present you to the company. The recruiter will do the follow-ups and will let you know the results. It seems that hiring managers are more willing to give feedback - both positive and negative - to the recruiter but not to the applicant. So maybe this is the way you should go. At least, if you have another great interview and don't get the position, you will know why and can work to correct any discrepancies. All the best.

More times than I want to count when the interview goes great, you send a thank you note to the interviewer, you follow up , and they don't have the decency to respond. That just tells me I wouldn't want to work for someone who can't return contact with me as a common courtesy.

@Mercury thanks for your comment. It's tough to have a great interview and then... nothing. It's great to hear that you have picked yourself back up and are moving on. That's all we can do in circumstances like this. All the best on your search.

Ive been victim ofcircumstances in a situation like that. I personally continue to strive in accordance hoping for a better response such as finding the right job

@Jodi thanks for your comment. I feel the same way that you do when it comes to the assessments. It does allow HR to weed out applicants that do not respond in the way they want. I wish that companies would just stop the assessments but, unfortunately, it appears that more and more companies are using them. It was probably not the most professional response to send an email rather than call. However, you got a response. Many of those reading these comments will be jealous of you because you actually received a response while most job seekers never hear anything at all.

I feel the "assessments" are completely inaccurate. The assessments do nothing but allow HR to not "do there job." I have had a 1st interview that went great. They asked me to take the assessment, which I did and instead of calling me back and discussing it ( like they said they do) they sent an email telling me I wasn't chosen for the position.

@Edward thanks for your question. I do think that some of the online assessments are totally ridiculous. But I believe that they use them as a "weeding out" point. It's a good way to learn a lot about a candidate before you invest additional time and resources. It's kind of fun to look at some of the assessments as they will ask the same question but reword it. I think that's to see if you are really reading the questions and responded honestly. They do have a lot of wiggle room for sure but if they take the time to do an honest assessment instead of just throwing questions together, it can truly be the way to open the door for the right job seeker. No it should never take place of human interaction in my opinion. What do you think?

Nancy, what is your take on the online assessments that HR wants to use as a screening process? Is this a more accurate way to weed out perspective employees than to have a live interview? I think that some of the questions used have a lot of "wiggle room" for interpretation and real human interaction would be more beneficial. What are your thoughts?

I'd be curious to hear testimonials from others who have faced the same experience.

@Edward thanks for your follow up. From personal experience, I have not encountered unresponsive HR departments but I hear it from job candidates all of the time. It is a shame that the actions of that particular HR department appear commonplace to you. I can only speak for myself but I have not encountered the same issues that you have. HR departments have gotten a bad reputation ever since the housing/market crash about ten years ago. So sorry that you had to deal with an unresponsive HR. Here's hoping that the next HR doesn't gaff you off!

The problem is that appears to be more commonplace with many HR departments. Based on your response there will be an extremely few companies that an applicant should want to work.

@Edward thanks for your comment. Totally agree that HRs need to be more responsive to the needs of the job seeker and should respond. I would have to question if I would want to work at a company where the HR is not responsive. What if you were an employee at the company and you were being bullied. What do you think HR would do? Yeah - that's why I would walk. Sorry that they wasted all of your time, too - for several interviews and then silence. But on the positive side, you now have several interviews under your belt and know what to expect on the next interview. Best of luck.

I've had a couple of instances where I was initially screened by HR and had a couple more interviews up the chain. I tried to follow up with HR and they don't return calls or answer e-mails. It's increasingly frustrating that the HR department tries to take the Human out of interaction. If any other department behaved that way, HR would enforce policy and walk them out the door!!!!

@David so sorry that you experienced that. However, - whew thank goodness you didn't get hired! Would you want to work for a manager who never returns phone calls? Not me!!! So I would think that it wasn't the "insider" but the hiring manager who put the light out on that possibility. Don't let it stop you from trying again. Truly all companies are not like that.

Got a good one for you: ...had an "insider" at a potential haven. Thought I aced the interview. Weeks went by. I did "follow-up" calls...messages were never returned. I am officially UN-hirable--even with an "insider"...AWESOME!!

@Lori thanks for your comment and feedback. It's possible that she felt put on the spot because - well maybe she didn't really have an answer for you outside of - you were great but another candidate had everything that we were looking for... I would rather not get an answer at all then to get the standard canned response. Not all managers will be open to telling you why you didn't get the job but don't let that stop you from asking.

@Varkey - I agree with Nancy below -also if all of the interviews were via Skype, I think that some were job scams. Beware as there are a lot of scammers out there.

regarding #1 following up - after the interview, I waited about a week (standard) and called them. I did not get the job, but asked for feedback. The interviewer did NOT like this as she seemed aggravated by my question, that I asked very politely, might I add. Perhaps she did not like being asked pointed questions ? maybe she felt put on the spot ?

@Valerie thanks for your comment. If you had a great interview and then - nothing, wouldn't you want to know why? Certainly it is true that not all hiring managers will respond to your query but some of them will. Hopefully, if you do ask, you will get a response that is more succinct than "although you were impressive, another candidate had exactly what we were looking for." Some of them will tell you exactly why, though, if you can get back in touch with them. If it was your interviewing skills that threw things off, it would be nice to know. Now I know, having said this, that I will get blasted by others who have tried to find out why and never get a response. That also could happen to you. But my philosophy is that you will never know unless you ask.

How can one obtain the interviewer's evaluation of you? In all of my years of HR as well as seeking employment, I have neither a) been asked how someone has done in their interview, nor b) asked a hiring manager how I performed in my interview. It seems they would be hard-pressed to look for negative comments since they didn't offer you the job and/or confidential depending on the circumstances. Please provide more details on how to obtain this information from the companies who don't offer you employment. Thank you.

@Anne thanks for your comment. Some job seekers indicate that no one wants the cover letter but, for the most part, companies are asking for the cover letter. Maybe in the executive world they don't need cover letters but, for most of us, it's worth the time. Sorry you had the bad experience with a company. Terrible that they would act that way but remember, most companies are not like that. So, bottom line for the cover letter is to err on the side of caution and include it, if you can. Some companies will indicate that they want resumes only in which case, we are off the hook!

Cover letter? Don't even waste your time. My husband is an executive recruiter (with 20+ years of experience) and he has told me that nobody reads them. No one has time! You're lucky if someone even reads the top third of the first page of your resume. The last time I was asked for a cover letter specifying salary requirements, it was obvious when I was called by the hiring manager (late for our phone interview, I might add) that she hadn't read my cover letter because the first question she asked was my salary requirement. I answered politely and refrained from pointing out that that was in my cover letter. She said, That's more than we're paying, and ended the call. Talk about unprofessional!

Thanks for sharing your insights. I have seen all of these distractions in my search. We must refuse to let the distractions turn into roadblocks to our search. I know this is not easy!

@Eliot thanks for your comments. Very well said. So very true that cover letters are still very important. A cover letter can give a hiring manager great insight into who you really are. They can see how you put sentences and paragraphs together as well as your grammar and vocabulary. They can see if you followed directions from the job posting. Never a waste of time. Also @Eliot well said regarding fake interviews. Certainly, if the "hiring manger" is not flexible on time slots for interviews, I would be asking a lot of questions! Or I would just say thanks but no thanks. It truly is hard sometimes to know if it's a legit position but, if you do even a bit of cursory research, you can find out quickly if it's a sales pitch or a real job interview.

@ Peter G. While I have also experienced what you describe, it may not mean they, or someone along the screening line, didn't read your letter. Sometimes, the person just isn't good at interviewing, or doesn't know what else to ask. A better interviewer may something like, "In your cover letter, you mention x. Can you expand on that?" But, you don't always get a better interviewer. Other times, they may be more impressed by the fact that you wrote a cover letter than what you say in it. Bottom line, it may not be the waste you think it is and the few minutes it takes to write one could make a big difference for years to come.