Recruiters not always forthright about callbacks
DEAR J.T. & DALE: I’ve had three calls lately with recruiters for jobs. They all said they’d be in touch with next steps to meet the hiring manager, and then I never heard from them. I tried emailing and calling, but they won’t respond. What am I doing wrong? — Aaron
J.T.: Recruiters aren’t always forthright. Their job is to find the right candidate, and if it isn’t you, they may have a hard time telling you on the phone, and might find it easier to simply fib. And sometimes they like you for the job, but when they put your résumé in front of the hiring managers, they say “no.” Now they feel silly coming back to you and admitting that they have no control over the situation.
Dale: What you are describing is a class of people who are too gentle to be honest. And I suppose that happens, but I think the more-common issue is on the other end of the spectrum, that recruiters become less courteous as they work to be more efficient. Said another way, they don’t have the time to make polite follow-up calls. Remember, they are hired by the company to fill positions, and following up with discarded candidates doesn’t get them closer to finding the ideal candidate. Here’s an example of their mind-set: One recruiter once told me, “God Himself isn’t getting a callback unless I’m doing a search for supreme beings.”
J.T.: Whatever the motivation, they aren’t responding; however, there are ways to increase your odds of hearing from them. Next time you have an interview with a recruiter and you think it went well, ask at the end, “Can you tell me what you think the chances are that I’ll move to the next round?” Based on his or her response, you can then say: “What is the best way for me to follow up with you? I’d really like to know either way about my candidacy. Is it OK if I touch base with you in a week if I don’t hear from you? I know you are busy.” This will set the protocol that you’ll be checking in and you understand that you might not move to the next round, so they can be honest with you.
Dale: That’s worth a try, but keep your expectations low. Recruiters, like hiring managers, dread being pulled into conversations about why someone didn’t get selected. After all, that person probably is going to want to debate the reasons for being turned down, and you can picture how much time that would take. So, two suggestions: One, J.T.’s website, workitdaily.com, has lots of good information on writing résumés that will attract the attention of recruiters and get you more chances to make a connection. Second, if you continue to get interviews but not offers, it makes sense to seek interview feedback. You can ask manager friends to do mock interviews, or you can seek out professional coaching.
Dear J.T. & Dale: I want to work for a company that lets you bring your dog to work. What’s the easiest way to find a list of employers that do that? — Viktoria
J.T.: I don’t know of any easy way to do this. I would suggest posting a message on Facebook asking friends if they’ve heard of any companies that allow dogs at the office. Just make sure you aren’t friends with your current bosses, so as not to tip them off that you are looking!
Dale: But let’s back up and point out that this will be a severe limitation on your career prospects. As a dog lover, I understand your perturbation. If you’re mainly worried for the dog, then a better solution might be to find someone who’s retired or works at home who’d be willing to keep the dog while you’re at work. If, however, it’s you getting lonely for the pooch, then I hope you’ll broaden your search to include the rapidly expanding number of companies that would allow you to do most of your work from home, or ones that put employees in co-working spaces (which often are dog-friendly).