Most of us have gone through this or a similar experience: You follow up on your resume submission, the employer says they'll definitely get back to you within a few days, but you never hear back. Then they ignore your follow-up calls and emails until, utterly frustrated, you give up and make a mental note to not apply to the company again.
Or maybe you got to an interview that ended on an enthusiastic note when they called you a strong candidate and said they would be back in touch within a week. But a week turned into two weeks, which turned into a month, then two months, then … OK, you know where I’m going with this.
So, I enjoyed a good laugh last week while reading an article on the New York Times blog on how Neal Hirschfeld got a would-be employer’s attention months after an interview and dressed them down for leaving him hanging. His tactic: He emailed to say he was “delighted” to be joining the team and would report for work “bright and early Monday morning.” That got their attention – in the form of a barrage of “urgent” email messages and equally urgent messages left on his answering machine.
The weird thing is that the employer invited him to apply for the job.
It’s one thing to get your hopes up unnecessarily; it’s worse when an employer gives you a pretty clear impression that they’re interested in you, then yanks out the red carpet while you’re standing on it.
RELATED LINKS
Hey Employer, Your Online Application Sucks!
How Do I Get Employers to Notice My Resume and Call Me?
Feeling Rejected? 7 Tips to Take Back Your Happy Place
Ready To Jump Start Your Job Search?
