By Joe Redshaw
The same position is open for over a year? Why are so many jobs just rehashed on the job boards as “new” when they have been out on-line for many, many months? What should a potential candidate infer from this?
There could be many reasons.
- One is that the company could be looking for the perfect candidate and not willing to settle (perfect candidate can mean matching skills/technologies, fit with the group, personality, compensation).
- Another is that the group is growing. For example for about 2 years I have had an Inside Sales role posted. We have been growing our inside sales team and have about 1 opening per month, so it always seems to be open.
- There could be high turnover in that role so the company always seems to need a backfill. Or because of turnover, or future growth, the company feels it will have that as an opening (or it could be a core job they “typically” hire for). In that case they always want candidates in the pipeline for when it does open.
For some, it is considered “proactive recruiting” rather than “reactive”. Reactive is a job opening up and you now have to start recruiting. Being proactive helps a company, but can leave a sour taste with candidates.The best thing to do as a candidate is ask if the position is officially open, why it is open, how long it has been open and when they are looking to fill the position. That is if you can get someone on the phone or to respond to your e-mail.
So to answer the question, it could say a lot about a company. It just depends on circumstances.
It takes double digit meetings to interview a candidate, as happened to a friend – didn’t get a job at Company X (after 11 interviews!!!!) – they didn’t even have the decency to inform her officially!
This is poor follow up. This could be the error of one person, but it reflects poorly on the whole company.
But as a candidate, I always tell people to follow up with your contact at the company. I can take a different approach and say that after 11 interviews, the candidate could have had 11 contacts they could have followed up with to get some information. Candidates need to be proactive as well. If you are not getting feedback, then go get some.
One thing that often happens is that you, as a candidate, are #2. So the company needs to keep you on the back burner. They move forward with their #1 candidate and it often takes a week or 2 to get everything approved and signed to hire the #1. Then the #1 must accept. If you are a #2 the company may not want to tell you and feedback during that time can be vague, if you get any at all.
But in the end, after 11 interviews and there was no communication from the company, it is just bad business. Now those who read this may think differently about Company X, when it could have been just one bad recruiter or Manager out of many good ones.
About Joe Redshaw
Joe Redshaw is the Corporate Recruiter for Gomez, the Web Performance Division of Compuware. He has been a recruiter for almost 10 years and has experience on the agency and corporate side. Joe has screened thousands of candidates and has agreed to provide NEJS his perspective on HR/Recruiter practices.
NEJS encourages you to start a dialogue with Joe by submitting your questions via the comments section at the end of the blog article. Keep an eye out for more Q & A with Joe.
Blog Editor Note: I saw an interesting article, How Employers Behave When There Are More Workers Than Jobs, that talks about the locus of control shifting from candidates to employers, and employers having the sense that they can “call the shots.” These dynamics can pose serious challenges for job seekers. Read the article to get a sense of shift in power (if you haven’t already felt it yourself!)
