Job hunting can be one of the most tedious things in the world.
Sometimes, it’s streamlined, but even with that, you’re still filling out application after application after application. A lot of the time, you’re tailoring your resume and cover letter for the job, trying to make it as enticing to the recruiter as possible.
And what’s the outcome? Usually nothing.
No call, no email, no interview, nothing. It’s worse if you land the interview and then get ghosted by the company, so you have no idea if you got the job or not.
Employers need to stop treating hiring like a competition with rules only they know.
The rules for how to get a job keep changing. It used to be pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, handing out resumes, and calling after a few days to remind them that you exist, or to ask after the job or interview.
Then it was applying and sitting with your fingers crossed because employers will tell you not to call – they’ll call you. And if you call, well, your resume gets thrown out because you can’t follow directions. The arbitrary rules change every so often, so any advice people looking for jobs get is wrong in one form or another.
Getting ghosted after an interview or after putting in an application, hurts. People get their hopes up for that phone call, for that email, and then it doesn’t come. Job hunters have to constantly have their resumes in circulation, trying to find something, anything because the world isn’t a cheap place to live in. The cost of living keeps rising, making it harder and harder for people to afford to live.
And you know what would make things easier? If you weren’t being yanked around by a chain as you try to get a job. Because, here’s the thing: it’s not an employer’s market anymore.
The candidates have the power because if there’s something they don’t like, they’ll walk. If they aren’t being paid enough for their time, there are other jobs out there they can and will take.
Candidates are learning that if they don’t like the rules, they don’t have to play the game.
So let’s make it easier on everybody, okay?
Put the salary in the job description. Get back to the candidates instead of making them guess when or if it’s okay to reach out. Don’t turn the hiring process into a Hunger Games-style competition. Your business will be much better off.
Rory Skupeko (he/him or they/them) is an aspiring novelist from the Twin Cities. He has an English and a Creative Writing degree from Coe College. He spends most of his days being harassed by his cat, who enjoys walking all over her dad's articles.
