How to Treat Job-Seekers Like Human Beings

As a freelancer and part-timer, I’m always on the lookout for new gigs and interesting positions in which I could exploit my wide ranging skills and expand upon them, while making an impact for interesting companies. No one is going to be a perfect fit every time they interview and it’s not possible to know what an employer is really looking for or why you might not fit the bill. That’s life.

But, in my view, basic human decency requires the following. If a person has cleared the initial phone screen and you bring them in-house for an interview (or series of interviews), you owe them the courtesy of, at the bare minimum, an impersonal email letting them know when the position has been filled. Anything less simply reflects poorly upon you as an employer, as a company and as a human being.

It would be too difficult to contact everyone who applies for a position, but not everyone who comes in to speak to you in person. There is, literally, no acceptable excuse for not doing so. It is cruel. It is dehumanizing. It is wrong.

Have just a modicum of respect for the people who take the time to show up and help you solve your staffing needs. If you are too sensitive to speak to them in person, just send an email. Jobseekers will absolutely cherish you for showing them this consideration, despite the fact that you may be disappointing them. It makes you and your organization look great.