Is it normal for a company not to contact you after a lengthy interview to let you know you didn't get the job? [closed]

Question

My friend recently went to an interview with a small accounting software company.

After she left the interview, she never heard back from them.

The thing is, she'd already talked with the owner on the phone several times, sent several emails back and forth, and spent the better part of a day on the interview. During the interview my friend was asked some personal questions and she feels upset that after all this they didn't even have the courtesy to call her back to say that the position had been filled, or tell her why she was not selected. She knows she was qualified enough for the first job.

Is it normal for companies to not tell candidates they were rejected for a position after investing so much time with them?

As a side note, she later got a different job with another company which pays more than what was offered at the accounting software company.

Answer 1

It is less than wonderful etiquette. It is also extremely common. Companies these days all too frequently never call the "unsuccessful" interviewees back. In general, they will almost never say why someone was not hired, for fear of lawsuit.

The ugly reality is that you don't have the job until and unless they formally call and offer it to you, and until and unless you formally accept.

It sounds like your friend did all right. She may well have dodged a bullet: if the firm doesn't do that basic courtesy, how are they going to be to work for, day to day?

Answer 2

"Rude" a term normally applied to an action taken-- such as asking improper questions in an interview. Not doing something you're obligated to falls under "thoughtless", "discourteous" or "unprofessional."

All of those adjectives apply. Current practice is that an employer owes you nothing if you're not called for an interview. Once they talk to you, they're obligated to update you.

People don't do it because they don't like to deliver bad news... but it's part of being a manager. If you can't tell someone "I'm sorry, we found someone more qualified", you're not competent to supervise. This, plus the questions, means your friend was lucky. She is now free to disparage the company to anyone in her network.

At a large company with financial problems (or inter-silo warfare), positions sometimes get stalled. Nancy is mad Ted was allowed to hire someone before her. She complains to Stephanie, who can't get Nancy cleared to hire, but does get Carl to freeze Ted's position.

Companies hate to air this dirty laundry, but there's nothing wrong with telling a candidate "we've encountered an issue we need to address before we can hire anyone. I can't go into more detail, but you're still in the running."

(A white lie has become risky. Someone recently told me that the person who had to approve my firm's contract needed emergency surgery. I was unhappy to get the news, but pleased to be updated... until I noticed his Twitter feed is active.)

Answer 3

It depends on your local corporate culture. I'm from India, and given the high number of applicants for a single post, it is a rule that no one calls back unless you are shortlisted for the next round. The only exceptions are a few private enterprises which will send a standard email, or, public sector companies which hold massive recruitment drives, also by snailmail/email.

Even if it is a one-on-one hiring instance for some specialized position or for a higher-up post recruiters rarely call for fear that the polite interviewee may change his colours and respond with rage.

Answer 4

Rude is in the eye of the beholder.

You don't define recently. Some people worry about responding too fast, others wonder if a week is too quick or too slow. Some won't contact candidates until all the interviews are done.

I have known of situations where the delay was an attempt to slow down the process because they to were waiting for confirmation from the customer. They felt that some would view the silence as "no news is good news." If you contact the candidates you have to tell them something, and they weren't ready to reject anybody until the requirements stopped changing.

You have no obligations to the potential employer. Keep looking until somebody makes you a solid offer in writing.

Answer 5

I'm new to The Workplace, recently graduated (two months back) and went through a few interview processes, and I had a similar experience that I want to share to make my point;

I was called by a firm and a technical interview was conducted in which I was able to answer all the questions easily, but after so many days, when they didn't contact me, I talked others about my interview and came up to the point that the salary package I wanted was more than the firm wanted to offer. And they didn't communicate and inform me anything. I think this thing can be negotiated later on. They should have at least inform me about that.

But I have came across many incidents when companies (not the start ups but the established ones) do inform the candidate about their application status which is a good trend to follow!

Best!

Answer 6

A small company should take a little more pride in using a personal touch in business matters. They also tend to fill fewer positions. At the bare minimum, any size company can put together a form letter or email to all job candidates who did not get the position.

If you have candidates that are working, they probably gave permission to call them at home in off-hours, so not having enough time is just a poor excuse.

Not contacting candidates back in and of itself is not going to attract a higher quality employee, but just shows the company cares enough to pay attention to details and do what is right.

Answer 7

In over 30 years in the workforce, I have only once been called to tell me that I was not hired. That wasn't because it was the only job I ever did not get. Companies only rarely tell people they weren't selected. It is such a common practice to only contact those who are going to be hired or to continue on in the process, that I would accept that as the default behavior. So many worse things to get upset about, I wouldn't waste any energy on that one at all.

Remember companies aren't interested in you if you didn't get hired, so why should they spend several extra hours contacting people many of whom will try to convince them to change their minds. Why should they take the risk that in the course of such a conversation, they will say something that could get them sued? Is there a need to maintain a relationship with someone you aren't interested in hiring and will in most cases never be interested in hiring? And remember at some stages of the process, you may have several hundred candiates to contact if you did contact them.

There is no upside to the company to call back the people they didn't select. From the company perspective it is a waste of time and money especially since HR personnel have been cut drastically over the last ten years as well.