RE: Your application 32456

“Dear Ms Melita, 

Thank you very much for the interest you show for an employment in our company. 

Unfortunately, we cannot offer you an employment in our company at this time. But we are confident that your qualification and knowledge will allow you to develop yourself with regard to your profession and according to your wishes. 

We wish you good luck for your future in your private and professional life. “

It’s not easy or pleasant to receive such emails. However it’s quite inevitable when looking for a job. Like with any other rejection we need to be able to handle them properly and make the best out of the situation. Otherwise our chances to find our best potential job might drop considerably.

First of all, before starting the search it’s important to set our expectations right. That means we should expect the following:    

• We might be looking for several months before finding the job we want
• Inevitably we will receive messages like the one from above
• It could happen that we go to two or three interviews with the same company and still receive at the end a message telling us that someone else was chosen for the job
• For certain applications we will have no feedback at all
• We need to put considerable effort and to invest time and energy in order to prepare our applications, search for jobs, send them and constantly try to improve our CVs and letters of intent

Realizing all this from the beginning will not make the search process easier but will help us keep up our level of energy and confidence. One of the common mistakes people do when looking for a job is creating a CV and letter of intent and use them as they are during the whole process.

Doing the same thing and expecting different results doesn't make too much sense. Therefore applying with the same CV after receiving negative feedback it might not be the best idea.

We will never know exactly why we were rejected no matter how much we think and speculate about it. Instead of spending time thinking at the reasons the employer had, it would be more efficient to try and review our CV and letter of intent and improve it constantly.

The online environment is full with information on how to create CVs and letters of intent. All we need to do is to adapt the information to our situation and try different styles until we find the one that works for us. What we should not forget is that our CV is the first thing the employer will know about us. Even if it might sound obvious, the photo we choose to put in this document needs to be a professional one adequate for a business relation.

Having someone else checking our CV might also be very useful. If we don’t have any friends who work in HR we can look for someone who has recent experience with job applications or contact HR professionals who would be willing to evaluate our CV. We should never be happy with just one opinion. People have different experiences and points of view regarding this aspect even if they work in HR.

The quality of our application is the only thing we can really influence. All other things are speculations and suppositions.

When we understand that negative answers as well as positive ones are part of the recruitment process, our chances to go smoothly through it and to find the job that we really want will be definitely higher.  

Discrimination in the recruitment process

You don’t really realize how bad discrimination is until you experience it. At least I didn't...  The feeling you have when you are told up front that you might not get a job because of your nationality is far worse than I imagined.

When talking about the recruitment process there are always two parties involved: the candidates and the hiring company. Who is actually the company? Is it the general manager, the entity described at the section -”About us”, the managers? “The company” is every person that works for an employer and acts as representative of its interests. So we are talking about people who try to apply some rules and principles, to make the right decision according to their experience and knowledge. Therefore, in the recruitment process, maybe more than in other areas, there is always a great deal of subjectivism involved. Along with the job descriptions, the personality match plays a very important role in the hiring decisions.  Depending on the job, there are situations where the personality match is even more important than the technical skills which, unlike the personality, can be taught and learned in time.

How do the managers decide if a candidate has a matching personality or not? The process starts way before the first interview. It starts with the discussion between the hiring manager and the recruiter. 

The official issues discussed are the personality features desired from the future employee that are not specified in the job description. Some of the frequently requested personality traits are: honesty, responsibility, adaptability, patience, decisiveness but not only. So far so good. 

But what happens when the hiring manager says”…and I would like, if possible, someone not older than 35, single and male.”? These requirements are always said more or less with lower voice, in confidence and they are of course unofficial. Why? Because this behavior is not just unethical, it is also a breach of discrimination legislation. 

What are the options of the recruiter at this point? 

1. To tell the manager up front that this is called discrimination and this is both immoral and illegal. 

2. To write down the extra requirements and to start searching for the right candidate. 

3. To convince the manager to consider also people that don’t match exactly his last requirements but who meet all the other requirements regarding knowledge, experience, skills and competences- these criteria being essential for the job. 

What recruiters choose to do in this situation can have a great impact on the final decision. While it is almost impossible to change someone’s prejudices, way of seeing things and preferences, presenting candidates whose selection was based on knowledge, experience and skills, can sometimes avoid discrimination. 

However, discrimination in the recruitment process is not always generated by the managers. Recruiters earn their living through placing an applicant in the advertised position as efficiently as possible. How every recruiter understands to do that depends very much on their ethics, background, education, social environment and experience. Recruiters can as well have prejudices, positive or negative experiences with some category of people and this can and will most of the times influence the selection process.  

Despite all anti-discrimination legislation, this phenomenon is everywhere and will continue to be a problem especially because it is very hard to be proved. 

s and principles, to make the right decision according to their experience and knowledge. Therefore, in the recruitment process, maybe more than in other areas, there is always a great deal of subjectivism involved. Along with the job descriptions, the personality match plays a very important role in the hiring decisions.  Depending on the job, there are situations where the personality match is even more important than the technical skills which, unlike the personality, can be taught and learned in time.

How do the managers decide if a candidate has a matching personality or not? The process starts way before the first interview. It starts with the discussion between the hiring manager and the recruiter. 

The official issues discussed are the personality features desired from the future employee that are not specified in the job description. Some of the frequently requested personality traits are: honesty, responsibility, adaptability, patience, decisiveness but not only. So far so good. 

But what happens when the hiring manager says”…and I would like, if possible, someone not older than 35, single and male.”? These requirements are always said more or less with lower voice, in confidence and they are of course unofficial. Why? Because this behaviour is not just unethical, it is also a breach of discrimination legislation. 

What are the options of the recruiter at this point? 

1. To tell the manager up front that this is called discrimination and this is both immoral and illegal. 

2. To write down the extra requirements and to start searching for the right candidate. 

3. To convince the manager to consider also people that don’t match exactly his last requirements but who meet all the other requirements regarding knowledge, experience, skills and competences- these criteria being essential for the job. 

What recruiters choose to do in this situation can have a great impact on the final decision. While it is almost impossible to change someone’s prejudices, way of seeing things and preferences, presenting candidates whose selection was based on knowledge, experience and skills, can sometimes avoid discrimination. 

However, discrimination in the recruitment process is not always generated by the managers. Recruiters earn their living through placing an applicant in the advertised position as efficiently as possible. How every recruiter understands to do that depends very much on their ethics, background, education, social environment and experience. Recruiters can as well have prejudices, positive or negative experiences with some category of people and this can and will most of the times influence the selection process. 

 Despite all anti-discrimination legislation, this phenomenon is everywhere and will continue to be a problem especially because it is very hard to be proved.