“I left a message and no one called me back.”

“They said I would hear feedback on my interview in 2 weeks and it’s been 4.”

These are the comments frequently heard from job applicants and candidates. Sure, it’s an employer’s market and a gazillion people apply for every position out there. Many of those who apply have no applicable experience and you feel they have wasted not only their own time but yours as well.

Sign of the times, people are desperate. They think if your company is hiring for that position maybe one is coming up they would qualify for and they’re doing the smart thing by getting their resume to you now. You know, being proactive, beating the crowd, showing initiative. Most people who aren’t recruiters don’t know how it really works and that secretly (or not so secretly) you are cursing them, calling them idiots for applying to jobs they’re not qualified for.

It’s often brutal on the job seeker’s end; the hunt, the wait, the rejection… and I have observed on many occasions, a holier than thou, I’m in charge here and your future depends on me attitude - from recruiters, that is far from professional. We could be on the other end of an ATS in a heartbeat.

We should always remember that…

Yes, it is highly irritating when someone overkills with follow-up to the point of being within 1/10 of an inch of being an official stalker. It’s horrid when someone files an unfounded EEOC claim of discrimination because they were not selected. It’s worthy of hazardous duty pay when a candidate didn’t deal well with being turned down and becomes verbally abusive or goes off the deep end of desperation and confronts you loudly in public, keys your car, or any number of illegal acts of vengeance (which always provide ample validation of your decision making skills).

But, none of that should desensitize us to the point of dehumanizing a process which should be just the opposite; engaging.

Here are 5 simple customer service tips to help ensure you’re not hurting people or the employer brand you’re representing:

Screening calls is fine, if you don’t want to speak with the person, send an email — but send the email.

In your communication use time lines so applicants know when they’ll hear by and that if they don’t it’s because they weren’t selected.

Be organized enough to use calendar reminders, post-it notes — whatever — to remind you it’s time to make those updates you promised.

Tone — Don’t ever show or express frustration or irritability with applicants.

Remember to thank candidates for thinking of the company as a prospective employer.

Check out what Microsoft does to make candidates feel special when they come in for an interview in their candidate experience lobby. Just imagine how relaxed and psyched for an interview one must be after a hands on experience playing with all the toys. Granted, not every company has that to offer. But, even a warm greeting and scrapbook of good times in the lobby to provide a glimpse of the culture is better than staring at 4 walls.

What candidate experience tips do you have to share?

That was my disclaimer, how I started the bare all session for 7 job club members who were facing the end of unemployment compensation.

They had all sent countless resumes, received calls and attended interviews. They were turned down every time during more than a year of searching. After longevity ranging from 7 — 30 years, and one odd duck that had never held a job more than 2 years, they were hurt and confused why no one “wanted” them. They had been loyal and hard working and considered themselves “lifers” at their jobs. They felt put out on the street even though they all acknowledged that it wasn’t personal.

“I go in, they look at me, see I’m in my 50’s and I can see it in their faces… they’re thinking, what are we going to get out of her, she’s old”.

“What happened to paper applications?”

I asked each of them what they considered to be their profession or career and how long they had held their longest job for. I found that they felt it necessary to manufacture resumes that look like lengthy to do lists rather than career marketing pieces with examples of strengths and accomplishments because they were proud of every single thing they did well.

“How do I know if they got my Internet application, there’s no name of anyone to call?”

“The job was taken down off the site a week ago and I still haven’t heard anything. How long should I wait to call?” Call about what,” I asked. “To see if I am being considered”, the professionally dressed 50 something asked. She wanted to know before she went on vacation so she could stop thinking about it.

“Here, let me help you”, I said.  I let her know that if the job was taken down it meant the search was over and a decision had likely been made or at the very least final candidates selected. She didn’t get it because she continued on. “What if I am one of them and I’m not home to get the call because I’m on vacation?” I tried to be gentle as I explained it was over… I asked if she needed to hear the rejection.. She said yes. I saved her the call and suggested she enjoy her vacation and get excited about new opportunities that might be available upon her return.

The patriotically dressed woman who was concerned about her age had difficulty coming up with her most important career accomplishment. After all, she was just an Admin Clerk who maintained hospital departmental records and administered the database over the past 30 years. “I don’t know you”, I said, “but let me guess what your strengths and accomplishments were and you tell me how accurate I am”.

• You have superior time management skills
• Your can learn on the fly and implement new processes and technology rapidly
• You are good at training and working well with others
• Attention to detail and accuracy are finely honed skills you possess
• Your attendance record is excellent and your personnel file lacks disciplinary action

And I went on… And her face lit up. Her demeanor changed as she agreed with what I was saying. “Yes, that’s me”, she said. I asked how many records the department maintained and the policies for record retention. I talked about converting the to do list into an achievement oriented resume that captured her skill as a repository specialist with great capacity for knowledge management.

She asked me to slow down so she could take notes. She was getting it…

There are people who need your help my friends. They are good people but they do not understand what we look for. It’s not their job to understand and we really shouldn’t expect them too. We’re out there looking for expertly crafted resumes and polished presenters. Fortunate individuals do not spend a significant amount of time between 18 — 65 searching for work. Why should they be expected to be experts at job search, resume writing and interviewing?

The light bulb went off for me the first time I was invited to speak at the local job club. I felt the questions were from far left field. Each time I go back I hear the same or very similar questions. So if it’s a bunch of people that do not know each other, at different times and places with the same questions… is it them or us?

It’s us. We’re expected to do more with less, we look for the perfect candidate on paper. It’s easier to put a resume in a no pile than the maybe pile and pick up the phone to help make that determination. We pop out the job postings electronically and sit back for ATS alerts that there are incoming. We don’t think about the effort and time put into each web application filled out, each resume and cover letter crafted.

We look to disqualify candidates, not qualify them.

I challenge you to pick up the phone. Call a local job club, state employment agencies (one stop job shops) all have them. Volunteer to speak. You’ll learn from them as much as they learn from you.

Dorothy Beach, MBA CIR PHR got me thinking. She posted a question on the discussion board of the LinkedIn Social Media Recruiting Group asking for opinions on the effect of social media on recruiting in the far future, 5–20 years down the virtual highway. My mind immediately took a journey to Wish List Lane and Technology Square. If you repeat something enough times and really believe it that makes it reality, right?

In my vulcanesque way of thinking, most everyone on Earth will be digitally literate and have their own domain which will seamlessly be linked to the various networks they choose to participate in. Job seekers and passive candidates  open to opportunities will be able to open their networks to candidate searches so they can be found. Job seekers will no longer need to proactively apply to openings.

Companies will conduct searches not job seekers. Recruiters will be consultants to companies hiring and perform more of a job profile / company fit identification role, write the job keywords and parameters and set up the newfangled ATS which will be on a cloud. Software will be coded to meet the requirements of highly specialized queries and it will crawl to find candidates profiles base on the distance you wish to search and import them into your database where you will be able to further refine your search. Boolean strings will be old fashioned and systems will be user intuitive and friendly.

Recruiters will narrow the candidate pool by refining matches and conducting 1st virtual screenings, recommend the top 3 candidates to hiring managers, co-conduct the interviews and assist in the decision making ad placement process. Recruiters, in their expanded consultant role may see new hires through their first 3 months taking an active role in the new onboarding process.

What’s your vision?