The other members of the search committee and I just received this e-mail:
Hi,
A job candidate you recently interviewed asked to have this letter sent on his/her behalf and is utilizing this anonymous message service because he/she knows that writing personally would burn bridges.
The candidate never received a response from you about the outcome of his/her candidacy.
As you probably know, most job candidates put significant time and effort into preparing for a job interview: Many spend hours reading up on your company and industry and thinking about how they could best offer something of value to you. They may take a day off work and spend time and money traveling to you. And then they wait ... and wait and wait, anxiously hoping for an answer, any answer.
A quick email or form letter letting the candidate know he or she is no longer under consideration -- that's all it takes. Candidates deserve that. And so does your organization, which looks unprofessional when you leave candidates hanging.
On behalf of your past and future candidates, won't you please reconsider your practices?
Sincerely,
A Fellow Hiring Manager
www.emailyourinterviewer.com*****************************
Really? I understand that an academic search is not as quick or transparent as everyone would like, and that job seekers can get frustrated. But we are careful to explain the practices _as laid out by HR_ to everyone we phone interview, and when applicants contact me, I try to give as much information as I can, ethically and legally.
Our searches aren't that big; we only did a handful of phone interviews and haven't yet had on-campus ones. I'm choosing to believe this message was prompted by someone who didn't make the first cut; otherwise, it's going to be very hard to look at the other phone interviewees in a positive light.
Oh, searches, such fun for all!
