If your job search is has resulted in nothing but silent rejections and you’ve been out of work a when, don’t take it too personally. Human resources departments have changed: Gone are the days when employers responded to resumés. In the past are the days of even giving a polite “no thank you”.
Departments in HR are busy
HR people who don’t respond aren’t unsympathetic to your situation, they’re just overwhelmed with theirs, as stated in a poll done by the Human Resource Management. In the past few years, HR departments have had plenty of layoffs and downsizings of their own. SHRM says that since 2007 most HR departments have decreased from 13 to 9.2 employees on average. That means the average workload for the typical HR worker has increased by 30 percent from the days when a written response to a solicited resumé was the norm.
HR workers know what it’s like
HR workers know firsthand what unemployed job-hunters are going through. In another survey by SHRM, it was found that of the HR professionals who didn’t have work in 2009, 47 percent of workers looked for work for six to twelve months and 27 percent had been looking more than a year of the 85 percent of job losses from layoffs. Among the HR workers who secured positions in 2009, 49 percent said they liked their new jobs less than their old ones. Add pay cuts to the mix, and chances are good that HR personnel are better candidates for pay day loans than ever before.
HR departments are ‘black holes’ for resumes.
Given such a high level of job dissatisfaction, it’s safe to say that many HR personnel are strained. Businesses are inundated with resumes and applications considering there are more than 14 million unemployed people looking for jobs. HR employees are hard pressed to give individual consideration to your resume which is buried in a pile somewhere regardless how carefully it is crafted and if or not the company solicited it. . Job candidates these days get as far as the interview stage, think that things went well, and then never hear from the company again. It’s discouraging — it might even border on rude — but it’s not personal.
The HR department bypass
With record high unemployment rates present and maybe in the future, with job hunting there is nothing wrong with knocking on the door. So do just a little research and try the back door. For the job you want you should call the company or check the website for the hiring manager’s name and the department head’s name. Next you should send your resume directly to those people, whether or not you have already sent it to the HR department.
Your resumé is just a checklist for HR purposes
Hundreds of applications are sorted through by HR personnel who check qualifications of candidates to a checklist of job needs. Your resume disappears forever if all the qualifications aren’t checked in about 10 seconds. Department heads and managers are busy people however they don’t look at stacks of resumes each day which means they might see things on your application the HR people don’t. Usually companies are looking for something in someone that can’t be found in a list of job requirements.
Get your resumé into the right hands
You will need to be patient while waiting after sending your resume.
Be brave: Pick up the phone and call the people you sent your resumé to.
Be confident when asking to schedule a meeting.
Don’t you need a job? Without one, you can’t even get low interest loans. Give your job experience and qualifications the recognition they need by getting your resume to the right hands.
