Ad Recruiters, We Love You
No, we really do.
hashtag#Recruiting in hashtag#advertising is an impossible job.
It requires hashtag#creativerecruiters to have a detailed understanding of the discipline, the subtle context of the role, while connecting with the expectations of hashtag#culture, hashtag#economics, and hashtag#trends of the moment.
It also requires an understanding of the organization's spoken and (most vital) unspoken needs. There are huge pressures to find ideal candidates, that perfectly fit a confusing and conflicting set of criteria.
Which is just any given Tuesday for a hashtag#recruiter. But over the past year, the response to each opening is 500% higher. And more of these applicants are more qualified than ever.
Sr executive hashtag#decisionmakers don't have the time to sort through hundreds of resumes and hashtag#portfolio links. Which leaves the recruiter to make 87% of the hiring decisions. Recruiters know that it's wrong to cut people for reasons that don't directly impact the duties of the job. But to make the search manageable, they look for any reason to say “no.” hashtag#overqualified - no. hashtag#inexperienced - no. Resume not formatted the usual way - no, Taking longer than 6 hours to respond to the initial job post - no. Employment gap - no. Too few recent hashtag#awards - no. Worked in QSR but not specifically in “Bunless” QSR - no.
And what about hashtag#age? Do you cut people who are over 55? Over 45? It’s not legal, but how does it look when you invite a grey hair to an interview, and they show up in their unfashionable shirts with weird neck folds, and middle-aged jewelry? What is this, an hashtag#adagency or a gas station? Maybe if they’re a super hot older person who wears swank outfits and has cool neck tats, then possibly, but otherwise ick.
How do you tell your eminently qualified, clearly interested applicants that you will not consider them because their hashtag#resume only had 12 of the 18 hashtag#keywords listed in the job description? Or that their enormous wealth of experience or potential is completely negated by the choice to use the hashtag#opentowork notice on their LinkedIn profile.
I’m glad I don’t have to say any of those things.
Which is why we are often hashtag#ghosted .
Ghosting is not the result of people who don’t care.
It's the result of a process that is indefensible.
So next time you don’t hear from a recruiter, realize your application was rejected for some reason other than your majestic greatness. And telling you about it would only make you sad for not being enough of some arbitrary measure, entirely unrelated to how hard you would kill the job or how much gold your brain can shit.
Ghosting isn’t you being told you’re not good enough.
It’s being told the reasons for your rejection aren’t worth the breath to mention.
Or the eyeball juice to read.