I had an initial phone call scheduled with a candidate last week. He had applied directly to our website, I contacted him within 24 hours of his application and gave him several chunks of time I was available. He chose a time, and I called him promptly on the dot at the time arranged (the day before Thanksgiving). Keep in mind I stayed at work *just* to call him at 4 PM. He didn’t answer. I waited a few minutes and called again, leaving messages both times. After the second time, I sent him an email telling him we would have to reconnect after the holiday weekend. This morning I got a reply (dated yesterday at 6:16 PM):
"Sorry was kind of busy, but available tomorrow or Wed same time . Let me know?"
This candidate obviously is not interested in the opportunity. His laissez-faire attitude about interviewing is frustrating. I sent back to him that unfortunately, I was *not* available either of those days.
I also had another candidate that applied to a position that I reached out to in email early last week. I still have not heard back from him. This morning I texted him to make sure he got my reply. He looks good enough "on paper" to be worth an initial screen, but not if he doesn’t actually return my outreach. He has until tomorrow. If I don’t get an answer I am going to decline him (with a politely worded note stating that we tried to make contact several times.) Although it is a "buyer’s market" (candidates are the buyers), the company I represent puts a very heavy emphasis on passion hand in hand with functional skills. If a candidate acts all "Meh", they aren’t even going to get a chance to talk to us. Recruiters generally set up appointments via email, so if a candidate doesn’t check their mail regularly then they probably don’t have the business skills to make it in an organization that runs professionally. I’m not sure how job seekers think I’m going to contact them other than via the information on their resume. (Oh, and here’s something to think about: I don’t automatically assume your phone number IS a cell unless you tell me, so texting is only a secondary form of outreach.) Make sure you also check your spam folder.
Please keep in mind that these are applicants that APPLIED TO OPEN JOBS. It is this sort of blase behavior that frustrates me when I hear from the general populace about the "resume black hole". It’s a two way street, folks.