What if recruiters don’t call back

NEW DELHI: Did you get calls from recruiters when you shared your resume on job boards and updated your LinkedIn settings? Was there silence from recruiters later on? Or maybe you had two rounds of interviews with a company and then the trail went cold? Why don’t recruiters call back, and what does it mean for you?

Did you apply?

While you may be expecting a call from the recruiter, you may not be in the reckoning because you didn’t formally apply. Reaching out on social network, expressing interest or verbally asking the recruiter to consider your profile does not count. You need to have a record of your application.

Disorganised process

While you may have followed the correct procedure, hiring managers are often disorganised. Your application may slip through the cracks. Follow up with the recruiter within two days of applying.

Not qualified

When a recruiter advertises for a senior position, he gets tons of unqualified applicants. So, if the position called for a ‘key accounts manager’, while you are an accountant, do not expect a call back.

Falling short

Go through the job description and look at the preferred attributes. If you are a great software developer, but the profile mentions preference to candidates from e-commerce companies, you may not be the best fit. If you believe you are better than your resume, write a covering e-mail and present your case.

Competition is better

Sometimes, the competition simply has better work experience, lower salary or better brands on their resume than you. So, you may not be shortlisted beyond the resume stage.

Something you said

When the recruiter or the hiring manager had the first telephonic chat with you, perhaps he learnt something that made you less attractive for the role. The hiring manager is unlikely to share his concerns with you and you may get silence or a standard rejection.

Multiple applications

If you are flooding the market with multiple job applications for different roles and the recruitment consultant has come across your applications, he may decide that you are not serious about a specific role. Targeted applications tend to get you the best results.

Warm calls

If you are a great candidate but not the perfect one, then recruiters will ‘keep you warm’. They will call you regularly to keep the conversation going while they look for the dream candidate. Given time and right circumstances, you may get upgraded from runners-up to winner. If not, the calls will stop.

Priorities change

Sometimes a company’s priorities change midway through a hiring process and the existing vacancy ceases to exist, at least for the time being. The recruiter may simply stop calling you or give you a standard response when you try to follow up.

(The writer is founder and CEO at QuezX.com and HeadHonchos.com)