Good Afternoon All,

I would like to build on Pam’s comments by adding a true-to-life “horror” story – that actually happened to me.

A long, long time ago -- I was a finalist for the directorship of large museum located 3 time zones away from were I was then living.  The search committee flew me to the interview, a museum staff member met me at the airport and took me to a Hilton Hotel.  There were several interview sessions at the museum with stakeholders, board members, and senior staff; as well as seveal “working” dinners and receptions.  I was there for 3 days.  It was a rigorous process.

Weeks/months went by……I was never contacted.  A colleague of mine, who lived 1 time zone away, was also a finalist for this directorship….I called him on the telephone and asked him if had been contacted.  He responded that he also had not been contacted by that museum  We both agreed that we couldn’t work for such a “screwball” museum and that we both promised each other that we would contact each other as soon as one of us had been contacted.  My daughter was in 2^nd grade when this happened….she is now a college freshman – and my colleague and I still haven’t been contacted about that position!!!!

Best Wishes,

Wesley

Wesley S. Creel

Administrator of Programs

Pink Palace Family of Museums

Memphis, TN

www.memphismuseums.org

I don't think you're old fashioned but I also feel that the applicant should take the responsibility to find out more. I will surely call with questions to get a better feel (and clarification) for the hiring process. So if it's an "open until filled" I would definetly call 1st to see if the position is still available before I apply and I'll also ask if there have been any qualified applicants....and if so, if any have been interviewed. Usually an employer will also let me know if anyone has been offered the position.

Also, when I've applied for a position for which closing dates, etc., haven't been stated...I'll call to check on the status of my application.

And I like to follow up -whether I've received an invitation to interview or not, a rejection letter or not.

Most employers will take the time to explain this and  I've found that the information provided has been very useful to me. Here, I can often find out some of the qualifications of the other candidates, etc. too.

One employer told me that he received nearly 400 applications for a single position. Of those, only 165 applications met the qualifications for the position. Of this pool of applicants...40 were considered (I made it this far) and 8 were interviewed. The 40 that were considered...were sent letters. That's a lot of letters and I appreciated knowing that I had made it that far!

I was really surprised to find out that there were so many 'unqualified' applicants, and although these are easily weeded out...it still takes time and is a burden for sure! With this many applicants I can understand why the employer didn't send letters to applicants who didn't qualify or make the next cut.

A more specific bit of information I found out (and feel free to share here) had to do with a previous employer being contacted for an employment check/reference. When my former employer was contacted, the prospective employer was told I hadn't worked there!

That's bad, really bad but at least I found out and was able to correct this (I hope). What happened -I had worked several months in a temporary ('special payroll') position and these positions are listed separately...the human resources clerk (new) hadn't known to check on this. Now, I list 'special payroll' as part of my job title.

Again, I believe that the applicant needs to take the responsibility to find out more about a position, check on the status of their application, etc. And also understand that a large pool of applicants should not expect a rejection letter -especially if they didn't meet the qualifications for the position to begin with.

Pam 


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Roberts <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:05 pm
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Request from the Job Candidates

I do agree with Gayle; and there are other things that need saying. 

I know, from representations made to me by job seekers, that closing 

dates are also very helpful. What is not helpful is "open until filled". 

Just think how galling it is to spend time reading a job description and 

person spec, tailoring your application to suit the employer and the 

spec, sending it off and then being told, "I'm sorry, the job was filled 

some time ago."

Of course, many job seekers send off applications and then simply do 

not hear anything because the employer thinks that "Only those called 

for interview will be contacted" is acceptable. It really isn't. Employers 

owe the same courtesy to applicants as they do to anyone else. How 

much (real) effort can it be to send a card/note saying "We are sorry, 

on this occasion you have not been successful"? And, is the cost really 

not bearable?

Or am I just an old fashioned dinosaur?

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