Re: Letting them down gently

[Rose Wilcox <RWILC -at- FAST -dot- DOT -dot- STATE -dot- AZ -dot- US>]

Some of the responsibility for this resides with *me* the tech writer who
did *not* get hired.  (I assure you this happens only rarely to me,
personally ;-)).  I really appreciate it when a company sends me a letter,
even if they didn't give me an interview.  I would prefer to know the reason
why I didn't get an interview, but I appreciate knowing they got my resume
at least.

Secondly, I always feel honored to make it to interview status.  A company
pays a lot of money for a job search and to make first or second cut, is in
itself, an honor.  No thank you letters are necessary for this, I think.  If
a person doesn't realize that being interviewed is in and of itself a
compliment, then they perhaps lack some maturity or empathy for the hiring
company.

Lots of factors have to go into a hiring decision, not just my ability to do
the job.  My salary requirements, my personality, the personalities of the
team I'll be working with, the long term goals of the company, so many
factors have to be considered that it would be foolish to think that I could
second-guess a hiring manager about their choice.  I don't have all the
facts the hiring manager has.

(I've been there too.  I've had to hire tech writers and this increases my
empathy.  It is not easy to pick someone who has the technical, writing, and
personal skills to make it in a given environment.  It is a difficult
choice!)

As an applicant, I would like better information about why I didn't get this
particular job.  Unfortunately, unless you have a personal contact in the
company, you may not find out what happened.  This is because companies can
and have been sued for discrimination so many times that they have to be
very careful about what they say.   If you ever are in a position where you
can give clear feedback, please do.  I would like someone to say, "Your
overall skills were great, but we needed someone with a little more direct
experience in xyz." for instance.  That would give me clues as to what to
work on for the future.

Rose A. Wilcox (The "A" stands for "Ah Needs This Job,  Puh-leeze,
Puh-leeze, Puh-leeze)
rwilc -at- fast -dot- dot -dot- state -dot- az -dot- us
ncrowe -at- primenet -dot- com
"Dreams are the stuff that make life worth living. Give them up, and you
give up all that truly matters. Write for yourself, not for recognition or
success. If those fruits are to come, they will come. But the work itself
must be the primary and major satisfaction."  --William Heffernan