6 Reasons You’re Not Hearing Back From Recruiters

You interviewed with a company three weeks ago and haven’t heard back from them since.

You start getting all sorts of thoughts and emotions like what’s taking so long? Did they ghost me?

I thought it’d be helpful to give you a peek at the internal matters, how things work at a recruiter’s end, and what takes them so long to get back to the candidates.

Some of the reasons you might not be hearing back from the recruiters are:

#1. You’re not qualified for the role

Sometimes you don't hear back from jobs because there is a misalignment between your skills and their demands. Maybe you don't have the necessary verbiage in your resume, so they didn't feel the need to reach out to you.

When people send resumes for jobs they don't have the qualifications for, it lends to the reason they don't hear back. This has become worse with the ease of online applications. There is a lack of reading and communication on both sides because there is a lot of pressure on both sides to have a volume-based approach rather than being strategic about it.

To increase your chances of hearing back, you must pay attention to the job descriptions. See what they're looking for and if you have the qualifications for that role. If yes, go ahead and include that language and keywords in your resume.

#2.?Scheduling Issues

Scheduling issues are real when you’re trying to adjust a number of candidates and align everyone’s calendars.

I always tell my candidates that if you’re being told that you’re the first candidate they’re interviewing, they are actually trying to give you a realistic expectation of how long it could take for the next steps. Some companies can turn it around on a dime, others have so many layers. So, it's not just an interview with the hiring manager but with multiple people on the team as well. Adding those schedules elongates the process and comes with some frustration as well.

Sometimes, there might be a lot of people that need to come together to discuss the position and what they want out of it and their schedules might not be matching up.

#3.?Recruiter’s Responsibility

Some recruiters don’t feel the responsibility to get back to the candidates, which is unfortunate and happens a lot. Sometimes it becomes impossible for them to get back to hundreds of candidates for just one position.

#4.?Tight Budgets

Sometimes, after interviewing you, hiring managers realize that they don't have the budget to afford you. There are legitimate ways where I'm seeing this currently, where budgets are becoming an issue and people are closing jobs.

#5.?Are you the right cultural fit?

There is a probability that the hiring manager is on the fence about you so they're discussing internally if you’re worth bringing on. Sometimes they really like a candidate but maybe not enough to make an offer so they could be waiting to interview other candidates first.

Usually, if it's going to be a good fit in the case of chemistry, they'll have you interview with other people in the organization so that they can weigh in.

#6.?Unrealistic Hiring Expectations

One of the reasons they might be delayed with their hiring cycle is that they might not have the capability to understand what they're looking for. So, there's scrambling to find someone that doesn't exist or like a needle in a haystack type of candidate.

If any of these things are happening, the best way for the job seeker to get input or take control of the situation is by asking for a follow-up. You can check out some follow-up templates in the blog I wrote in collaboration with Fatemah from CareerTuners:?https://careertuners.com/blog/why-are-you-not-hearing-back-from-recruiters/ ?

Fatemah is a highly sought-after speaker and coach who helps ambitious job seekers find higher-paying, more fulfilling jobs. Since founding CareerTuners in 2010, she has created free resources that have seen more than 150,000 downloads, helped hundreds of clients increase their pay, and built a network of more than 3000 recruiters.