Why you're not hearing back/getting updates regarding your job application.

One of the biggest issues faced by Job Seekers is Recruiters/Job Seekers not responding/getting updates regarding their applications. As someone that has been on the other side, I will try to explain why that could be the case and what to do about it.

Disclaimer: These are my personal views from my limited experience, this might not apply to your/individual cases to take it with a grain of salt, with that said, let's begin.

1. High Volume

Most of the positions, depending on their level of experience requirement tend to get a very high volume of applicants. I've personally seen 5,000+ applications for 1 position when I recruited for positions in the Middle East and the systems in place were just not robust enough to filter/update each candidate regarding their candidacy. Usually the position is filled in much sooner as such most candidates do not hear back from recruiters. Keep in mind this was my experience a couple of years and new technology advancements in ATS have made it easier in responding/managing a high pipeline, however there is still compromises made due to operations costs etc. As such, a lot of systems are just not designed to handle the mass influx.

2. Position Goes on Hold

Sometimes things happen on the back end, client changes their mind, have further updated requirements, the position is in a state of influx etc and as such the immediate need is not so immediate anymore. It's very frustrating for Recruiters involved but very little can be done about it. To keep the candidate pipeline active some never update them, while most keep trying to get an update so as to move the pipeline forward. If one never comes, they still keep holding on and touch base with shortlisted candidates and hope they are still interested.

3. They just didn't care

It would be disingenuous of me not to mention this, but I have seen Recruiters/Hiring managers just not care to respond to the pipeline even after they had the ability to. I'm not sure how common this is (since it would be impossible), but the bad apples do exist and unfortunately the good get tossed alongside the bad in this which is just sad.

There are a few more I can think off, but as a basic premise I think this covers the majority of cases. The purpose of this is to inform any job seeker that is taking no response/ghosting by Recruiters/Hiring managers as a personal defect that it is not their specific fault/inability. Things just are not perfect and one should keep applying while ensuring they are making small steady improvements on how they improve the process via feedback they get from others. Just because you didn't hear back does not mean you were not good enough. Sometimes that IS the case and there were better candidates, but sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with you and just the way the systems are set up. Is this good? No, but while small increment changes are being made, I don't see massive changes happening any time soon.

I'll focus on giving tips on how to increase your chances of hearing back/getting updates from Recruiters so you at least have a better understanding wrt your job search. Feel free to comment leave suggestions on what you'd want me to focus on next.

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