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Would You Hire a Candidate Who Treated You With Disrespect?

Here's a question for employers, recruiters, and hiring managers.

Would you hire a candidate who treated you the way some companies treat job applicants?

Imagine scheduling an interview with someone who simply doesn't show up.

No telephone call. No email. No explanation.

Would you consider that professional?

Of course not.

What about a candidate who promises to send requested information by Friday but never follows through?

Or someone who ignores repeated messages, fails to answer questions, or leaves you waiting indefinitely for a response?

Would you consider that person reliable, courteous, or respectful of your time?

Probably not.

In fact, that kind of behavior could easily eliminate someone from consideration. No communication skills, no respect for your time, and let’s not sugar coat things – just plain rude.

So why should similar behavior be acceptable when it comes from the employer?

Companies expect applicants to demonstrate excellent communication skills. They evaluate punctuality, reliability, responsiveness, and professional conduct.

They want people who keep their commitments.

Yet candidates routinely describe situations in which recruiters disappear, interview follow-ups never arrive, and hiring decisions are left hanging without explanation.

There's a rather obvious double standard here.

An applicant who fails to respond is considered unprofessional.

An employer who fails to respond? Apparently, that's just part of today's hiring process and apparently that’s OK.

Well, guess what boys and girls? It’s not OK.

You’re busy? Good for you. We are all busy. Being busy isn't an excuse for disregarding someone else's time. Neither is having hundreds of applications to review.

You can take the 20 seconds to text someone, or incorporate an email template that acknowledges these answers and take the 20 seconds necessary to send it.

You can create a routine in your hiring process that treats the applicants with courtesy and respect. It’s not rocket science. It’s called common courtesy which starts with a common sense approach to dealing with the people behind the résumés and the interviews.

We understand common sense is not a flower that grows in every garden. It might be nice to plant it so that professional expectations can flourish in both directions.

Respect, reliability, and communication aren't qualities that only employees and applicants are supposed to demonstrate.

They're qualities that need to be present throughout an organization, including its recruiting department.

If you wouldn't hire someone who behaved this way, why would you consider it acceptable behavior from your own hiring team?

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Maureen McCullough is a veteran resume writer with over 25 years experience in the field, serving clients nationwide. With a deep understanding of hiring, job searching, nationwide job markets and candidate needs - she offers resume writing for all levels from entry level to executive and C-Suite.

In addition, she offers candidate value proposition services which improve what candidates bring to the table. These include career strategy, career transition, career development, executive coaching and consulting, interview preparation and LinkedIn profile optimization.

She is the creator of the exclusive FAR → Foundation → Accomplish → Rebrand™ executive career strategy framework which gives executive clients our best possible flagship service for their career advancement.

She is also the creator of the Resume Job Match Review, a sophisticated yet extremely practical structured analytical framework based on her own proprietary software which compares your résumé against job descriptions you wish to apply for, helping you cut down on mismatches.

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