A 17 year-old I know pretty well thought they might like working at a particular clothing retailer but wasn’t going to quit the current part-time job before checking it out by working both jobs for a little while. The manager of the store at the local mall asked her to complete the paper application and return it the next day because she had an opening and was very interested in hiring someone who had already held a part time job for more than a year. She also said she could arrange an interview right away rather than waiting on the process with an online application. The application was completed and returned the next day, delivered directly to the above mentioned manager.

You guessed it – two plus weeks have passed and no contact from the manager. Now for the candidate experience – the 17 year-old young lady says “I’m not sure I’d even want to interview now because I wouldn’t want to work for such a disorganized manager.”

I commented in an earlier post that candidates need to relax because “some things rightfully take time and organizations have a process for evaluating talent.” I still believe that, but if you drop the ball on simple communication during the hiring process you can expect talented candidates to lose interest in the specific opportunity and maybe more broadly lose interest in your organization.