Why Are You Being Ignored By The Recruiter?

Have you ever wondered why you do not hear back from recruiters? Well to answer that question, there are many aspects of the recruiting/interviewing process that we must understand.

As with anything in life, there are needs and wants. For example, I need to eat food; I want a new car. With recruiters, they need a candidate, but want a great candidate. With job seekers, we need a job, but want the job of our dreams. Job seekers, however, may not always have the luxury of time to be picky, while the recruiter can wait months to find the right candidate.

Next, we must understand different types of recruiters. There are contingent, retained and company recruiters. Contingent and retained recruiters are people who work for a third-party company independent of the company you are trying to work for. A company recruiter works in human resources for the company you are applying for. Depending on how you applied to the job will change what type of recruiter you are working with.

Now the big question, why am I being ignored by a recruiter? Regardless of what type of recruiter you are working with, most answers will be similar. Below, we explain some possibilities to why you are not hearing back from the recruiter.

1. Email Clog – Whether you are or are not working, you know how much email you receive…say 50-60 emails per day; on average of course. The average recruiter can receive a few hundred emails per day, regardless of where they work and who they work for. As of today, it is estimated that the underemployment rate is over 15% in America. That means that all those millions of people are doing the same thing you are doing…emailing recruiters. Recruiters are human just like you and I. At the end of the day, if your email is not eye-catching, then recruiters will most likely overlook it or delete it. Reiterating from up top, a recruiter needs a candidate, but wants a GREAT candidate.
2. Poorly Written Resume – When your resume is not optimized and constructed poorly, recruiters will find it difficult to read and will pass over it. The average recruiter spends 5-7 seconds looking at each resume. If you cannot grab their attention in that time span, they will pass you over, thus ignoring you.
3. Bad Initial Interview – When you speak to any type of recruiter, most will want to screen you prior to you meeting with the hiring managers. This is because they want to be sure that you are the right fit for the job and have strong potential. Regardless of the type of recruiter, if this initial interview is bad, they may not take time to explain to you why they are passing on you. Whether this is right or wrong, is not for us to decide. Recruiters are not in the business of improving your job searching process and interviewing skills. They need to fill jobs, period. They will thank you for your time and move on to the next job seeker.
4. You Are Not A Referral – As we mentioned in the email clog, recruiters are very busy and just cannot physically go through every email they have. Because of that, they will speak to referrals first. What is a referral? A referral is when someone you know refers you directly to a hiring manager or recruiter, thus allowing you to become a referral. Studies have been conducted by various consulting firms that say 75% of all jobs in America are filled by referrals. So we ask the question… Are you a referral? If not, chances are the recruiter is ignoring you.
5. You Did Not Follow Up – As we have already mentioned, recruiters are very busy and tend to forget very quickly. It is no fault of their own, but rather because they are speaking with so many people each day. In order to stand out from the crowd, you need to follow up from any interaction you have with a recruiter. You need to remind them why you are a good fit for the job and that you are still looking. Basically, you want them to always be thinking of you. If you do not follow up, how can you expect them to always be thinking of you?
6. Time-To-Fill – Time to fill is a reporting statistic that all recruiters must use. It is one of the methods that their performance is based on. What it means is the time it takes a recruiter to fill one particular job. Another reason you may not be hearing back from the recruiter is because their time to fill is extremely slow. Some major corporations can take upwards of 6-8 months to fill any job. This means that you potentially may not hear for 6-8 months before/after an interview or an offer. This will require you to have patience. While most articles recommend you always follow-up, we never recommend it here, when positions have an extended time to fill, following up too much may hurt your chances, as you become a pest to the recruiter. Eventually, they will begin to ignore you.

   As we have discussed, there are a variety of reasons as to why you are being ignored by the recruiter, but all of them can be fixed and thus improved. You have to remember that if you are being ignored by a recruiter it is possible that it is not your fault. Stay positive and keep working at it. Recruiters are looking for people who are passionate and excited to work for their company.