Answer Me!

Throughout my career, I have had bouts of job envy. Facebook, Google, and Boeing come to mind.

Sure, it was fun to dream, but the reality of living in Western Montana, is those "100 Best Places to Work in the World" companies don't have opportunities here. It's okay, I am a Montana girl, and I would rather live in beautiful Western Montana where I can breath clean fresh Mountain air. I can enjoy beautiful places to hike, bike and run right outside by back door. I feel privileged to live here and I never take for granted the beauty of Western Montana.

I just wish there were more companies that were like Facebook and Google. I imagine getting hired on with those sought after companies is tough. Who would leave after landing their dream job? I also imagine the competition is very steep.

I have applied for a lot of jobs over the years. In general, I only applied for jobs with companies that I really admired and that I wanted to work with and for. I wanted to be proud of who I worked for and I wanted to represent them the best I could.

Recently in my job search, I have become astounded at the lack of communication from potential employers. Many of the companies I have reached out to have a HR department. Yet, after weeks of turning in application materials, no response. Some of the places are nonprofits that are run by a volunteer board. If this is the case, I usually can cut them a little more slack if I don't hear from them.

I honestly don't mind getting the proverbial rejection letter. I actually appreciate the response. What I don't appreciate is hearing nothing at all. I often wonder if anyone higher up in the organization understands how poorly job seekers are treated?

So once again, I find myself talking about communication and managing expectations. It's such a vital piece to every organization and relationships for that matter.

Companies need to look at all levels of how they are responding to communication. From potential employees, to clients, to investors, to current employees and even employees that have left the company.

How and when are you responding? Think about the message you are communicating when you don't respond and reach out by some sort of communication. 

Job seekers deserve timely communication, even if it isn't good news. The fact that you took the time to "talk" to them is a positive, and it will come back with good feelings rather than bad. Not communicating in a timely manner could cost the business a client, and in the case of a nonprofit, could cost a generous donor to go elsewhere.

Answer the door, answer the phone, answer the email, respond and communicate! It's the right thing to do.