The 5 Most Confusing Things About Job Searching

By Alison Green


Searching for a job can be fraught with stress and anxiety—and also confusion. Job seekers don't always know what rules employers expect them to play by, and employers frequently engage in behaviors that job candidates find baffling.

Here are five of the most confusing elements of looking for a new job.

1. Why do some employers set up phone interviews and then never call? It's surprisingly common for an employer to schedule a phone interview with a candidate, but then not call at the scheduled time and not bother to get back in touch to reschedule. Even worse, the candidate's attempts to get back in touch are often met with silence.

Usually this happens because the phone interviewer is disorganized—forgot the call or scheduled something else for that time without bothering to notify the candidate. And sometimes they don't get back in touch because they've moved forward with other candidates instead. It's incredibly rude behavior, and is the sign of an employer you might not want to work with anyway.

2. Should you apply for jobs when you meet most but not all of the qualifications? Job seekers often wonder if it's OK to apply for jobs when they have slightly less experience than required, or have some exposure to a required software program but lack proficiency. And they definitely don't know how to handle ads that require five years of experience with technology that has only existed for three.
While ads might not make this clear, it's OK to apply if you meet the majority of the requirements, even if you're not an exact match. Job ads are often wish lists for employers, and employers often end up interviewing—and hiring—candidates who are reasonably, though not perfectly, matched. If you match at least 80 percent of the job's requirements, it's worth a shot.

3. Why do some interviews seem to go well, but then you never hear anything back from the employer? Many companies never bother to notify candidates that they're no longer under consideration, even after candidates have taken time off work to interview or traveled at their own expense. Candidates are often anxiously waiting to hear an answer and end up waiting and waiting, long after a decision has been made.

Employers who operate this way claim that they don't have time to notify everyone, but the reality is that it doesn't take that long to email a form letter, and most electronic application systems allow it to be done with the click of a button. Employers who respect candidates and their time will make sure that everyone who applies gets an answer.

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