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Not just large corporations. I've interviewed with tiny startups (a couple from YC) that couldn't be bothered to email me that they weren't interested. My sens

Not just large corporations. I've interviewed with tiny startups (a couple from YC) that couldn't be bothered to email me that they weren't interested. My sense is that in practice the ethics of responding to email have simply loosened. It's no longer considered rude to leave email unresponded. It's just a fact of life.

danudey 16y ago
I'll second this, but I don't think it's a question of e-mail, more an issue of 'I'll deal with it later' coupled with indifference and inconsideration. I interviewed at one company that said they'd be making a decision by the end of the week (it was Monday), and would let me know either way. The following Tuesday I sent an e-mail asking if they'd made their decision. A week later, I got an e-mail saying they'd 'gone in a different direction'. Another company I interviewed with, which involved going to their tiny office miles from anywhere in the rain, talked to me for an hour about not really a whole lot, then said they'd let me know by the end of the week. I didn't care, since I didn't want to work with them, but I was very surprised when I got an e-mail a month and a bit later saying they weren't interested. There are always exceptions though. After I left my second-to-last job, I decided to take a month off. My last day was October 31st, and I relaxed, cleaned the house, and played video games for most of November. When I woke up on the morning of December 1st, I had an e-mail on my phone from LinkedIn about a friend request from the founder of a server hosting company we'd worked with. I e-mailed him back and asked if he was hiring. Met him at 4 PM, and got the 'welcome aboard!' e-mail at 6:15. It really comes down to culture. Some people have the attitude of 'I'll do it later', even for things that will only take a few minutes, and some people are go-getters who are eager to get things done and off their plates, and make some progress in the meantime. My favourite though was when, in September 2008, I signed up to be put on a waiting list for a job at the 911 dispatch for the area (since they had just filled up their quota the week before). 18 months later, I got a phone call asking me to call them back as soon as possible (the tone in the person's voice implied 'today or early tomorrow') so we could schedule a time. The call went to voicemail, and I got something to laugh at when I got out of the movie.
- akkartik 16y ago
  "Met him at 4 PM, and got the 'welcome aboard!' e-mail at 6:15." Not really an exception if it wasn't a rejection. Once a company decides to bring you aboard it's in their interest to make haste.

danudey 16y ago

I'll second this, but I don't think it's a question of e-mail, more an issue of 'I'll deal with it later' coupled with indifference and inconsideration. I interviewed at one company that said they'd be making a decision by the end of the week (it was Monday), and would let me know either way. The following Tuesday I sent an e-mail asking if they'd made their decision. A week later, I got an e-mail saying they'd 'gone in a different direction'. Another company I interviewed with, which involved going to their tiny office miles from anywhere in the rain, talked to me for an hour about not really a whole lot, then said they'd let me know by the end of the week. I didn't care, since I didn't want to work with them, but I was very surprised when I got an e-mail a month and a bit later saying they weren't interested. There are always exceptions though. After I left my second-to-last job, I decided to take a month off. My last day was October 31st, and I relaxed, cleaned the house, and played video games for most of November. When I woke up on the morning of December 1st, I had an e-mail on my phone from LinkedIn about a friend request from the founder of a server hosting company we'd worked with. I e-mailed him back and asked if he was hiring. Met him at 4 PM, and got the 'welcome aboard!' e-mail at 6:15. It really comes down to culture. Some people have the attitude of 'I'll do it later', even for things that will only take a few minutes, and some people are go-getters who are eager to get things done and off their plates, and make some progress in the meantime. My favourite though was when, in September 2008, I signed up to be put on a waiting list for a job at the 911 dispatch for the area (since they had just filled up their quota the week before). 18 months later, I got a phone call asking me to call them back as soon as possible (the tone in the person's voice implied 'today or early tomorrow') so we could schedule a time. The call went to voicemail, and I got something to laugh at when I got out of the movie.

akkartik 16y ago
"Met him at 4 PM, and got the 'welcome aboard!' e-mail at 6:15." Not really an exception if it wasn't a rejection. Once a company decides to bring you aboard it's in their interest to make haste.