4 ms·

To be clear, you were applying for an internship (as you said in your post), and now you write "seems like I wasn't important". I'm not sure how we are defining

by fecak 13y ago

To be clear, you were applying for an internship (as you said in your post), and now you write "seems like I wasn't important". I'm not sure how we are defining important, but there are tons of people that apply for internships at places like Red Hat, and I'm not sure how many would classify themselves as "important" (or at least important to Red Hat). I don't mean this as any disrespect to you, and companies should make efforts to make applicants feel comfortable and valued, but you are probably making more of a point for not sending specific feedback by your reaction. The sour grapes stuff is probably the most common reaction to the problem, and detailed or generic rejections can have that same negative result.

yeukhon 13y ago
interns are just as important as full time. Any one interested in helping a company to grow is considered important. I did send n email back and asked to clarify the "you had an interview with us" part nicely.
- fecak 13y ago
  "Interns are just as important as full time" in what sense exactly? Of course interns have a level of importance, but I think your overestimating some things here. If you were a senior level engineer, you may be more likely to get a personalized response. If you interview to be the CTO of Red Hat, I'm guessing you would not get an automated email response when you are not chosen. Let's not kid ourselves that there is not a hierarchy of importance. It's based on merit and contribution (or potential contribution in the case of an applicant), and it's a bit naive to think that applicants for internships will always be given the same level of respect as experienced professionals.
  - OmleteDuFromage 13y ago
    I'm sure a lot of senior level engineers would think twice before working for a company that treated them poorly when applying in the past, even for an internship.
    - fecak 13y ago
      No argument with that, but I think most senior engineers would think twice if they felt they were getting the treatment they got as an intern. I think everyone should expect some level of respect, but it's naive to think the CTO is getting the same treatment in an interview as an intern.
      - OmleteDuFromage 13y ago
        I totally agree that you'd want to hire some people way more than others, but the process for hiring your interns/entry levelers should be in a sense the lowest common denominator. As in, the more you want to hire someone, the more "features" you add to the process (eg. Paid flights, airport pickup, respond to emails withing 24 hours, whatever), instead of just treating lesser value candidates worse, if that makes sense.
        fecak 13y ago
        That does make sense. The thing is, that 'minimal acceptable treatment' for all applicants for an internship, which could be in the thousands, is much more costly than for the 20-50 applicants for a more senior position. When I post jobs, I try to reply to all moderately qualified applicants. And sometimes I'll get an applicant with no industry experience or education who applies to a senior dev spot. Should I spend the time to write a detailed reply to someone who is entirely unqualified and clearly just sent their résumé indiscriminately to my ads (sometimes more than once)? I don't feel obliged to respond to people that are clearly wasting everyone's time. This is not the case here, and in a perfect world every applicant is flown in, wined and dined, and given a full battery of interviews - but that isn't realistic. Somewhere between an automated response and the wine and dine is the appropriate response. A respectful rejection for two candidates is a small investment, but for thousands it may be unfair to expect. If you want an example of this, send a wedding invitation to the president. You'll get a reply saying he can't attend and wishes you the best, and it's signed (not by his hand). I'm sure he'd love to give every American the decency of a handwritten and personalized response ("Sorry, in London that day"), but for an American citizen to expect that reply is not realistic.

by fecak 13y ago

yeukhon 13y ago

interns are just as important as full time. Any one interested in helping a company to grow is considered important. I did send n email back and asked to clarify the "you had an interview with us" part nicely.

fecak 13y ago
"Interns are just as important as full time" in what sense exactly? Of course interns have a level of importance, but I think your overestimating some things here. If you were a senior level engineer, you may be more likely to get a personalized response. If you interview to be the CTO of Red Hat, I'm guessing you would not get an automated email response when you are not chosen. Let's not kid ourselves that there is not a hierarchy of importance. It's based on merit and contribution (or potential contribution in the case of an applicant), and it's a bit naive to think that applicants for internships will always be given the same level of respect as experienced professionals.
- OmleteDuFromage 13y ago
  I'm sure a lot of senior level engineers would think twice before working for a company that treated them poorly when applying in the past, even for an internship.
  - fecak 13y ago
    No argument with that, but I think most senior engineers would think twice if they felt they were getting the treatment they got as an intern. I think everyone should expect some level of respect, but it's naive to think the CTO is getting the same treatment in an interview as an intern.
    - OmleteDuFromage 13y ago
      I totally agree that you'd want to hire some people way more than others, but the process for hiring your interns/entry levelers should be in a sense the lowest common denominator. As in, the more you want to hire someone, the more "features" you add to the process (eg. Paid flights, airport pickup, respond to emails withing 24 hours, whatever), instead of just treating lesser value candidates worse, if that makes sense.
      - fecak 13y ago
        That does make sense. The thing is, that 'minimal acceptable treatment' for all applicants for an internship, which could be in the thousands, is much more costly than for the 20-50 applicants for a more senior position. When I post jobs, I try to reply to all moderately qualified applicants. And sometimes I'll get an applicant with no industry experience or education who applies to a senior dev spot. Should I spend the time to write a detailed reply to someone who is entirely unqualified and clearly just sent their résumé indiscriminately to my ads (sometimes more than once)? I don't feel obliged to respond to people that are clearly wasting everyone's time. This is not the case here, and in a perfect world every applicant is flown in, wined and dined, and given a full battery of interviews - but that isn't realistic. Somewhere between an automated response and the wine and dine is the appropriate response. A respectful rejection for two candidates is a small investment, but for thousands it may be unfair to expect. If you want an example of this, send a wedding invitation to the president. You'll get a reply saying he can't attend and wishes you the best, and it's signed (not by his hand). I'm sure he'd love to give every American the decency of a handwritten and personalized response ("Sorry, in London that day"), but for an American citizen to expect that reply is not realistic.