Why Employers Aren't Rushing to Hire

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On the news, you might hear that the economy is recovering and as proof of this fact, they point to the extremely large number of job vacancies. Still, many people are going on second, third and even fourth interviews and aren't getting job offers. Are the reporters lying or is there another problem? If this has been your experience, it's not all in your head. It seems that employers are dragging their feet during the hiring process, determined to find the most qualified candidate – even if it means leaving a job open for a long period of time.

 

As the job market recovers, many companies are taking longer than ever to fill vacant positions. According to a recent report at the New York Times, the average company advertising a job opening is taking longer than 23 business days to fill the position. When they looked into why this was happening, they found that the problem wasn't that there weren't enough skilled applicants. The problem was that the companies don't have any sort of incentive to hire new employees right away and instead, they are content to wait until they find the perfect match.

 

It's an employer's market, and most hiring mangers feel confident that if they wait long enough, they will find an applicant who is an exact match for the position and who has the precise skills and experience they are looking for. In addition, while business is improving, many companies are worried that the economy will stall and they will be on the hook for the additional expense. Instead of jumping in, they are taking the “wait and see” approach.

 

In fact, according to Glassdoor, the average interview and hiring process for major retailers has more than doubled since 2010. This means that even for entry or low-level jobs, being asked to interview multiple times is becoming more and more common. In the Times article, they spoke with a man who said that he had interviewed with the same company more than six times. He had been to the office so many times that the security guard fussed at him for not bringing his employee ID. Because he had seen the man so many times, the guard incorrectly assumed that he was already working for the company.

 

Going through several rounds of interviews only to find that the company has decided to leave the position unfilled can be disheartening. There is so much work that goes into preparing for interview after interview that losing the job to no one can feel almost like a slap in the face.

 

One of the reasons that it's so easy for employers to simply wait is that they aren't in a rush to hire. Because of the tight job market, their current employees are more than willing to take on extra work without demanding additional pay. They have cut back on employee compensation, raises and bonuses and their employees are working harder than ever. Without a pile of work that urgently needs to be done, there is little motivation to hurry up and get a new person on board.

 

Not only are additional interviews frustrating for job seekers, they can be expensive. The cost of dry cleaning, transportation, lunch or snacks in addition to the time away from their current jobs, their families or their job searches. Although there's no clear answer to this problem, all job seekers can do is hope that all their effort will pay off in the end.

 

Have you been through several rounds of interviews without getting a job offer? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

 

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  • Linda E
    Linda E •
    My experience is similar to Tom K.  I'm 52 years old and have been looking for a very long time.  I was fortunate to land a long term temporary assignment but it will end in about 2 weeks.  I have been proactively networking, applying for many positions.  No one responds to my cover letters and resumes.  I get refers for a positions, and even know contacts in the companies where I apply.  Still, no one responds. Like many folks, I have attended numerous networking events, job fairs and signed on with many staffing agencies but there is very little result.  Some factors  could be the cost of health insurance, taxes, fines and more regulations companies are hit with if they do not comply with laws.  Age discrimination, companies like to hire college graduates; its cheaper, outsourcing and of course who you know which was not discussed in this article. The art of networking  and utilizing social media are essential tools for job searching . Lets hope the job market picks up.
  • Joe B
    Joe B •
    I've had several interviews with no offer.  "You'll hear from us one way or another" is HRspeak. My opinion of HR couldn't be lower: lying scumbags that take up space.
  • Cindy P
    Cindy P •
    Is there an appropriate time length to  wait for a company to hire you.
  • John B
    John B •
    Interviews would be welcome in my case.  I have submitted literally dozens of cover letters and resumes to job postings within my field and have not received  a "Thank you for applying" letter.  That's disheartening.
  • Genaro P
    Genaro P •
    Great article.
  • Michael C
    Michael C •
    Great article, great in incite and yes I have been through several rounds of interviews with a particular company, but I was offered the position but turned it down because I did not feel I was offered a fair salary for my knowledge and experience.
  • frank d
    frank d •
    where are the jobse.g.engineering,accountingetc.....thanks
  • Tom K
    Tom K •
    Being 61 with a bachelors degree and a successful Sales track record, no one wants to take me on as an employee. Employers must feel I'm over qualified, and rarely respond to my application. Very frustrating times indeed!
  • Sharon M.
    Sharon M. •
    Robert L - Check out groups like Unemployedworkers.org and Unemployment Rising on Facebook. The first one got me an interview with the Public Policy Research institute in Washington DC next week. They are publishing their research findings on the long term unemployed, and want some video to go along with it to put faces on the statistics. it will be presented to Congress to try and get some attention paid to these issues and get unemployment back in the news and on the Congressional radar again.
  • Steve F
    Steve F •
    I got tired of all my potential employers vacillating. I started my own company. My objective now is to take their clients and put them out of business. Don't you love capitalism?
  • N. Suber
    N. Suber •
    I've learned, unfortunately, it's not what you know, it's who you know. I've been out of work for a year now and have been on interview after interview. All of them have gone very well (at least I thought). I have even called back a few and thanked them for the interview but still no job offers.
  • Paul S
    Paul S •
    We all live in an increasingly workerless world!  There is no industry that I know of that is labor intensive anymore.
  • James S.
    James S. •
    What does it take to get hired now? It seems that degrees and years of experience don't work. Neither does military experience. An ad campaign mentions hiring veterans, but I see that isn't working too well either. I served for 20 years, and I gained much work experience. Still, I have gotten very few responses to my applications. If an employer can let us know what we need to do to get hired, let us know. Thousands of us are getting sick of being turned down repeatedly for jobs.
  • Michael S
    Michael S •
    Yes, I had a few interview situations in which there were multiple interviews, after which the job was put on hold, the scope of the position changed, or it never progressed.  Hiring managers are nervous about making a poor decision and the funding can be pulled at any time.  As candidates we can't control what goes on at the hiring company.  We can control how we present our experience and accomplishments to the hiring manager.   Analyze that job description with a microscope; dissect the 3,4 or 5 requirements that are critical, and tailor your accomplishments so they fit those requirements as closely as possible.   You can't assume the hiring manager will see how you are a fit for the job; you have to "connect the dots" for the hiring manager, on paper (resume, letters, email) as well as in the interview (phone and in-person).
  • Melissa Kennedy
    Melissa Kennedy •
    @Mark G - Good point!@Robert - Unions have lost a lot of traction over the past few decades, I'm not sure if they can make a comeback or not.@Chris - Who can say why they make these decisions. It doesn't always make sense.@Timothy - We might be "overhead" right now, but hopefully that will change.@Julie - It's not just you.
  • J Cherrytree
    J Cherrytree •
    My former employer laid 20 of us off back in Jan thanks to negligence on the part of upper mgmt.  This doesn't include the 20 who took early retirement in Dec.  One position eliminated, Purchasing Specialist, was just brought back but not at 40 hrs a week but rather only 15 hrs.  The individual that had the position was contacted (as required per union contract) and asked if they'd like to return to their old job but they probably turned the offer down.  For obvious reasons, like there would not be any medical benefits as the job was now less than 30 hrs a week and this is when benefits kick in.
  • Susan H
    Susan H •
    Although outplacement agencies advise you to get feedback after an interview that did not result in a job offer, when you ask for constructive feedback from an employer, the reason you don't hear from them is that they are afraid of legal consequences if anything they say can be construed as illegal. So don't expect them to tell you their thoughts and certainly not in writing! Unfortunately we live in a world of paranoia during these strange times. If I get a request for anything more than 3 interviews, I politely respond that I no longer have the time or resources since I have already received an offer from another employer.  This will communicate to the employer that since they dragged their feet and were too slow, they will also suffer the consequences and they get to start the process all over again with someone new who can decide for themselves when their limit is.  Simple courtesy is not something that appears to be taught in schools anymore due to the "bottom line" there as well and we all suffer. Employers have no motive to be courteous to those who took their time and effort to interview, but who did not land the job.  The higher the world population grows, the more abusive this behavior will become....as jobs and worldly resources become increasingly more scarce....I would never subject my child to this job market.  
  • Victoria D
    Victoria D •
    I wonder if this is also true in Canada. How frustrating it must be
  • RosaT
    RosaT •
    I have a question being that employers has the option of hiring because they know that their present employees are going to take on the extra work load, why do they  advertise for a position opening in the first place?
  • Carol W
    Carol W •
    I do agree that my experience has shown that employers do seem to be looking for the "perfect" candidate.  I keep seeing the same positions advertised long after I have interviewed for that particular position.  But lately most frustrating to me is that when I inquire as to the status of the position after an in person interview no one gets back to me.  I can understand not getting back to everyone that simply applies but there is no excuse for not getting back to someone you liked enough to invite for an in person interview!
  • Marc W
    Marc W •
    Technology, technology and big profits. No one is going to hire because of it, some will because they may ready need too but most of them wont. We're just stuck for a while.
  • Mark G
    Mark G •
    One thing not mentioned is the fact that they can hire part timers for a lot less than full timers, without having benefits to be paid out. These companies do not recognize the increased cost of training, down time for productivity, and lack of morale/esprit de corps created by these actions. Along with this is the lack of field staff being able to build the footprint within the market, and the loss of standards compliance for the long term.
  • Robert L
    Robert L •
    I want to know what it will take to organize job seekers together to demand that employers be more respectful to us in their interview practices. Sounds like a union, well maybe that's what is needed.
  • Neal W
    Neal W •
    I really don't know which side to step to, I can see by the recent crash in our economy why employers would be so cautious and  patient in looking for the right match, but then again you have the Millennial s that don't have work ethic but expect six digit figures after being employed for 3 months but calling in sick 4 times a week, what type of dollars does it take to train that attitude?  
  • Chris N.
    Chris N. •
    Having successfully held the same position that I was interviewing for at a competitor, I knew I was as close to a "perfect match" for the position as the company was going to find. I had a great interview, then never heard back. Finally I was told that they have not filled the position, and are opening it up again to get a larger pool of applicants. No urgency whatsoever when they do have someone who is a "perfect match".

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