Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Do's and don'ts for rejecting candidates
Though they may not write chart-topping pop songs about the employers who scorned them, they do take to social media to publicly vent their frustrations, putting a dent in those companies' employer brands – and even their bottom lines. Studies have shown that workers are less likely to purchase products or services from companies that don't bother to respond to their job applications, and many will talk about a bad experience they had with a potential employer with friends and family.
What candidates really think when they don't hear back
Not convinced? A few years ago, we heard from quite a few job seekers trying to figure out why hiring managers didn't respond to candidates -- and they had some choice words about those companies. Below are just a handful of comments we received from jilted job seekers:
- "It does make the company look totally pathetic and sad that they couldn't get back to me with the status of the job I interviewed for. I will warn any of my past co-workers...to stay away from this company, they are very unprofessional."
- "I have very strong feelings about several businesses that have interviewed me and never been back in touch (after saying they would) that I take every opportunity to make their lack of consideration known whenever their business comes up in conversation."
- "It's really easy to set up [rejection email] templates...and it takes less time to use one as a reply for an email than it does to actually review the application. If you've got time to read applications, you've got time to send form replies, and if you don't have time to read applications, you shouldn't be advertising jobs."
- "No one of any talent and quality wants to work for a company that cannot [get back to the people you interview]. If you are a company with high turnover, it's probably your fault, and it won't change unless you do."
- "Yes, being told 'No, we don't want you' sucks...but what hurts more is just never knowing. Okay, you don't want to hire me, I get it, but at least have the decency to tell me."
- "Indeed it is cold and unprofessional not to email back a brief 'rejection' letter after an interview. After someone took the time to get nicely dressed and groomed, spent money on gas, a new haircut, and took up valuable job searching time for an interview, it makes sense just to get back to them."
- "Follow up on a company's part is a PR opportunity. If you're going to treat me this way as an applicant, [it makes me wonder] 'how will you treat me as an employee?'"
Ideally, you should to respond to every single applicant who applies (and yes, you do have time -- see below), but at the very least, you should follow up with the candidates you bring in to interview -- even when it's bad news. After all, the candidate took just as much time out of his/her day as you did to come in for the interview.
DON'T think ignorance is bliss
Most candidates agree it's better to hear they got rejected than hearing nothing at all. Sending rejection emails or letters may feel harsh, but it's far crueler to ignore them completely.
DON'T think "I don't have time" is an excuse
As one job seeker noted above, it takes just a few minutes to create an email template in Outlook, which you can then use over and over again to quickly and easily follow up with applicants. (Not sure how to break the news? Check out a sample rejection letter template.) Just remember to personalize it before sending it off.
DON'T give false hope
Don't promise to keep a candidate's résumé on file if you have no intention of doing so. A simple "We wish you success in your job search" is a fine way to end a letter.
DO be honest and concise
State a clear reason for the rejection (e.g."We have selected another candidate whose credentials were better suited for the position."), but don't feel the need to go into great detail.
DON'T be nasty Even if the interview was a disaster, unkindness is never called for (and it could come back to haunt you).
DON'T let the good ones get away
If the person was a strong candidate, chances are he or she might be the right fit for a future position. Invite him or her to join your Talent Network if you have one or let them know you're keeping his or her information on file.
Mary Lorenz is a copywriter for CareerBuilder, specializing in B2B marketing and corporate recruiting best practices and social media. In addition to creating copy for corporate advertising and marketing campaigns, she researches and writes about employee attraction, engagement and retention.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Young Blood Restores Old Mice
Blood from young mice boosted the memory and muscles of old mice.
“You just give an old mouse young blood and see if the animal is smarter than before."
“You just give an old mouse young blood and see if the animal is smarter than before,” said Tony Wyss-Coray, a professor of neurology at Stanford who led one of the studies.
They were. The old mice could navigate mazes as quickly as young mice could. “It was as if these old brains were recharged by young blood,” Wyss-Coray added.
“We’ve shown that at least some age-related impairments in brain function are reversible. They’re not final,” added Saul Villeda, who is now at the University of California, San Francisco.
Closer checks showed the new blood was acting on the hippocampus, the part of the brain used in navigating and orienting. “This brain region is very important not only for rodents, who use it to find their way around in their burrow, but for humans. It is also very important to make spatial maps, when you park your car somewhere you go shopping and you remember where it is.”
Wyss-Coray admits the experiments might evoke images of Dracula and even of Frankenstein. “You can’t drink the blood,” he points out. “But seriously, if you wanted to try that in humans you’d have to get a transfusion. And you can’t just do that at home.”
What you can do is set up an experiment with blood transfusions in Alzheimer’s patients, and Wyss-Coray is seeking federal government permission to do just that. You can also look to see just what it is in the blood that’s having the effect, and that’s what Amy Wagers and Lee Rubin of Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology did.
They not only transfused mice with young blood, but surgically connected two-month-old mice to 15-month-old mice for five weeks. (This strain of mice usually lives just over 2 years). The young mice didn’t seem to suffer from sharing blood with the older mice. But when they hooked up the young mice to 21-month-old mice, production of new brain cells slowed.
Other studies have shown this, also -- something in the blood of older mice can impair young ones.
The researchers know that as animals age, they lose blood flow in the brain. The young blood restored some of this lost blood flow in the older mice. More tests showed the young blood was making the existing blood vessels healthier.
Other research had shown that a protein called GDF11 strengthened the hearts of elderly mice. When the Harvard team injected older mice with GDF11, they exercised better and smelled things better, also.
“This should give us all hope for a healthier future,” said Dr. Doug Melton, who helps head the department at Harvard. “We all wonder why we were stronger and mentally more agile when young, and these two unusually exciting papers actually point to a possible answer: the higher levels of the protein GDF11 we have when young. There seems to be little question that, at least in animals, GDF11 has an amazing capacity to restore aging muscle and brain function.”
The next step is to see how much of this applies in humans.
“It isn’t out of question that GDF11 … might be worthwhile in Alzheimer’s Disease,” Rubin said. His team is working with venture capitalists to raise the money to go forward. Wyss-Coray has co-founded a biotechnology company called Alkahest to move ahead.
Wyss-Coray believes there could be other factors besides GDF11 at work. And it will also be important to find out where they are made. It might not be the blood that is key — some other organ may be producing these rejuvenating factors, and the blood’s just carrying them around.
“What I think this opens is (the possibility that) we will be able to delay aging of your body,” Wyss-Coray said. “If you could do that and translate it to humans, you could delay a lot of diseases simply because your body would be younger.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)