Is the Interview process still in the 19th or 20th Century or has it moved into the 21st Century?

Is Job interviews the same as what they were? Is it a out-dated process?

Being unemployed can be frustrating, especially when you spend day after day sending out application form after application form for jobs you know you're qualified for, only to be overlooked in favor of other candidates for reasons unknown to you.

An interesting example was when Amanda found a company seeking a podcast editor to professionally edit their online content through a forum I am not registered with. With my extensive experience, she urged me to apply.

People who know me through my podcast work would understand why. I've been running my successful spoken word podcast, 'Spoken Label,' for over eight and a half years, releasing over 400 episodes in that period. Each episode is carefully edited using various versions of Sound Forge, earning me awards and a steady stream of returning guests. Despite this, I often wonder what employers are really looking for in candidates, especially after being rejected without any explanation despite displaying extensive experience.

This isn't an isolated incident. Since the lockdown, I've encountered similar situations in the employment market. Just over 18 months ago, I applied for an admin job in Ashton Under Lyne. Despite my 15 years of admin experience and a thorough 80-minute interview via Teams, I was rejected without any kind of feedback, which was incredibly disheartening. I moved on and have had other interviews elsewhere, but interestingly, the company continues to advertise the role repeatedly.

These experiences leave me questioning what employers are truly seeking nowadays. The roles I've applied for are well within my capabilities, yet the rejection and lack of transparency in feedback are disheartening. It's a common plight I hear more and more job seekers are facing today.

Navigating the job market can be a perplexing and demoralizing journey, but sharing these experiences may help us all better understand and perhaps eventually improve the hiring and interview process. Employers should consider the structure of rejection letters, for example. The art of helping us improve as a society is to educate each other on how to improve in everything we do. Employers should not brush off potential candidates so casually but instead explain, even if just in a line or two, why they do not wish to employ them.

As a society now well into the 2020s, you would expect employers to treat employees and potential employees with a bit more respect. Some employers do not even contact candidates who have been for an interview to inform them they are unsuccessful. I had an interview with a letting agent in Ardwick just after I left the Courts at the end of 2022 for an admin role, only to never hear back from them in any form. That itself is insulting enough, but since then, I’ve had four different agencies contact me regarding similar roles at the same letting agent.

It is impossible to say whether I would be a better fit for one of these other roles, but this tardiness in their attitude raises serious questions about what they would be like to work for if they cannot be bothered to contact unsuccessful candidates at any level.

This is a big problem that society needs to address to ensure that people are treated with respect both inside and outside the workplace. It feels like in many ways, the attitude toward potential employees has not moved on from the 19th and 20th centuries. The attitude of that letting agency alone has ensured I won't want to apply to them on any level, let alone work for them.