How to tell someone they aren't good enough

[Kedhrin]

I'd love to give responses to everyone. But like i said, being on both sides of giving and receiving, I see a different light now with that. A lot of companies have Job Recruiters on staff that deal with that, unfortunately i'm in the position at IllFonic where i'm doing CD on 4 AAA projects at once, while having a 35 (internal) person team - while doing hiring.  So even copy+pasting a generic message to the stream of applications i get daily is too much.  We just hired an HR person which certainly could paste and respond to all of them, but even then it can get hairy if its lost in my inbox. One day i may hire a recruiter, but for now that's what it is.  We do use a recruitment firm and have hired a few people through them, and it is nice if all i have to say to the recruiter is 'nah' and he writes the applicant a message for me. But recruitment firms have their serious down falls. Feedback is nice, but if the person hiring at the studio is at a high level position with a constant heavy work load... it's kind of a good luck on getting a response situation.  I really need an art director so he could handle that

 

there are lots of directions i can go as far as giving feedback... i'll iron out the process over time. 

 

For now though, i'm focused on - when i do respond, how to tell someone they're not good enough,  ill focus on creating a generic copy paste message then, so when i do respond... its you know, something like "Sorry brah, better luck next yarrrr! dont kill yourself!" and include a picture of myself in tight underwear....

[Sentura]

I think responding could be as easy as creating a 1 button macro really. I'd definitely consider scripting one myself if I were you, but then it seems you have more pressing priorities.

[Thrik]

Haha, yeah it'd be a great way to use those 'gaming macro' keys I've had on my keyboard for five years and never used.

[Taylor]

Nothing annoys me more when job searching than games companies general reluctance to respond. Sometimes you're waiting for months, sometimes you don't hear anything. If the choice is not responding to everyone but giving detailed feedback, or responding to everyone and giving useless feedback, I would rather take an e-mail that just said "nope.avi.".

[Nerve]

Pretty much what everyone else has said. It's annoying when you put a lot of effort into an application and don't hear back. It's nice to get something, no matter how short, even if it's an automated reply it's still something to let you know where you stand.

 

As for giving people feedback, I personally wouldn't want any one to sugarcoat it. If something sucks I'd want to know, if there's something I can improve on then I'd want to know. I don't mean be a dick, but I always appreciate honest, constructive criticism. 

[Beck]

Agree with everything Nerve said.

 

I know some people can take honest/constructive feedback badly though. I guess if they reply asking for some then they can take honest feedback?

[Sigma]

This about sums up how I feel about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXEtOPMW2hM

 

Although if you can provide feedback that is great as well. As others have stated, just giving notice (even automated) is often enough to let people know their application was received, reviewed, and did not pan out. It is not too difficult to find the credit of team members on a game, track their portfolio down, and see how you stack up. So.... what Nerve said

 

As for hurting someone's feelings -- not your job to coddle the world. Either they take it and improve, or they don't. :/ That's the way skillsets are. Hire the right person, not the quick/easy person.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Sigma

[Thrik]

Yeah, just to reiterate: I think that sending replies is a must. I've been out of full-time work for over half a year before, and while I was fine because of my savings it was incredibly soul-destroying putting effort into cover letters and such only to be met with silence. It also makes me reluctant to apply there again, even though I'd probably quite like to. Fortunately I had some great opportunities come along before long, but as I considered my skills quite sharp I found it really frustrating that I couldn't even get a response from some.

 

While I joked about Sentura's post, the point is legitimate: sending a response can literally be a two-second job, and if you've got time to scan through the emails you've got time to do that. If you truly haven't, then you need to find a new way of managing the process. Perhaps have an actual slot booked into your calendar every week to process them, or get HR involved so only ones that hit a certain standard/style make it to you (if they can handle that).

 

If you're dealing with them in a 'constantly hitting my inbox and I just look at them whenever' kind of way then that's probably an issue right there. Do you have a separate inbox for these recruitment emails? I would, and only check it weekly at a scheduled time. Maybe even go into a meeting room so nobody bothers you. I know there's often pressure that makes putting time aside for such things difficult, but it's usually worse if you try to just 'fit it in' and can never do it properly.

[dkm]

I agree with everything that has been said, answering is super important, both for the image of the company and for the person seeking. Nothing worse than not knowing.

 

For the anecdote, I got my job at Starbreeze back in '06 after the 3rd mail I sent them. I had been sending a few mails to different companies and while some answered, a lot just didn't reply. I had sent my mails during summer vacation, so I waited a bit longer and sent another one to Sbz that never got answered either. I was getting a bit cranky by then and after 2-3 weeks without an answer, I sent a last (polite) mail in the vein of "wtf-just-answer-even-if-it's-a-fuck-off". Turns out that the (new) HR missed the 1st one due to vacation, the second one apparently got to his spam folder (yeah sure...) and the last one eventually got me the job.

 

Just to illustrate that a lack of answer can mean a lot of things. It's usually that you're not good enough, that they're not actively looking or that you don't fit the profile but it's so frustrating not to know... Whenever I was in the reverse position, I always made sure I answered or get the HR to do it for me.

[Kedhrin]

yeah unfortunately i just can't answer to all emails, not even a 2 second thing, i'll usually only check for job applicants once a week - that's when there is a massive flood of emails.  our inbox at jobs@illfonic.com has an auto responder setup that even highlights that.  It's not the time that's spent its the extra task and focus that's required. It's unfortunate, but the way it is.  i know it's hard to understand, but if you were in my shoes i think you'd get it more. If i see someone i think is really impressive or something, i definitely reply.  Other than that, there's just too much going on.   

 

I know it's annoying, i know what it was like when i was applying for months to pretty much every company on the planet and only got a handful of responses.  Now i understand why that was happening.

 

I would say that people who do apply multiple times, or re-ping for an email response, generally do get a response (that doesnt mean spam). So if getting a response is that important to you, i would recommend doing that.

[selmitto]

Hint to those seeking jobs and who at least receive a "nope" email:

When receiving an email telling you weren't a good fit, reply asking to learn why. It may lend you the job.