Job seekers often wait in vain for callbacks

By Carol Kleiman
Chicago Tribune

In the 1990s, when he was job hunting, Ian Ostergaard had an interview with a human-resource professional at a retail organization.

"She was enthusiastic about me," Ostergaard remembered. "She even went to talk to the line manager, who was the decision-maker, while I waited. I had the sense she was trying to move things along."

She also told him that she would get back to him in three to five days. "But she never called me back," Ostergaard said.

His story about the roadblocks that job hunters face when they try to keep open lines of communication with hiring officers is not at all unusual. What is unusual is that Ostergaard is himself a human-resource executive, and the job he did get is an impressive one: He's first vice president in the department of human resources for LaSalle Bank, and has been employed there since 2000. The bank, which is based in Chicago, has 130 branches and 2,400 employees.

The vice president, who has a staff of 20, says he understands what happened. "I felt the interviewer was uncomfortable about calling back to say it wasn't going to work and didn't know how to close the situation," said Ostergaard, who has been a human-resource professional for 15 years. "Fortunately, I never stopped my job hunt because I knew you don't have anything until you have something."

That was then, and now it's even tougher to get a response after a job interview.

"A return call, even with a rejection, is much preferred to no call at all," said Ostergaard, who has an undergraduate degree in mathematics.

"We try to close the loop on every single one of the candidates we interview," the executive said. The bank also holds job fairs each month at one of its branches.

How does a job seeker get through to personnel?

"You have to look for two ways, at a minimum, to get a response," Ostergaard said. "One is getting in by yourself. And the second is using network connections to find someone on the inside to walk in your résumé for you."

And another tip: "If you get no response after one week, it's OK to call," he said.

"Then let it go for one or two weeks more before trying again. After that, forget it."

S. Gary Snodgrass is senior vice president and chief human-resources officer for Exelon Corp., an energy services company based in Chicago. It has more than 20,000 employees.

Snodgrass, author of the self-published book, "When Your Career Means Business" ($15.95), says he has been "lucky because I've never had any trouble getting through in a job search." But his adult children have.

"I've heard the war stories from them and hundreds of others about the hard time they've had trying to get timely responses," said the executive.

"Trying to get work today is like molasses. The employment process has come to a grinding halt — and that's part of the problem."

Snodgrass, who has an MBA degree, said, "We strive to inform all candidates about their employment status within a reasonable time frame."

For those who feel stonewalled in their job hunt, the human-resources veteran urges: "Be proactive. Be persistent. Get the name of the real hiring manager, not just human resources personnel. Find out how to contact them and contact them."

And remain optimistic.

"In five to seven years, the tables will turn," Snodgrass predicted.