How often have you applied for a sportscasting job and never heard a peep back from the employer – not even acknowledgement that they had received your application? It happened to me more times than I can remember.
I remember wondering if those employers were so far removed from their own job-seeking experience that they had forgotten what its like. To them, your job application means nothing. What they often forget is that, to you, it means everything. That is why what I am about to share with you is stunning.
Not too many months ago, an employer sent an email to me that conveyed an unusual and refreshing empathy for job seekers:
I’ve been narrowing down candidates for [the position] and it amazes me how many good broadcasters there are out there who want this job. It amazes me that they aren’t applying for jobs at higher levels because some of them sure sound capable of landing those gigs.
The fact that I got 113 applicants for this job blows my mind. And without a doubt the toughest part is having to email more than 100 of them today to let them know that I’m down to my final candidates, and they didn’t make the cut. It sucks. I know it sucks. I’ve been there a lot — or at least it feels like a lot because you remember the ones you REALLY wanted. The ones you thought you could land. The ones that you know if they had just given you the chance, you would have proven them right 1,000-times over for making that decision. And I know in the emails I sent out, there are people that feel that way about the job I just told them they aren’t getting. Today I realized — perhaps again — that it feels just as bad to be on the sending end of that email as it can be on the receiving end.
Huge props to employers who understand that each application represents the dream of a person who has worked hard and sacrificed, and who treats those applications with respect.