To hiring managers: send a rejection letter

“Overworked and un(der) paid” has tragically been dubbed the unofficial college intern’s mantra. As interns are desperate to gain work experience in an increasingly competitive workplace, their treatment in the hiring process is more often ignored. And the shocking lack of response when it comes to applications — many interns do not even receive rejection letters — is unfair to applicants who take the time and effort to apply.

Interns are nobodies, bottom of the circuit, unimportant and easily replaceable. Thousands of interns may apply to NBCUniversal’s Campus 2 Career Internship and never hear anything back. That’s typical. There is no way that NBCUniversal can get back to everyone because of the volume of applications it receives.

Yet it’s when someone comes in for an interview that it is simply rude and inappropriate not to provide any response or feedback, even if in the form of a rejection. A student dresses in his or her best interview attire, practices interview responses and takes the time to come in to the office or talk on the phone. Yet, more often than not, he or she is still not notified about the outcome of the interview.

Polls on various career-oriented sites prove that it’s a common trend that interviewees do not hear back. According to a 2013 CareerBuilder study, 60 percent of employees have not heard back after a job interview. And in response to a Workopolis poll that asked “How long did it take the employer to respond after your last interview?” 24 percent of respondents said 24 hours, 17 percent said one to two weeks, 15 percent said over two weeks and 43 percent said they never heard back at all.

After interviewing at production companies, I had been optimistic about the process. I followed up with my polite “thank you” email and still never heard back. I once read an entire 110-page feature-length script for a company, wrote a synopsis and analyzed the script, providing my comments about the plot, characters and story. After spending at least a few hours completing this assignment, I never heard back from the company.

The company’s invitation for an interview indicated that I had some qualifications relevant to the hiring process. But the lack of response not only left me feeling like I had wasted my time, but also fostered ill feelings toward the company. I would rather receive a simple, “Thanks for your time. We went with someone with more experience,” than to be left staring at my inbox. I took time to drive there, find parking — thanks, L.A. — dress up, research the company and the least the hiring manager could do is send me a quick email acknowledging my time. It’s the polite and professional thing to do.

Companies understand that performing such tasks takes time, effort and a certain degree of interest from the candidate, and yet they still don’t take the time to send a simple “yes,” “no” or even “thank you.”

Not only does not responding to interviewees hurt the applicant’s feelings, but it’s also harmful to the company. In fact, the 2013 CareerBuilder survey found that a candidate’s negative experience in the hiring process can lead to a broader impact on a company’s ability to recruit top talent. Forty-two percent of workers said they would never seek employment with a company again if they were displeased with the way their application was handled. Another 22 percent said they would tell others not to work there. Transparency also benefits the company because applicants can keep considering the potential offer while responding to other opportunities.

An article posted on LinkedIn speculates that companies may not respond to their interviewees for the following reasons: officials are still deciding, they fear legal consequences, the job might not be available after all, the hiring manager is not the person deciding or the person in charge is simply rude. However, these issues could be fixed with just a bit of transparency on the side of the person hiring.

To hiring managers: If it’s a week after the interview and you’re still deciding, simply send an email saying that you really enjoyed interviewing that candidate, but you still have other interviews to proceed with before making a final decision. If the job isn’t available anymore, email the candidate telling them you enjoyed the meeting but unfortunately the job isn’t available. There’s nothing wrong with keeping the candidate in the loop.

Do your company a favor and just reject people, already. A nice rejection can make a candidate feel like the company was worth applying to. More so, people are more likely to reapply if they’ve had a good experience with the hiring staff. And if anyone deserves to be treated well in the hiring process, it’s the intern — who wants so badly to get experience that they’re working un(der) paid.

Mollie Berg is a senior majoring in communications. She is also the features editor of the Daily Trojan. Her column, “All in A Day’s Work,” runs  every other Wednesday.