People are often at their most vulnerable during periods of uncertainty or rejection. Ask any job hunter. Sometimes there will be hurt feelings no matter what you do, but it's awfully easy to turn those feelings into anger and bitterness if you come across as callous.

Workers have been told for decades not to burn their bridges, but employers need to realize that the advice is just as significant for them. During the job-hunting and interview process, both sides need to practice a little kindness if they don't want to turn ardor into arson.

Because of short staffing, heavy workloads and plain old thoughtlessness, some employers just leave applicants dangling for weeks after job interviews -- or never have the courtesy to call them at all.

If you interview people for a specific position and decide to reject them, tell them as soon as possible. They shouldn't have to hear it through the grapevine and you shouldn't let them wither away in silence. That's just common sense and common decency.

Even from a purely selfish point of view, those shortsighted employers don't realize how much they can be sabotaging future recruiting. They've alienated someone who at least was qualified enough to make it to the interview process, and you can be sure the disgruntled applicants will subtly spread the word about how they were treated.

Some may even vent over the Internet. On the vault.com Web site, for example, there are employee-related bulletin boards for many major companies, letting people give you the (sometimes distorted) inside scoop on what it's like to work at those places.

On the other hand, if you are sensitive about delivering the bad news, you reduce the potential animosity. If you treat applicants fairly, most won't hold it against you just because you didn't pick them.

Suppose you have 10 finalists, and you tell them that you'll make a decision by March 31. But your company's wheels grind more slowly than expected and you find that you can't move until April 14.

To you, that may be barely a blip in the work cycle, but look at it from the applicant's perspective. "It's April 7 -- one week after they told me that they'd make a decision. Not a word. Should I call them? Are they testing me? Could they have lost my resume? Did somebody take a message and forget to give it to me? Have they already made up their minds?"

Job-hunting days are like dog years. They are seven times longer than for normal humans.

Suppose you finally do make a decision on April 14. Even if you try to do everything right, some people won't get the word until at least two weeks after you promised. That won't do much for your company's reputation. It will do even less if you don't bother to call at all.

It's a tough situation for employers, but not nearly as tough as it used to be. Instead of sending a letter (too slow) or calling all the candidates (sometimes too time-consuming), take advantage of e-mail. Get a note out to everyone the same day you make the hiring decision.

If you get e-mail addresses from all the people you interview, you can give them quick updates about delays and decisions as a group, without spending a lot of your time doing it. An e-mail form letter certainly isn't as warm and fuzzy as a personal phone call, but it beats the heck out of some form letter sent two weeks later -- or an eternity of deafening silence.

Published 4/8/2000