Any thoughts on what happened with this job application?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont have a super niche specialty like you describe but I've applied to multiple jobs that I'm clearly qualified for and don't even get a phone call. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with my resume.

There's nothing wrong with your resume. This happens all the time. How old are you? 25?

NP OP's concern stems from the fact that candidates qualified for this job are rare. His experience in posting a similar ad was that not a single person applied--according to OP's posts above.

To OP: Have a qualified professional review your resume to quell your concerns. Then move on.

I mean, a lot of unqualified people will apply for jobs they don't qualify for. Say HM receives 100 applications from unqualified candidates and gets frustrated, then the 150th app comes in from OP, no one is going to notice it's sitting at the bottom of the pile.

[Anonymous]

Adding and subtracting people is a difficult, lumpy and imperfect process. Many attempts continue to make it more fair and rapid but rarely is it done well.

Past methods involved things like hiring from the top 10% of graduates from program X at Ivy League school Z. We also have tried automation to review applications without bias before it gets to the humans (in part, because there are way too many applications). Also tried erecting steep thresholds such as specific degrees/GPAs and/or many years of experience in a niche area. All of these approaches have their problems.

What still seems to work is knowing someone on the inside of the organization who can get you in front of the hiring manager.
Good luck and keep pushing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their HR is probably slow and haven’t updated the system to reflect that the position is no longer open. My old company’s HR used to do that all the time - we’d have an accepted offer and the position would still show as open and accepting applications on the website.

I think this is the most likely situation. I worked for Hopkins many years ago. I got my jobs on an insider track (I was referred by people on the inside in the department that was looking and they reviewed my resume and talked to me before the job was officially posted by HR). In the interim, I have worked at a lot of IT companies (primarily federal contracting companies). In many cases, the HR department was bogged down and this situation has happened often, both for positions I interviewed for and positions where I was the hiring manager. The web-site is run by HR and sometimes filled positions would be left open. As a hiring manager, I have been sent resumes for "qualified candidates" after I have filled the position and I have to remind the HR staff that I have filled the position and they need to take the posting down.

[Anonymous]

As someone in HR, we are not very on top of updating the website. You applied two months after it was posted and more than likely it was filled before they even got your resume, or they were at least deep into the process of interviewing. They then sent you an automated email which means they closed the job in their system or they moved all remaining candidates to “reject” and that triggered the email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

Email I received:

Thank you for your interest in the position of XYZ.

We have decided to pursue other candidates whose skill set best matches the needs of this position.

We appreciate the time and effort you spent in applying for this position. You may view and apply for other opportunities here: https://jobs.hopkinsmedicine.org

Thank you again for your interest in Johns Hopkins, and we wish you success in your career search.


Job posted 5/25.
Application send 7/21.
Listed as "pending review" until above email received 8/1.
Still posted 8/14.

I know I'm not guaranteed an interview for any job but they're looking for a needle in a haystack and I'm that exact needle in term of past niche experience. It's just weird.

It is difficult to be passed over for a job, but sometimes you just have to move on.

As Jay Z once said, “on to the next one, on to the next one”

OP here.
Yep, I get it.

It's difficult because there are very few jobs in this field---maybe 1-2 per year in the entire DMV (all of DC/Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs of both).

I've hired for his position before and we've gone months without receiving a qualified application. If I could get my resume in front of the hiring manager I'd get an interview (and likely the job) but I seem to have reached an HR dead end. Again, it's not a super sexy or. high paying job. At all. It's a random niche nursing thing.

I was either screened out by someone in HR who doesn't know what they're doing or they hired someone that fell through or something.
Or for whatever reason the posting is filled but still on the site.
ARGH.

Hi OP, you don’t get it though. You think this was a job that you were rejected for in error, or that someone else fell through (and thus you are still the next clear candidate in line).

If you have hired before, you should know that there are a million things that could be going on (slow HR, you’re seeing a listing that was meant for specific other candidate the entire time, funding changes, a mix of all 3 and then some, etc) but the one thing NOT going on is (a) this job exists and (b) you would get an interview if the hiring manager knew about you.

It’s not “weird.” This happens all the time. I can hear that you are frustrated/find this “difficult” but as soon as you accept this job might not even have ever existed in the first place, the better and easier this will become.


- Hiring manager

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone in HR, we are not very on top of updating the website. You applied two months after it was posted and more than likely it was filled before they even got your resume, or they were at least deep into the process of interviewing. They then sent you an automated email which means they closed the job in their system or they moved all remaining candidates to “reject” and that triggered the email.

+1 op this is what actually happens all the time.

[Anonymous]

You’re having trouble getting in front of the right people? There is an answer for that: Spring for Ramit Sethi’s “find your dream job” course. Crazy expensive, and also worth every single penny. (I’m not affiliated with them, but wish I was).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

Email I received:

Thank you for your interest in the position of XYZ.

We have decided to pursue other candidates whose skill set best matches the needs of this position.

We appreciate the time and effort you spent in applying for this position. You may view and apply for other opportunities here: https://jobs.hopkinsmedicine.org

Thank you again for your interest in Johns Hopkins, and we wish you success in your career search.


Job posted 5/25.
Application send 7/21.
Listed as "pending review" until above email received 8/1.
Still posted 8/14.

I know I'm not guaranteed an interview for any job but they're looking for a needle in a haystack and I'm that exact needle in term of past niche experience. It's just weird.

It is difficult to be passed over for a job, but sometimes you just have to move on.

As Jay Z once said, “on to the next one, on to the next one”

OP here.
Yep, I get it.

It's difficult because there are very few jobs in this field---maybe 1-2 per year in the entire DMV (all of DC/Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs of both).

I've hired for his position before and we've gone months without receiving a qualified application. If I could get my resume in front of the hiring manager I'd get an interview (and likely the job) but I seem to have reached an HR dead end. Again, it's not a super sexy or. high paying job. At all. It's a random niche nursing thing.

I was either screened out by someone in HR who doesn't know what they're doing or they hired someone that fell through or something.
Or for whatever reason the posting is filled but still on the site.
ARGH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

Email I received:

Thank you for your interest in the position of XYZ.

We have decided to pursue other candidates whose skill set best matches the needs of this position.

We appreciate the time and effort you spent in applying for this position. You may view and apply for other opportunities here: https://jobs.hopkinsmedicine.org

Thank you again for your interest in Johns Hopkins, and we wish you success in your career search.


Job posted 5/25.
Application send 7/21.
Listed as "pending review" until above email received 8/1.
Still posted 8/14.

I know I'm not guaranteed an interview for any job but they're looking for a needle in a haystack and I'm that exact needle in term of past niche experience. It's just weird.

I'd fire up the Google machine and find a person to talk to or email directly. The fact that the job is still posted is the perfect hook. The worst they can say is no.

[Anonymous]

A lot of resumes are screened by AI. Maybe you didn't have the right keywords.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of resumes are screened by AI. Maybe you didn't have the right keywords.

I think this happens a lot these days. If you are really interested in the job, I’d look hard on LinkedIn for someone you might have some connection to there and see if you can reach out.

It’s almost too easy to apply for jobs now, so companies get flooded and don’t review every application. They rely on software to do it. It’s not like the old days when you’d have to type up a cover letter and actually mail in the resume. There was an automatic filtering with that process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone in HR, we are not very on top of updating the website. You applied two months after it was posted and more than likely it was filled before they even got your resume, or they were at least deep into the process of interviewing. They then sent you an automated email which means they closed the job in their system or they moved all remaining candidates to “reject” and that triggered the email.

+1 op this is what actually happens all the time.

Yes, sometimes the job doesn’t come down until the person actually starts.