Also, OP it is not a good rejection email because it did not even state that the company will keep your resume on file.

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.

Maybe they didn’t even review your application.

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?

OP here again.
I'm moving on.

Thank you for all the replies.
It was incredibly helpful (psychologically) just to type this out and get your replies.

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.

They've "hired" someone (whether internally or externally) and are waiting for the last of the paperwork to get done (background check, acceptance letter, etc) before it's official and can therefore remove the listing.

But no matter the reason, you need to move on.

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.

No way to know unless you know an insider.

Can be they had an in house candidate was transferring.

Could be they had an external candidate, and posted a dummy listing for compliance purposes.

Could be someone else in your niche applied.

The one thing I can tell you is to not take it personally. You have no idea what was going on behind the scenes. Sometimes it is the department who says they want a needle and at the last minute decide they need a pair of scissors. Sometimes the recruiters accidentally pass people over if what they see in the résumé isn’t precisely what is on their description, because they’re not subject matter experts, and may not really know what they’re looking at. Sometimes they are going through arguments as to how that particular job is classified, or funded, or or or…

All of which to say is that there are thousand reasons that have nothing to do with your qualifications. I am curious what job though!

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:

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 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.

Did it say “no longer taking applications” or did it give a specific reason? Paste the exact text (with no identifying information, of course), it makes a difference.

I applied to a job at Hopkins.
Job was posted 5/25/23. I applied 7/21/23.
My application's status was logged as "pending application review" and stayed that way until 8/1/23 when I received an email "We identified another candidate".

I assumed I was a late applicant and missed the boat.

But now it's 8/14/23 and the position is still listed as open on their site.

I can't reply apply with my primary email address as it states "you already applied for this position."

Is there a way to find out what is going on?
Would you reapply with a different email?

Some background. It's a super niche nursing job and I have the exact experience that is asked for and there are probably about 4 of us in the greater DMV that do.
I don't know who the hiring manager is.
I'm just beyond puzzled about what happened here.
It's totally reasonable that they went with another candidate but it's beyond odd that they would just outright pass on my application given how very few
people there are in this niche field. It's not high paying or fabulous--just a random super sub speciality within nursing. My resume and cover letter
had all the correct key words (I tailored them to this posting and my previous job has the exact same role title as this posting)

Any thoughts? Thank you so much!