I apply at a company. I often get the run around from the companies. Is mistreating potential employees good for customer relations and or public relations?

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What is "the runaround"? If you applied for a job and they aren't giving you any concrete answers about whether or not you've got an interview coming or have gotten the job then maybe they can't give you answers because they don't have any.

Most companies take a few weeks before choosing the people for their openings ... think about it.

You post an ad for your opening and most of the time the company posts it in several places (some of which are paid for) if you pay to have your ad run for 2 weeks then you want to wait the full 2 weeks before you even start looking at the applications.

So now you have applications coming in and you have to go through them and read them all. You start calling people whos applications seem to have the most potential and schedule interviews meanwhile more applications may still be coming in.

Then you begin the interview process and you'll want to interview as many potential candidates as you can. Once you finish interviewing everyone that you like it's time to start considering the best of the bunch. You'll narrow it down to the few that you would think that you like to hire and usually set up a second interview to get a little more information and to ask more focused questions and to make sure that you do feel that your choice is the right one. If you like the person you hire them, if you're not sure you hold a few more interviews etc.

The whole process from the time that you turn in an application until the time that they actually hire someone can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks.

Also take into consideration who you are talking to when you call. When you call to ask about the progress of your application or interview ask to speak to Human Resources or the hiring manager. Always be nice no matter what. Smile when you speak to them on the phone and your voice will reflect that cheery attitude. Say that you are really interested in working for the company so you were calling to find out about the progress of your application/hiring process. If they tell you that they have not come to a decision yet, don't push it ... thank them and try back again in a week. You want to show that you are interested ... not pushy. Believe me, pushy people are thought about as an annoyance and aren't likely to be hired so always be polite.

I used to work in HR and believe me hiring isn't their only duty, that's one of the reasons that the process takes so long. Not only do they have to hire new employees but they have a regular FT job to do as well. Just hang in there and don't be afraid to ask how many positions are open and how many applications have been turned in. That will give you an idea of your odds. If there are 2 openings and 75 applications you'll have less of a chance of getting the job than if they had 5 openings and only 15 applications KWIM.

Also you probably won't know anything until they actually choose who gets the position(s). They literally won't know until the day that they make their final decisions and make those calls letting the people know that they got the job. Those people are the only people that they will call. They don't call people to tell them that they did not get the job so you'll want to call every week (4-5 days) to ask but don't be discouraged if you get "the position has been filled". Continue to be nice and thank them for their time. Sometimes their choices have applied at other jobs and end up going somewhere else to work or just don't work out for some reason. If you're always polite and sound excited on the phone they'll remember that and may keep you in mind the next time that they have an opening.

Also most businesses keep their application for about 90 days but I recommend going in an applying every 30 days. Ask to speak to the hiring manager/HR and turn in your application to them so that they make a connection from your face to your application. If the HR person is busy ask to write a brief note "Hello Susan, I'm really hoping to become a part of your team and hope that you consider me for the opening. I hope I hear back from you soon. Thank You!" and attach it to your application. You have to make your application stand out in some way because remember, we are in economic times and many people applying for just a few openings. Don't be discouraged

Sorry so long, but I just wanted to let you know to hang in there .

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For starters a the end of an interview they SAY they will call next week either way. You send a follow up and you hear nothing. Don't say what you don't mean.

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