Why is our industry inhospitable to rejected applicants?

You read the description of a job opening that you’re interested in. You think, “Hey! That looks interesting, let me apply for that”. So you send an application - along with a copy of your most recent resume. And then you wait and keep waiting.  And you don’t get any reply at all from the employer. The majority of job applications that fail to get past the first stage receive no response whatsoever. That is the nature of the corporate beast.

Why do capable job-seekers get rejected from jobs they could easily perform? Analyst point out that most employees spend less than 11 seconds on a resume before short-listing for further review or rejecting it and moving on. Most applicants are rejected because they may lack the required qualifications to do the job. Others could be generic resumes not demonstrating particular value to the opportunity at hand. Some applications could be difficult to read or contain spelling or grammatical errors that turn employers off. The scariest part is that most of the time Human Resources employ an entry-level resume ‘screener’ to decide who gets to be called for an interview and who doesn’t. Even dislike of a photo of the applicant or should the entry-level ‘screener’ fail to understand certain words or their context…can spell doom.  Again, one might argue that this is the nature of the corporate beast.

In a typical hotel community, let’s call it Homerville: say there are 15 hotels ranging from no-frills to budget to 3-5 star hotels in this small countryside town. The collective majority of employees in these hotels come from the resident community in and around Homerville, as do those hired by the other hospitality players such as restaurants, bars, travel/tour operators, etc. In all, the hospitality business in Homerville employs over 1250 employees including management. In a large city these numbers will be infinitely larger. Big city or small town – they all have the same needs and face the same challenges. They all have some form of turnover which might range between 20% - 30% every year. Clearly, all the stakeholders in the hospitality field have a common goal in attracting people to join our industry.

Our industry operates 24-7-365 and to keep the doors of the hotel open all the time there is a constant battle to reduce staff turnover and increase retention. Our HR people spend time, resources and not least of all money, in a perpetual circle of activity. But has anyone in hospitality done anything outside this boundary to nurture several of those who seek jobs, have many- if not some of the right attributes, and, were yet rejected? Job-seekers get rejected from recruiting pipelines and that’s going to happen every day. Nevertheless, how much information do companies keep on rejected job applicants? Let’s split this into two types of rejected applicants - those who are rejected before any interview and those after. The majority of applications get tossed into the bin before any interview - for various reasons. The fact of the matter is that all these applicants who applied showed some intent to join our industry…and that’s a positive message if nothing else. Hold that thought…!

• What if the hotel community in Homerville took steps not to drive away those ‘didn’t-get-the-job’ applicants to other industries by recognising them as a ‘pool of potential talent’ to be developed by the whole hotel community in their area?
• What if the 15 hotels in Homerville and other interested players in Hospitality collectively came together to form a Hospitality Training institute with the intention of enrolling all active but unsuccessful applicants under its wings?
• What if Homerville’s Training Institute held a series of continuous programmes for these rejected applicants (at no costs to them).
• What if the programmes included training and orientation that enriched rejected applicants industry knowledge, increased their worth and prepared them for future employment, as and when vacancies arise?
• What if Homerville reached out to a group of retired hospitality veterans and similarly experienced senior employees who welcome the opportunity to contribute by conducting training sessions and sharing their expertise and knowledge? 

There's no reason why this imaginary “Homerville’ concept cannot be embraced in the real workplace. All it requires is for the Human Resources sector of our exciting hotel industry to take that bold first step.

Ilzaf Keefahs

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