Weekend Discussion: The Sound of Silence
March 23, 2007 by Deb Ng
Filed under Freelance Writing
What are your thoughts regarding editors who don’t respond to queries and submissions? Here’s a letter that was sent to me this week. I have permission to reprint and use as discussion fodder:
Hi Deb,
I check your website regularly and thought I might have an issue for discussion.
Have you ever approached the issue of editors who are “too busy” to let applicants know if a job has been filled? My experience in applying for these jobs (Craig’s List, Careerbuilder, HotJobs, etc.) has been that it is a rare thing for editors/hiring managers to even acknowledge that either the position has been filled or that the job is now closed.
I know the general response from these editors will be that they receive hundreds of resumes and there’s no way to respond to all of them. I don’t believe that. I have been in the position of posting ads before (not doing the actual hiring but just posting the job ad) and yes, we received hundreds of resumes. If the resume was sent via e-mail, I took the time to acknowledge the receipt with a form letter response. And when the position was filled, I acknowledged it by sending e-mails to those who had e-mailed a resume and a hard copy letter to those who had mailed or faxed their resumes.
And you won’t believe how many people contacted me to say that they appreciated the heads up!
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to do this but somewhere along the line, I think we have become hardened. Yet, we complain about where society is headed today.
Imagine if we left a message for our doctor about a situation and didn’t hear from him or her for days, not knowing if he/she received the message and is working on finding a solution or if he/she just didn’t get the message and we need to be more aggressive in contacting the doctor.
I know one’s health and one’s job are on two different levels but to me, that’s the analogy I think of. Doctors are BUSY too but as part of their JOB, they have to perform certain functions, which include answering medical questions posed by the answering service. We’re all busy but who created this rat race?
So as an editor/hiring manager, if it is your job to fill a position, shouldn’t the job also include responding to e-mails relating to the job?
Again, for the rare editor/hiring manager that responds, those are the greatest. But to all the others, what’s the deal?
Thanks.
Name Withheld by Request
Do you have a topic for weekend discussion? Send it in and I’ll put it out there for the regulars and irregulars.
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Great discussion topic, Deb! I’ve been dealing with this situation recently. Several months ago, I sent a submission to a large, well-known publisher. I waited the amount of time that their website said to expect a response, and then added another month (which I’ve read is the correct thing to do) before I inquired about the submission. No response. I sent a second letter asking about the submission two months after that. Again, no response. I have no reason to suspect a mailing error, yet that is the only scenario that I can come up with since the company hasn’t responded to my queries about the status of the submission. I’m now contemplating whether or not to send this company another copy of the submission and start the waiting clock again or just give up on them entirely as a publishing prospect.
I understand that editors have many responsibilities, but even a form letter is better than nothing. I’ve sent this same submission to two other publishers as well. It wasn’t accepted by either of them, but these two companies took the time to tell me that. Yes, they were form responses, but I now know where I stand with these companies. I can move on to other potential avenues of publication and not waste my valuable time or theirs wondering when or if a decision will ever be made.
I wish that as a job seeker, I could expect to hear one way or the other from a potential employer regarding whether or not my resume has been received, the job has been filled, etc. However it is so uncommon to receive any sort of acknowledgement now that I no longer expect that. I think it’s great if someone does but I won’t hold it against them if they don’t.
However, sometimes I have been contacted for an interview, attended the interview, and been told that they will get back to me whether I’m offered a position or not to let me know what the situation is. I have only had one person actually follow through on this promise when the result was that they had chosen another applicant. And I’ve NEVER had anyone get back to me by the time/date that they said they would.
I won’t hold it against you if you don’t acknowledge receiving my resume. But if you contact me and promise to get back to me, I sure will hold it against you if you are too lazy to do as you promised. If you really have no intention of getting back to me, don’t say you will just to be polite. It makes you seem rude, not polite, when you fail to follow through.
I agree, not acknowledging a rejection is discourteous and claiming too many replies is disingenuous. A little education on e-mail tools would make this task much simpler, but that might be asking too much for some (many?) advertisers.
I’m less irritated at the “dust in the wind” effect of sending applications out than at the people who reply to get more information and then disappear without a word. Thanks for nothin’.
Then again, I’ve lost nothing but a few minutes of time, and every time I land a gig I guess the prospecting pays off. I should let these things roll off my back.
As someone who has hired writers in the past, I can understand how applications can fall through the cracks. I do try and send a “I’m sorry but…” type of email if a position is filled, however.
Like others, what really sticks in my craw is when I’m contacted for more information and then never contacted again.
Recently I applied for a great gig. The owner of the company contacted me back for information, which I gave. Then he asked me if I spoke Chinese or Vietnamese I told him “neither” and explained how my husband is Asian. He mentioned how they put my name at the top of the list because of my last name and I never heard from him again. (I probably have some sort of discrimination case there if I wanted).
I believe it’s common courtesy to contact a writer, even if it’s with a form letter.
This is a great topic. I’ve thought about bringing it up before, too. I’ve responded to a few ads on this list and then never heard anything. I find it frustrating that the ads are vague, so I send a response asking for more information and then get nothing. Or, I’ve sent in my resume and cover letter and again, get nothing. Not even acknowledgement that they got it. There are automated responses aren’t there? It’s courtesy I think, which seems to be severely lacking nowadays.
We can complain about it, but I don’t see anything changing.
—patrizia
I’ve been on both sides of the fence. When I’m hiring writers, I always try to respond to every applicant – it’s courteous and professional to do so. However, I do have some sympathy for editors who receive hundreds of queries, most of which are totally inappropriate. The submissions I receive continue to amaze me. Although I publish nonfiction, I have had queries about novels in foreign languages, poetry, erotica … you name it. And I’m a very small publisher who isn’t inundated with submissions on a daily basis. An automated response to confirm the receipt of the submission could be helpful, though that doesn’t address whether the editor is considering the submission and, if so, how long it will take to review. On the writer side, the most frustrating situation to me is when the guidelines (usually an agent) say in essence, “Don’t call us; we’ll call you.” I have come across several who stipulate that they respond ONLY if they are interested in the work and will not respond if you follow-up. So there’s no way to know if they even received it, and they won’t respond to confirm it.
I wrote an amusing little piece called, “Remember to Interview the Job”. I was amazed by the number of responses (hits) I got!
When I apply for a writing gig, I do so as a professional. I keep track of who responds and who doesn’t. I finally figured it out that it’s how they TREAT YOU during the hiring process that indicates the kind of company or person you are working for! If they are not professional enough to respond, even by form letter, then I don’t need the hassle of working for them, wondering if I’m going to get paid, etc.
I disagree that “there is nothing we can do about it”. I think we can – first – by being proud of ourselves as writers – as professionals. Stop going on these “for bid” sites and actioning yourself off as the lowest bidder. Start referring other writers. I had a job from a company because they liked my previous work. It was for technical report writing; I called in a fellow writer, vouched for him, he got the job and sent me a “finder’s fee”. The company still calls me to do work for them, because I referred a good person to them. Let’s work together, people!
I’m on the same page you you, Deb. When I apply for a job amongsts dozens of other applicants, I don’t really expect a response (especially when it’s going to an anonymous Craislist email). But once a buyer has expressed interest in my services and asks for additonal information from me, I think it’s just common courtesy to let me know his/her decision either way. I’m currently contending with such an issue. Early this month, I applied for a blogging position, the buyer expressed interest and asked for two sample articles. I returned them the very next day. She said she’d be making a decision in about a week (at would have been the 9th of March). That week goes by then another, then another. Finally, yesterday, I sent her an email asking if she’d filled the position yet. As of today, I’ve received no response. Chances are I never will. Now that’s the type of situation that irks me to no end, and I’ll probably be blogging about it soon!
I don’t get why they think that our time isn’t valuable. It’s not like we’re not busy too and yet we take time to query them. I think it is ignorant on their part, but maybe I’m being too harsh about something that really does irk me.
It’s rude, but if you cannot take joke you should not be a freelance writer.
I do not like it when I never hear from an editor again, but it is not worth burning energy on. That gives the non-responding editor a two-fer. You waste time waiting for a response that never comes, then you waste time venting about it.
If I’m responding to a general Craigslist or other broad ad, I don’t expect a reply. I know that 100’s, if not 1000’s, of people are applying within a day or two of the ad.
I do, however, get frustrated when I know I’m very qualified for what I’ve applied for and don’t hear a word. I always wonder if my response was too far down on their e-mail pile or my qualifications are so good, they know I’ll actually want to be paid decently (that’s for those ads that don’t mention pay in them)and their pay is poor. I just want to know.
If I don’t have a lot of experience with the subject matter and I don’t hear, it usually doesn’t bug me.
However, if I querry a specific idea based on a publications guidelines, I do expect a response, even it’s negative. I’m sure editors get several unsolicited querries a day, but a short response would be appropriate. E-mail makes it so simple to so. Hit reply, say thanks but no thanks, and you’re done.
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What’s the deal? Writers tend to have more time to write (or pester and agitate) and business owners are concerned about…business.
Sure, we all love to complain about the weather, but to paraphrase good old Mark Twain, “Nobody can do anything about it.” Writers write, and business people…well, they business.
I bet if we all got the same standard form, computer-generated answers (and some of us often do), then “we’d” stil complain about not getting a more feely/personal/aren’t-I-important answer.
jack, I disagree. I don’t think that those who get a form response would feel the need to complain further. I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, it allows me to delete my copy of the “sent” email, cross them off my list of those I need to recontact etc… It gets them out of my to-do list. I don’t care if I don’t get a “aren’t I important/personal” response. To assume that is to assume that us writers have nothing better to do. We do. We move onto the next query and hope for better.
Not receiving a response indicates to me that I am not dealing with a professional, and am well out of it. I don’t stress about it. But if there’s a company name attached, I know to drive a harder bargain if they contact me in the future for work. I’m a big believer in aggravation pay.
If you post an ad, you’re doing so to get responses. Part of the gig in posting/being an employer is dealing professionally and graciously with those who respond. Sometimes it takes awhile. I’d rather get a response, even if it’s a “no” several weeks later than hear nothing.
I have had the same experience recently. I have been out looking for writing as well as research jobs. Its the same everywhere. I haveonly 3-5 reply of the numerous people who I have written to
I hate when I hear nothing back from editors/potential clients, especially if they requested a detailed cover letter.
It would be one thing if I was dashing off one paragraph and attaching my resume, but the ones asking for a detailed cover letter can take me a half hour or more to complete and send out. After all that, to not get any acknowledgment whatsoever is disheartening.
In addition, there’s always the thought in the back of my head that they didn’t get my materials for some reason — tech issue, accidentally deleted them, got sent to the spam folder, etc. I recently sent out two queries to magazines that promise a response to e-mail queries in 2-4 weeks. That was 8 weeks ago and I have not heard anything one way or the other.
Why can’t these potential clients sent up an autoresponder and have applicants send their materials to a specific e-mail address? Then the autoresponder could say something like, “Thank you for submitting your resume for one of our open freelance positions. We are reviewing all materials and will get in touch with you if we would like to schedule an interview.” At least then, we’d know that they got our materials.
Responses are great. Responses tell a writer that she needn’t keep making your message pile higher to make sure nothing was lost in the mail. I’ve had situations where the client didn’t get the e-mail even when I received my BCC!
What I tend to do is request a reply when I need one, and to tell the recipient when I’m not expecting one if it’s inconvenient for them. It seems to increase my number of responses and to limit the fluff “thank-yous” that can sometimes wind up going back and forth.
I may have e-mailed someone recently for writers’ guidelines to publications that she wasn’t currently publishing because I had outdated information, but the lady was kind enough to alert me to that fact and to request that I contact her again in the middle of 2008.