Revenge of the Unemployed, sort of:  As many of you know, I've been looking for full time work for the past few years.  To that end, I'm on a number of job search lists online -- CareerBuilder.com, Idealist.org, and Monster.com, to name a few.  Two weeks ago, I sent a resume and cover letter to an employer on CareerBuilder.com who was offering a job I was ideally suited for.  I got back CareerBuilder's usual acknowledgement e-mail, saying my resume had been sent to the potential employer.  And nothing else, neither from CareerBuilder or the employer.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from CareerBuilder listing job openings.  And guess what job appeared again?  Yup.  Same employer, same job.  So I sent them my resume -- again -- but instead of a cover letter, I sent the letter that follows.  Hope you enjoy the read...

This is not a cover letter -- at least, it's not a traditional cover letter; but this is the first opportunity I've had to say this to someone for whom it might matter.

Roughly two weeks ago, I sent you my resume for the Event Assistant position with a "standard" cover letter, via CareerBuilder.com.  I got the usual e-mail response from CareerBuilder -- that my resume had been sent to you and that, if I met your requirements, I would be hearing from you.  I heard nothing else about this job until yesterday, when I received another notice from CareerBuilder of jobs available, showing the Event Assistant job still posted.

This way of getting people to apply for available jobs just isn't good enough anymore.

It used to be that, if a resume did not match what the employer wanted, an applicant would get a polite message saying so, usually also saying that the resume would be kept on file "just in case."  Companies with slightly better manners would mention specific things that made the resume a near-miss.  And in any event, there would be a name and address, or a phone number, so that the applicant could thank the employer and touch base to check on future job openings.

These days, resumes are sent into an e-mail black hole.  They are never responded to, and companies refuse to give contact numbers -- or, in most cases, names -- for applicants to check back.

This is, to put it bluntly, rude and officious, cold and discourteous on the part of employers.  And, given the ongoing state of the economy, few job applicants would dare make a complaint about this, even if there were a way to do so.

So, I take this opportunity to lodge my complaint about this practice.  To have one's resume -- the record of one's professional life -- be received without even an acknowledgment *from the employer* is a crushing blow to one's self-confidence, especially if one has been looking a long time for another job.

I want this job because I have done it in the past, and I know I can do it to your satisfaction.  I think I can do it well enough that, when the time comes, you would be willing to hire me on a full-time basis.  I see it as part of the communication skills that every employer wants in an applicant that, when there is a problem that needs addressing, the employer will get the message -- effectively and honestly -- from their employees.  

Which is why I say to you now:  Have the courage and the grace to respond to those who have the courage to put their resumes, their records of their business lives, out there for you.  Because this is a time when we all need to be a bit more humane.  We owe that to each other.

Thank you.