Dear Applicant, Don't Bother

As much as computers, the Internet and other electronic advances have brought us together, they also keep us apart. Face-to-face communication, personal letters and even phone conversations have been replaced by e-mail and texting.

OK, there’s no putting the technology genie back in the bottle, and who would argue with innovative gadgets which help us in our everyday lives. But there are downsides to this progress: diminished human contact in the form of communication walls that contribute to an impersonal, hands-off existence.

Take the case of job applicants today. Many employers have gone “paperless” for economic and environmental reasons. Or, in the case of a few employers, they find it a convenient way to eliminate a paper trail if legal issues arise in a hiring dispute. Just hit the delete key and that file vaporizes (though it might still be retrievable by a cyber sleuth).

Some employers refuse to accept resumes and cover letters via U.S. mail (a contributing factor to the postal service’s financial woes). Instead, applicants are urged to submit online profiles with the appropriate documents to the e-mail of a specific person – human resources director, recruiter, etc.

Those seeking work always are encouraged by job boards and services to address their cover letters to a person, not a generic “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam.” If you follow that advice, you would expect and hope for fair consideration of your application. Unfortunately, this is the response you might see months later:

Dear applicant:

Thank you for your recent expression of interest in the position of Director of Impersonal Communications.

Although your credentials are impressive, we regret to inform you that you were not selected to interview for this position. The decision was made to pursue candidates whose background and experience more closely match the position requirements.

You may wish to periodically check our website in order to keep apprised of other positions which we are actively recruiting.

Thank you for your interest.

The e-mailed rejection above is real, nearly word for word, except for the bogus job title. Sadly, this is pretty typical of the new type of form response letters employers are using (if they respond at all). “Dear applicant” and no name or signature of any kind at the bottom. Would any serious job seeker apply for a position that way?

Yes, employers today will defend the practice by saying they have been too overwhelmed by a flood of applicants because of the Great Recession.

It’s not unusual for three open positions, say at a college or university PR office, to draw 350 applicants whose credentials are likely to vary from “absolutely ideal” to “you’ve got to be kidding.” That’s a ton of processing for employers, especially companies which have downsized and have fewer staffers doing the same or more work.

But, even with that changed reality, how can “Dear applicant” be acceptable when it takes just a minute more to address an electronic response to Mr. Doe, Mrs. Doe or Ms. Doe – if your hiring personnel bothered to look at the application package? What happened to a more personalized and professional greeting?

Perhaps the “applicant” waited several months to get a form response that turned out to be a rejection. What PR message does it send? Maybe the wrong message: If this company, institution of higher education, or business, cares so little about interaction with strangers seeking employment, how would it be if I worked for them? Would I ever apply there again? Why waste my time?

Electronic communication can be a wonderful experience. In the case of Facebook, for example, it can bring together long-lost relatives who live thousands of miles apart, reunite old high school friends, allow you to stay in touch with former co-workers, develop new friendships based on shared interests, connect with job leads, etc.

But on the flip side of advances in technology, electronic walls allow us to brush aside the finer communication skills, ones that require human interaction in a more meaningful way. You can't read body language and gestures in an e-mail or text message. Video, even when streamed live, still has an artificial quality.

With remote access dominating communication, you get a society whose children are disconnected with parents and the real world because they’re lost in virtual world. For instance, they don’t play sports outdoors because it’s easier to play indoors with the gadgets (and perhaps bully other kids online, a growing trend).

I’m not saying we should go backward and reject technology – personal computers, laptops, cell phones, iPad, iPod and the rest. They represent progress in the Information Age, and we can anticipate more innovations on the horizon.

But in our haste to embrace all things technology, let’s not forget about little touches that enrich our lives – at home, in the office and at school. It begins with simply addressing someone by name, even if the news is not good.

As for me, I practice what I preach at writenowworks.com.