Stand up for yourself in your job hunt

Jo wants to share her experience in regard to tackling the “silent treatment” on the job hunt trail.

“I spotted the job ad, liked it and quickly sent a cover letter together with a resume,” she writes. “Within a few moments I received a confirmation that my application was submitted. Nearly at the same time I also received an [email] saying `on this occasion your application was unsuccessful’.

`This was all with maybe two or three minutes. I was surprised that someone was able to receive an email, open it, read both the letter and resume and [then] send the `on this occasion you were unsuccessful’ email. Was that even physically possible?

“I looked up the ad, and wrote to the person listed as a contact to ask this very question. Within minutes I received an email that it might have been a mistake.”

The consultant offered Jo a job interview — yet to take place.

“Sometimes a simple mistake [can] motivate us to stand up for ourselves and ask a simple question,`Why?’. I am not suggesting people be aggressive. Be reasonable,” she says.

“However, if something does not seem right, at least try to seek an explanation. I am not sure whether any offer will follow the interview [but] I feel better about myself and am proud that instead of accepting the rejection, the moment I realised something was not right I stood up for myself.”