What does it mean when…

[Roland Beinert]

I applied to a job two months ago in response to a post on the ASLA joblink website. I got a phone call the same day. The hiring manager asked me a few questions, then said she’d pass my resume and portfolio to the people who would make the final decisions. I never heard anything from them after that. Now they have reposted the job vacancy on joblink.
I wouldn’t ever bother applying for the same job twice, obviously, but what does it really mean when they repost a job like that? Did they not find anyone they wanted the first time? Do they just want more applicants? Is the first round of applicants still being considered? Is there a really, really high turn over rate? Is my rejection letter in the mail, and I just haven’t gotten it yet? What do you all think?

[landplanner]

Roland: 

 

The answer could easily be yes or no to all your questions. Take a chill pill for a moment. It also could be (And this is commonplace) that the firm was “fishing” to see who was out there and may be on the brink of having new work come in (or older-shelved projects come back to life) and want to have a qualified pool of pre-screened candidates. That could be you. I have seen the same ad resurface several weeks or months later and thought the same things you are now.

I would suggest instead of ruminating about, unless the ad distinctly “no phone calls” (which a lot do) give the firm a ring and see what is up. If you can get past the HR filter to a principal or associate who might be straight with you, then try that.

Or do this. Do a Google search of the firm and see if you can find an email address of one of the higher-ups and be bold enough to contact them directly. I have done that before and there is a 50% chance they will actually respond.

 

Hope that helps.

[Trace One]

I agree, phone call, to ask the musical question, “Are applicants who have previously applied invited to reapply?” Politeness and  non-judgemental-ness are important.  It is also possible they are really disorganized and just lost the previous stuff, didn’t meet some kind of deadline, forgot they had already advertised, had the hiring manager fired, had one of the principals leave or get fired, or all of the above.

Good luck buddy!

[Chris Whitted]

Not applying to a job twice shouldn’t ever be an obvious thing unless you didn’t really want it in the first place.  As landplanner said, any one of your questions could be a valid reason for a reposting, some more likely than others.  I personally know of instances where:

a) they were set to hire and a major project/client fell apart taking the workload with it, only to come back six months later

b) they did hire and it didn’t work out for any number of reasons for either party – I’ve seen people leave of their own accord or be let go after only a few months

c) the applicant pool makes the firm reconsider what they’re actually looking for or need, possibly what they can get for how much, though usually the second posting is different in a case like that

d) they’ve got so much work or someone else left that they actually need to add another person in addition to the first position

Perhaps there’s a reason you wouldn’t want the job and it’s related to the fact they posted again, but if you’re looking and wanted to apply in the first place it never hurts to apply again.  Should you reach an interview, then you can start thinking about declining if an offer is made.  In this case I would try giving the hiring manager who originally contacted you a call and asking as Trace suggested, or just saying you wanted to follow up and had noticed they had posted a new ad. Sometimes you get your questions answered with just a little bit of prompting rather than actually asking.

[Roland Beinert]

You’re all making good points. I guess the reason I thought it was a bad idea to apply twice was that I read an article saying that they might blacklist you if you apply too often. Now that I really think about it, though, that doesn’t really seem like the sort of thing an LA firm would do.

[nca]

Agreed Chris.

Did anyone else learn to apply for a job BEFORE they attended college? Jeez. I’d bet half the habitual posters on archinect never had a paying job before (or sometimes after) earning their phd. If the hiring manager is going to ‘blacklist’ you for applying twice, you dont want to work there anyway.

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Maybe they fired the HR person and got a new one. Apply again!

Why not?

[nca]

Oops getting two different posts mixed up 😉

apply again..

[Jason T. Radice]

If I have applied and heard from them before, I always mention that in the opening paragraph of the cover letter to remind them that you had been previously selected and that you would like again to be considered for the latest posting. Also, I put the repost date when mentioning the position so they know you are not trying to harass them, only responding to a new posting.

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