What to do when the HR ignores you?

Hi wise people here on WSO,

Hope all is well?

I am really frustrated with my current situation here and don't really know what to do next. So I networked very hard to get a first-round interview opportunity with a BB and passed the first round. I was originally scheduled to attend my second round super day in mid Jan and later learned from a HR that I was rescheduled to some time in Feb and I could expect to hear more details closer to the time.

Then HR told me the Jan round is strictly for undergraduates (I am a graduate student) and I will have my super day with a few other graduate students in Feb. I never heard anything from her since then and she never replied to my emails or picked up the phone ( I called her three times for the past few weeks and left a voice mail and emailed here as well). I asked a contact of mine in the firm to check the status for me a few days ago and he hasn't replied yet, then I called the HR one more time today and still nothing... I feel like she is dodging my call and is just not being responsive at all. I feel like I should at least know what's going on since I had passed the first round, my goal is to get a super day or at least know what the status is, but it's pretty difficult since the HRs are just not responding.

How would you advise this? Thanks!

 

Try a different HR contact, call their phone, and keep on going until you hopefully break through. Time is the enemy and you might miss the opportunity if this goes on too long. Also, make sure the person you're trying to reach is still with the organization. I've made the mistake of trying to reach an HR rep who I later found out left for a different company.

 

Aside from contacting the whole army in HR there's not much else you can really do. It might make you look a bit weird if a dozen people receive the same email, but it's probably worth it at this point. If you haven't already, go on LinkedIn, type in "(company name) human resources" and use the general email template form to send them emails (i.e., [email protected] or whatever it might be).

 

Don't know. There could also be a small chance your emails are going to spam. I also had that experience with one firm. They were getting my emails and then no response all of a sudden. So I got in touch with another HR rep to inform my main HR contact of something, who then got back in touch with me by saying that my emails were going to her spam folder. But if they also aren't responding to phone calls, then I'm not sure. If emails don't work, call up as many HR reps as you can until you get a response.

 

I'd run Google searches along the lines of:

"(HR person's name) phone number" "(name of bank) human resources phone number" Etc.

Until something useful comes up.

Some people also include their phone in their LinkedIn profile, but it's not overly common. And if you've gotten any email replies from HR from this bank before, then their phone number will be in their email signature and that might be one additional avenue.

 
Best Response
I never heard anything from her since then and she never replied to my emails or picked up the phone ( I called her three times for the past few weeks and left a voice mail and emailed here as well). I asked a contact of mine in the firm to check the status for me a few days ago and he hasn't replied yet, then I called the HR one more time today and still nothing... I feel like she is dodging my call and is just not being responsive at all.

You need to back off for a while. Regardless of what is really going on, you're reaching the point of becoming extremely annoying and counterproductive.

My guess is one of two things is happening: 1) They've decided to pass on you. They don't have the guts / time / desire to tell you though. It sucks but happens all the time.

2) They're very busy heading into a holiday weekend, or coming off one depending upon what part of the world you're in, and therefore haven't gotten back to you.

Either way, you've done everything you can do. Send a follow up email once a week for the next few weeks then drop it. Badgering them will calls and emails every day will do you no favors. Good luck.

 

Not exactly sure how this would work for a BB... but based on a similar experience with a consulting firm, I finally reached out to the partner in charge of recruiting for that role, and a week or so later got a very very detailed email from the HR person stating what had kept him from replying and the current status - which is that they froze hiring for that role. Hope you can apply some learning to your situation and reach out to someone higher up!

 

I reached out to the person and he said he is gonna check it for me, and I am very grateful. And I just got an email from the HR saying that the summer internship class is filled and there is just no place for me. I kinda know this since it's already mid Feb but still feel very disappointed, I networked hard to get this, and prepared very hard everyday for the interview, I really wanted to get this and I passed the first round, now they are telling me this, I understand that there is nothing I could do right now.

 

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