Organisations need more suggestions on employing young people like a hole in the head, says Peter Honey. But one last piece of advice won’t hurt
Many years ago when I was a graduate applying for jobs, I wrote an arrogant I’m-here-come-and-get-me letter to every organisation in Graduate Opportunities that happened to mention psychology or psychologists in their entry; 20 of them. I received three invitations to interview, six rejections and the rest I never heard from at all. I still drive past the HQ of one of the organisations who failed to acknowledge my application and, even after five decades, it still rankles. In the event, none of this mattered very much because one of the three interviews led to an excellent job offer.
Things, it seems, have got worse, much worse, for young people now. I have a son who has applied for numerous jobs and never received a reply. I have a grandson who has applied to Oxford University to read history and just heard that he is not being offered a place. This is hard to understand since he has 13A* GCSEs and is predicted to achieve 4A* A levels. He is head boy of his school and, they claim, ‘the best candidate’ they have ever entered for Oxford.
Be that as it may (no one ever said life would be fair!), it strikes me that the biggest problem for young people struggling to get a foothold is the lack of any helpful feedback. My grandson’s school were incredulous at his rejection and asked Oxford University for feedback. They received a guarded, bland reply which was no help whatsoever.
I can quite understand why organisations are reluctant to provide feedback but, never mind all the excuses, is it good enough to leave young people, dejected and puzzled, with no information about how they could do better? One of my maxims has always been, ‘no feedback, no learning’. For most physical activities, feedback is built into the system, when throwing darts for example, or serving in tennis, but not so when it comes to job applications and interviews.
Young people need feedback from helpful human beings. There would have to be some clear understandings such as:
• Feedback will only be offered when formally requested by unsuccessful applicants who are under the age of 25.
• Feedback must be requested within five days of receiving a rejection.
• The sole purpose of the feedback is to provide applicants with insights into why their application was not successful.
• Upon receipt of feedback, there can be no comebacks, self-justifications or decision reversals.
Surely it is outrageously selfish of organisations simply to slam the door shut on young people with no explanation?
So, never mind the extra workload (considerable), never mind the fact that requests for helpful feedback will put you on your metal and mean you will have to have plausible, not arbitrary or flimsy, reasons for rejecting candidates, stop running scared and DO IT.
Young people need all the help they can get.