The Humanity Job Seekers Deserve
Have you ever applied for a job, completed several steps, and then heard nothing? Maybe you received an automated rejection before speaking with a person. Maybe you spent hours tailoring your résumé, only to wonder whether anyone ever opened it. What are you supposed to make of that?
Are you underqualified? Did you use the wrong keywords? Was your résumé rejected because of a misplaced comma? Or did your application disappear into the same black hole where so many others seem to land?
A recent USA TODAY article by Rachel Barber asks the question many job seekers are asking out loud: “Where’s the humanity?” It speaks to the larger problem of organizations forgetting that people are people.
The article opens with the story of Todd Hendricks, a 46-year-old engineer who was laid off and began searching for work. During a multistep interview process, he logged into Zoom for a coding interview and waited. No one appeared. Hendricks contacted the recruiter but received no response. Then, the following Monday, an email arrived informing him that the company would not move forward with him based on his performance in the interview, which he says never happened.
Take a moment and sit with that. How would you feel? Confused? Angry? Embarrassed? Would you wonder whether someone had made a mistake, or whether anyone cared enough to check?
According to the USA TODAY report:
Recruiters are now processing about 291 applications per hire, compared with roughly 100 applications per role in early 2021.
Only 10% of job seekers feel that most of their applications are reviewed by a human.
93% of recruiters surveyed by LinkedIn planned to increase their use of artificial intelligence in 2026.
Some employers use automated systems to reject candidates over details as minor as a misplaced comma.
Only 10% of workers say job descriptions always accurately reflect the reality of the role.
95% of job seekers have encountered a suspicious job offer.
Even these numbers do not tell the whole story. Behind every application is a person who may be trying to provide for a family, rebuild after a layoff, leave an unhealthy workplace, or find a role where their gifts can finally be used. Behind every automated rejection is a human being who may already be questioning their value.
Artificial intelligence can be useful. The problem begins when technology becomes a substitute for responsibility.
To be fair, if I had to guess, I would say that many of these organizations struggled to respond humanely before AI, and their processes today only mirror their current stance on candidate experience.
The central message of my book, They’re Worth It! What It Means to Put Employees First is simple: people are not metrics, pipelines, headcount, or disposable resources. They are human beings. And if we believe employees are worth protecting, encouraging, and developing once they join an organization, then candidates deserve dignity before they are hired, too.
Job seekers are not asking organizations to eliminate standards. They know not every application will result in an interview. What they are asking for is to be treated as human beings while those decisions are made. That distinction matters.
When we remember that, our choices change. We communicate with more care. We use technology more thoughtfully. We stop asking only, “How quickly can we fill this role?” and begin asking, “How can we create a process that honors the people entering it?” That is the humanity job seekers are searching for. And it is the humanity our organizations need.
Coach Ha-Keem
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