Chef Devan Rajkumar, owner of newly opened Loch & Quay restaurant in Toronto, was short-staffed recently and rapidly lined up a bunch of interviews and trial shifts for cooks. His frustration mounted as a string of the candidates didn’t turn up.
“I was at my wits’ end at that point with all the no shows,” he said.
Interview “no shows” are a common complaint in some industries, such as restaurant and retail. They appear particularly endemic to entry-level or low-paying positions with long, gruelling hours in major cities where there is an abundance of work available.
“It’s been an ongoing problem … it’s driven by the intense competition between employers for certain-level jobs,” said Best Retail Careers International president, Suzanne Sears, a recruiter who has hired people for jobs ranging from retail entry-level positions right up to the CEO’s office.
Young people are often more comfortable with texting, applying for jobs online, interacting through social media and even “ghosting” someone they no longer wish to date.
Ed des Roches, owner of Vancouver-based Plum Clothing, said that “no shows” have been going on in retail for many years, but are especially prevalent with the younger generation.
“They do not feel like they have to call you and say they have accepted another job or have reconsidered. They just avoid telling you altogether,” he said.
Steven Hancock, head chef at one of the Fox and Fiddle pubs in downtown Toronto, tries to connect with interviewees who do not show up for a scheduled appointment. “It always rings and rings and I never hear from that person again.”
Mr. Hancock recounted a recent unsuccessful attempt to reach an applicant by phone. When the person returned his call several hours later, the candidate “seemed very confused as to why I would call them about the job posting and not just e-mail them.”
It can be a sore and recurring topic on social media, as employers complain about their latest experience with “no shows.”
For some job seekers, however, it’s par for the course, arguing that they never hear back from employers either about unsuccessful job interviews. Why should they be expected to act differently?
Others complain about rude hiring managers or unacceptably low pay as reasons why they change their minds.
For some job seekers, however, it’s par for the course, arguing that they never hear back from employers either about unsuccessful job interviews. Why should they be expected to act differently?
Others complain about rude hiring managers or unacceptably low pay as reasons why they change their minds.
Hiring the right people has become a top concern for many employers and a challenge for businesses in a competitive labour market, recruiters and industry consultants say. While overall job growth in Canada has tapered somewhat, it comes after an exceptionally strong year in 2017.
“There are jobs out there that are still begging for workers, so people with the right skills should find a job in this kind of labour market, with the unemployment rate at four-decade lows,” said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist with BMO Financial Group.
“It’s easier now to find a job, the opportunities are more ample than a year or two years ago ... so people have more choice.”
“It’s easier now to find a job, the opportunities are more ample than a year or two years ago ... so people have more choice.”
Retailer Mr. des Roches said that employers need to act quickly with offers, “in under 24 hours or they will have accepted another job.” Businesses are cognizant of the competition. Mr. Hancock, for example, tries to respond to job applicants within a half hour of receiving them, but even that is sometimes not enough.
“It’s a competitive market and everyone’s looking for qualified staff, so it’s pretty much first-come, first-serve,” said Mr. Hancock, who recalled his own job-hunting experience when he first moved to Toronto two years ago, where he was offered a job at all 10 of the restaurants he interviewed for.
In a recent hiring effort, Mr. Hancock said only two out of the seven scheduled interview candidates showed up and, of the two, only one came for a “stage,” an industry term for a trial shift to gauge a cook’s skills.
As with Mr. Rajkumar, he was dealing with a staffing shortage, including one cook who notified him by text that they would not be coming back and another who broke the news in the middle of a shift that it would be their last.
As with Mr. Rajkumar, he was dealing with a staffing shortage, including one cook who notified him by text that they would not be coming back and another who broke the news in the middle of a shift that it would be their last.
“Our industry is very, very, very difficult; it’s very demanding and the pay is not the greatest,” Loch & Quay’s Mr. Rajkumar said.
“A lot of younger kids can make more money sitting at a desk for eight hours, so I think that’s one of the reasons why a lot of people are not cooking. I would say there are more jobs available than there are cooks out there.”
Mr. Rajkumar says he offers a 4-per-cent tip-out on total sales to the “back of the house” and pays for trial shifts, which not all restaurants do. But the industry’s low pay stems in part from how difficult it is to keep a restaurant above water once labour, food, hydro and other costs are accounted for, he added.
Despite the consensus that “no shows” are viewed as discourteous and unprofessional, many employers and experts agree that businesses also need to make prospective employees feel a connection to the business and valued.
This is particularly true for minimum-wage, entry-level jobs that are often seen as a means to an end and not particularly meaningful.
This is particularly true for minimum-wage, entry-level jobs that are often seen as a means to an end and not particularly meaningful.
“The economy is such that the candidate is king,” Ms. Sears said. “So if you want better behaviour from the candidate, you need to provide a better candidate experience.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/small-business/talent/article-employers-increasingly-frustrated-by-job-interview-no-shows/
My opinion: I have heard about that before when I attend interviews. One time, the boss had said the person before me didn't come to the interview.
This is plain common courtesy to call or email: "I won't be coming to the interview, so you can cancel it." The boss will then schedule someone else.
Nov. 10, 2018 "Fast food restaurants recruiting more senior citizens": Today I found this article by Leslie Patton in the Edmonton Journal:
The sullen teenager grinding through a restaurant shift after school was once a pop culture cliche—as American as curly fries.
Nowadays, Brad Hamilton, the teen played by Judge Reinhold in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” would probably be too young to work at the fictional Captain Hook Fish and Chips. That’s because senior citizens are taking his place—donning polyester, flipping patties and taking orders. They’re showing up at casual dining chains such as Bob Evans and fast-food operators like McDonald’s Corp., which says it plans to make senior citizens one hiring focus in the coming year.
Restaurants are recruiting in senior centers and churches. They’re placing want ads on the website of AARP, an advocacy group for Americans over 50. Recruiters say older workers have soft skills—a friendly demeanor, punctuality—that their younger cohorts sometimes lack.
Two powerful trends are at work: a labor shortage amid the tightest job market in almost five decades, and the propensity for longer-living Americans to keep working—even part-time—to supplement often-meager retirement savings.
Between 2014 and 2024, the number of working Americans aged 65 to 74 is expected to grow 4.5 percent, while those aged 16 to 24 is expected to shrink 1.4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Stevenson Williams, 63, manages a Church’s Chicken in North Charleston, South Carolina. He’s in charge of 13 employees, having worked his way up from a cleaning and dishwashing job he started about four years ago and sometimes works as many as 70 hours a week when it’s busy. Williams is a retired construction worker and had never worked at a restaurant before, but was bored staying at home.
“It’s fun for a while, not getting up, not having to punch a clock, not having to get out of bed and grind every day,” he says. “But after working all your life, sitting around got old. There’s only so many trips to Walmart you can take. I just enjoy Church’s Chicken. I enjoy the atmosphere, I enjoy the people.”
Hiring seniors is a good deal for fast-food chains. They get years of experience for the same wages—an industry median of $9.81 an hour last year, according to the BLS—they would pay someone decades younger. This is a considerable benefit in an industry under pressure from rising transportation and raw material costs.
James Gray from Calibrate Coaching says older people are also a good deal financially because they aren’t always looking to move up and earn more.
They’re not “necessarily looking for a VP or an executive position or looking to make a ton of money,” he says.
Seniors typically have more developed social skills than kids who grew up online and often would rather not be bothered with real-world interactions. At Church’s Chicken, Williams coaches his younger co-workers on the niceties of workplace decorum. “A lot of times with the younger kids now, they can be very disrespectful,” he says. “So you have to coach them and tell them this is your job, this is not the street.”
AARP has become a veritable recruiting hub for the industry. In June, American Blue Ribbon Holdings LLC, which owns several casual dining chains, paid $3,500 to list hourly and management jobs on the non-profit’s website and hired five people for its Bakers Square and Village Inn dining brands.
Bob Evans, a 500-plus-store sit-down chain that serves pot roast, biscuits and other homey fare, also recently advertised with AARP. Older hires typically work as hosts who seat customers and are “a nice fit with our brand,” says John Carothers, senior vice president of human resources.
Honey Baked Ham Co. is looking to churches and senior homes to help fill its 12,000 seasonal jobs for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. The glazed-ham seller, which has more than 400 domestic locations, says older Americans are a key part of its staff, especially amid the labor crunch.
Toni Vartanian-Heifner, a 67-year-old former teacher, works part-time at a Honey Baked Ham restaurant in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, Missouri. She often walks to work for four- or five-hour shifts that start at 7 a.m. She makes only about $10 an hour but gets a 50 percent discount on food.
Vartanian-Heifner is gearing up for the holiday season. “I enjoy the social part of it,” she says. “I think I’m going to work for at least five more years.”
