After careful consideration….

That is a message we’ve all received and we know that those words isn’t the beginning of a new and fruitful relationship. And that’s fair enough and not that much of a problem, an organisation should recruit the person they believe can do the job.

No, what bothers me is the time lapsed between the application and this answer. Friday I submitted my CV to a large industry association for a Communications Director position I immediately received a confirmation that they had received my application. And 15 minutes later. Yes, you read correct fifteen minutes I received this follow-up message:

Thank you for your recent application to XXXX.

After careful consideration we have decided not to progress with your application at this point in time as we have identified candidates that more closely match our requirements.

Please continue to review our current opportunities on the careers page of our website at xxx, to ensure consideration for future roles.

Thank you for the interest you’ve shown and may we wish you every success in your search for a new role.

Yours sincerely,

XXX Talent Acquisition

Really? My application was carefully considered for the whole of 15 minutes after which I was considered too light. How careful can you be in 15 minutes? Personally, I not only find this behaviour unprofessional I also find it rude. If this is an automated answer based on the fact that my CV doesn’t have enough of the keywords the recruiting team are searching for, programme an automated timer to the answer and hold it for 24 hours. It would at least make you look minimally professional.