Whatever Happened to Common Courtesy?

You spend weeks crafting the perfect resume. You clear your calendar for not one, not two, but 9 interviews. You answer every question thoughtfully, send thank-you notes, follow up professionally — and then, nothing. Radio silence. You’re left piecing together the obvious: you didn’t get the job.

Today, job applicants submit between 32 and 200 applications to land a single offer. Companies now conduct 42% more interviews per hire than they did in 2021 — an average of 20 interviews per open position. The time investment is staggering. The least a company can offer in return is a response.

Agencies feel it too

It’s not just job seekers. Branding, creative and marketing agencies pour weeks into RFP responses —research, strategy, creative, pricing — only to wait in silence. The average RFP win rate is 44%, meaning nearly 6 out of 10 submissions will lose. That’s expected. What isn’t? Never hearing a word about it. A simple “thank you, but we’ve gone in a different direction” takes 30 seconds to send. It takes years to rebuild a reputation you lost by not sending it.

Silence becomes reputation

Here’s the thing about brand reputation: companies pour enormous resources into polishing how the world sees them — until it’s inconvenient. The candidate you ghosted might one day be your customer. The agency you ignored might one day be your competitor. Or, in the delicious irony of the modern workplace, your boss. Rejection is part of the process. Being ignored is a choice.

Let’s normalize constructive rejection. “You weren’t selected this time — and here’s why.” Imagine how much that would mean to someone. Imagine the kind of company that would say it. It only takes a few additional minutes to be that company.