Going for a job interview is hard enough, but perhaps the worst thing about it is not knowing for sure whether you've been rejected -- or whether the company is still making up its mind.

After all, it might be hard to decide whether to accept a job that's further down on your wish-list, when the company offering your dream job hasn't responded yet. It's the hope that kills you.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Gif from Giphy.[/caption]

That was on MP Patrick Tay's (West Coast GRC) mind when he asked his question in Parliament on Oct. 2. He asked whether the Ministry of Manpower could:

1. Consider regulations to strengthen recruitment and hiring practices by employers.
2. Ensure employers acknowledge and inform job applicants on whether they are successful in their job applications.
3. If the public sector could take the lead in this.

New recruitment standards

Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo fielded the question. She said that the Tripartite partners (i.e. government, employers and workers) would develop a series of tripartite standards that employers can adopt.

Recruitment Practices are an important part of these standards. One of the specifications is for employers to inform all shortlisted applicants who attend their job interviews about the outcome.

Although this is not mandatory, the theory goes that jobseekers will look out for those employers and companies who have adopted these standards, thereby encouraging them to do so more quickly. Public sector agencies will indeed take the lead in adopting the set of standards when it is launched.

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Not all rejected applicants will be informed

Unfortunately, Teo confirmed that applicants will not necessarily be notified of the rejection if they are not shortlisted for interviews. The reason given was that it placed an "onerous burden" on certain companies, especially SMEs, who have not fully automated their recruitment processes to deal with the high number of online applicants.

Still, Teo allowed that this could change in the future.

"However, the tripartite partners agree that the standard can be updated over time as companies make progress."

That's something to look forward to once Singapore's SMEs decide to join the 21st Century.

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Top image from Pixabay.