Long gone are the days when all job applications were both accepted and rejected by an official letter on headed paper. Letters have long since given way to emails and now emails are giving way to emojis.
At least some level of formality should be retained when it comes to the giving or taking of a job, we are after all talking about someone’s livelihood.
However, this was not the case when it came 18-year-old Megan Dixon, who applied for a waitressing job at Miller and Carter in Leicester.
Dixon was told by her potential employer that she would learn via email if her application had been successful.
But, only minutes after leaving her interview she received a text message from the manger of the chain, which simply read ‘It’s a no.’
When Dixon replied asking why, she received a second text.
‘Just not engaging,’ it read. ‘And answers were ‘like’ basic’. The the text was followed by a highly sarcastic laughing face emoji.
This unprofessional way of handling the hiring process, is to say the least, unusual, but a more casual approach is becoming more commonplace.
‘I was shocked,’ Carter told the Mirror. ‘They should at least have given me some proper feedback.’
A spokesman for Miller and Carter has since announced that the incident is under investigation and claimed that the text were mistakenly sent.
‘It was never our intention to be disrespectful or upset her in any way,’ the spokesman said.
‘The texts were sent in error and were intended for our manager, not the candidate.’
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
