This year, we have decided to hire undergraduate students as teaching assistants -- again. Most of the applicants were well qualified. Thus, we decided to invite most of them for interview.
It was clearly stated in the initial invitation email that application was closed by the end of July and interviews would be scheduled in early August. That is, applicants should expect to receive email or phone calls to schedule interviews.
In early August, a colleague helped send out email to applicants with a suggested interview time slot. Follow-up phone calls were made in case the suggested time slot was not agreeable or there was no response from the applicants within a couple of hours.
Some applicants neither replied to the email nor answered the phone. My colleague was very responsible and kept calling till the interview day. At the end, we concluded that these applicants were not interested in the job anymore and thus decided to ignore our email and phone calls all together.
Irresponsible -- I would call these applicants! If I were an applicant no longer interested in the job, I would have simply replied:
Thank you for your interview invitation. I am so sorry to tell you that I am no longer interested in the job. I wish you the best in the recruitment.
A simple reply like this would have saved many follow-up email and phone calls.
2018-02-10 | No calories browsing.... |
2018-01-24 | Would "uncertain" help your postgraduate study application? I would say, CERTAINLY NOT! |
2017-09-14 | When helping your friend is NOT HELPING YOUR FRIEND! |
2017-09-13 | My life as a student -- AGAIN |
2017-09-05 | You like easy grade, easy honor, easy graduation? |
2017-07-18 | My Facebook friends, please protect me just as I protect you. |
2017-07-12 | An internship |
2016-03-01 | You know me. But, do I know you? |
2015-12-17 | Why learning fails to happen despite the great design of the course and the great teacher? |
2015-10-20 | Can I trust you, my friend? |
2015-10-17 | If we have the second chance to "retake", failing or getting a low grade would not be so stressful. |
2015-09-18 | My first-hand experience on why learning is not taking place in lectures! |
2015-08-20 | Are you sure Econometrics is useless? |
2015-05-04 | Eating 100 bowls of rice in a day |
2015-01-31 | You say you love me. How can I tell whether you truly love me? |
2014-10-24 | I would be happy to write recommendations letter for your PhD or Master application if .... |
2014-10-23 | Master of Finance at MIT |
2014-10-06 | Are you sure what you saw was black? |
2014-03-05 | GOLDEN opportunity -- only to the hard-working students. |
2014-03-01 | What to do when your teacher's teaching style does not fit your learning style? |
2013-11-28 | A negative experience? Not completely. It can be made into a positive one! |
2013-11-27 | Many thanks for your appreciation of my teaching (II) |
2013-07-23 | My next stop is Barcelona! |
2013-06-01 | Her decision to pursue Master of Finance after her undergradaute study at HKU |
2012-11-10 | What should I do at HKU (activities versus study and many other things)? |
2011-09-12 | Coach, can you teach me to swim? |
2010-02-18 | How government policy with good intention can create frustration and political instability? |
2009-12-01 | Cherish our beloved ones who are still around us -- when we still can! |
2009-11-27 | Trust your teachers, but don't trust them blindly! |
2009-11-26 | You can give me a low score but please write some comments to help me improve my teaching. |
2009-08-26 | The similarity in health care service provision and fire fighting service provision |
2009-03-23 | Be brave. Visit your teachers. Ask them questions. Your teachers are a lot nicer than you think. |
2009-03-14 | How can you verify this is really you -- Dr. Ka-fu Wong of HKU? |
2009-03-09 | I dream to work in the business sector. Should I pursue a master degree before I join the private sector? |
2009-02-19 | Any economist can predict this... Can you? |
2008-12-21 | My students performed poorly in the final exam.
Help me help them.... please. |
2008-12-20 | Learning should not end with the final exam! |
2008-11-19 | Exchange in Europe can be very rewarding! |
2008-11-18 | UC Berkeley is my top choice for exchange! |
2008-11-02 | Why did we not have fresh mushrooms twenty years ago? |
2008-02-23 | Dialogue is preferred to monologue. |
2008-02-13 | If I were a single unemployed old man who lives on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) |
2007-12-17 | Is forecasting a pure guessing game? |
2007-12-16 | I want zero emission of CO2! |
2007-11-30 | How would I choose universities for exchange? |
2007-11-28 | Excuse me. Can you write a recommendation letter for me? |
2007-11-12 | No pain, no gain! |
2007-09-14 | Teaching is to be enjoyed, and so is studying. Grades should only be secondary. |