There is an awful epidemic in this town. It has seeped through the food service, retail, and communications industries like wildfire since I moved back to Asheville this past February.

When I moved here, I immediately started looking for part-time jobs to pay the bills. As most people with a degree, applying for a part-time job means you almost always get an interview. I don't say that to sound elitist, but that's generally how it goes. So when I started applying for jobs in fields that I had little to no experience in, I was excited when I would get an interview, hoping to broaden my horizons (or at least my resume) with a new experience. And I would leave most every interview thinking that I crushed it. Because most times, I did. And then I would wait. And wait. And wait.

And then I would try to contact them. You never want to seem too desperate, you know? And then I would be told that they already hired someone else or there was a miscommunication or some other reason that I couldn't have a job, for which I was more than qualified. So I settled for working as a line cook, trying to bide my time until another job opportunity came along. I started writing for the Odyssey thanks to an old friend of mine, Ratha Loun (he's really good by the way, check out his stuff) and I started to apply for more jobs in my degree--public relations. I quit working as a line cook and tried to focus solely on that. And the same thing starting happening again with jobs to which I have recently applied. I don't mind that people don't want to hire me, I get it. I'm young, I don't have a lot of experience outside of food, and my "internship" at Appalachian State consisted of running social media for a cable company that never got off the ground. So trust me, employers, I understand your reservations. That's not what makes me upset. What really gets me is that I still have to make the extra effort to reach out to find out that I did not get the job. Do you know how easy it is to create a form letter to send to people, telling them that they didn't get the job? It's this easy:

Dear Such and Such:

We appreciate your interest in (insert position here) with our company. We regret to inform you that we are looking to go in a different direction, but we wish you the best of luck in the future.

Sincerely,

Such and Such

Look at that. Look at how simple that was. I could turn people down for jobs all day with that beauty. All it takes is 45 seconds and a little common courtesy. And I know I'm not qualified for every job or even most jobs at this point. But if I have an interview, I would love a response to that interview. Because by you not telling me that I didn't get whatever job, by giving me that hope, I've probably missed out on more than a few opportunities that I could have had.

So please, to my past, present and future prospective employers, just try to be good people. Let people know that they didn't get a job if they've had an interview with you. If someone took the time out of their day to try to work for you, the least you can do is take some time to tell them no.