Even when I worked for a Big Name tech co., I worked with HR -- she was terrific and unique in my experience with HR -- to ensure that every candidate received a response. I'm also prepared to talk with rejected candidates if they wish. I understand this is a no-win, but it's just the civil thing to do.

And if any company failed to respond to me, then they'd go into the Little Black Book and I'd never buy their product or service again.

A company should hold its prospective employees at least equal to those of its customers -- they will, after all, have to manage and maintain those customers. So any company that treats its employees in this way, must regard its customers of worthy of lesser treatment, or just be cynical frauds. In both cases, who'd want to either work for them or do business with them?

Years ago I interviewed for a company once that was probably a stretch for me, but I was totally honest up front about my c++ skills and experience. I wasn't an expert, but could get around and mainly lacked the things that come along with more experience. I landed a phone interview that I did fine on and was given a multiple choice c++ test from one of the testing sites. After taking the test the site showed me my score, a solid B+. I was actually kind of surprised how high I scored given the numerous 'did you memorize the STL api' questions there were.

After taking the test I wait a few days for a response. Nothing. So the next week I emailed the HR lady and received no response. I called and left a message, nothing. I'm guessing they wanted an absolute expert at C++ which is fine by me, but the complete lack of response was the most unprofessional thing I've ever experienced.

In fact, until I looked for a development job through a contractor, I only had 10 responses to around 250 job applications.

While the development side isn't a perfect fit, it is a novel feeling to be able to turn down a job.

I fully expect this sort of response, but when an applicant starts and completes parts of the interview process the company should give some response instead of disappearing.

I remember a few years ago when I looking..., there was a well-known startup which requested not just a resume but a fairly detailed answer concerning a problem they had. I sent them an answer out partly because the topic were quite interesting. Despite this, I still felt considerable resentment when I got no response whatsoever.

... On another application where I sent a detailed cover letter with research, I had one nibble 3 months after I'd sent out my original essay. The hiring manager was like "wow, this is really interesting, I really want to get you in to talk about this" - I was doing something else by then, of course.

I don't know whether responding to each applicant is a good strategy for finding people. I do think it's a good strategy for not being hated. I suppose so portion of the population doesn't care about that, though.

2) Lay out your hiring process and timeline. Example: "After receiving your resume, if you progress through each stage, we'll do a phone screen within 3 days, bring you in for an interview within 10 days, and give you an offer within 15 days. We want to have you working here in just over a month."

I believe the logic is that since you create the url you can track who visit's it. That way you know when the company views your linked in profile.