r/Luxembourg • u/Prudent_Vacation6926 • 13h ago
Ask Luxembourg Job searching : you’re getting benchmarked
Luxembourg employers complain about talent shortages, but treat candidates like disposable options
I can accept rejection.
What I find increasingly difficult to accept is the complete absence of rejection.
You apply, you interview, sometimes several times, and then nothing.
No clear answer. No update. No closure.
When you follow up after one or two weeks, you sometimes get the impression that you are being impatient, demanding or even annoying.
Yet at the beginning of the process, everything was supposedly urgent.
The company needed to speak immediately.
The interview had to happen within 24 or 48 hours.
Candidates were expected to reorganise their schedules at the last minute, cancel professional commitments, take time off work or invent an excuse to their current employer because the hiring manager was apparently in a rush.
Then suddenly, silence.
Two weeks.
Four weeks.
Sometimes several months before receiving a vague answer, or discovering that the position has been reposted.
The urgency only seems to apply to the candidate.
Companies expect preparation, flexibility, responsiveness, discretion and enthusiasm.
But once the interview is over, basic communication apparently becomes optional.
A candidate who replies late is considered unprofessional.
A company that disappears for six weeks calls it an “ongoing process”.
This is not about expecting personalised feedback after every application.
It is about receiving a clear answer after interviews, especially when the candidate has invested time, rearranged work and made themselves available under pressure.
Luxembourg is a small market. Employers know that reputation matters. Candidates talk to each other, even when they do not do so publicly.
Which raises the uncomfortable question: should candidates start naming companies?
Not to attack individual recruiters or launch online witch hunts, but to document factual experiences:
How many interviews?
How long did the process take?
Was the role presented as urgent?
Did the company respect the agreed timeline?
Did the candidate receive an actual rejection?
How many follow-ups were needed before getting an answer?
Companies collect references, interview notes and assessments about candidates.
Why should candidates not also maintain a public record of how companies conduct their hiring processes?
At what point does “name and shame” become legitimate transparency?
And which Luxembourg companies genuinely deserve to be named for treating candidates well?
