Doug Ecklund totes up 11 months of job searching with these figures - about 1,000 resumes sent out via e-mail, just two interviews in person, one over the telephone and zero offers.
But if the lack of success is discouraging, what irritates the systems analyst is the over-all dearth of return communication. Only about 50 of his resumes drew a response.
"We grew up in that era of where a courtesy was nice," said Ecklund, of Huntley, Ill. "Most (recruiters and employers), if they do respond will send you back and automated response. That's it."
More employers, deluged with resumes, and increasingly leaving it to computers to sort through them all, are abandoning the courtesy letter and the polite call-back as quaint, but outdated customs.
The decline of the courtesy note is about people as well as machines. The economic downturn has left many more people searching for work, and corporate cutbacks have included reductions in the personnel and recruiting departments charged with handling resumes.
"This is how rude that workplace has gotten," said Robin Ryan, a Seattle-based career counselor, who blames the lack of responses on corporate cost-cutting and the tide of applicants.
"You come for an interview and they... just leave you hanging. You usually have to call them back," she said.
But some employers who note that they do try to respond to all inquiries, point out that they're swimming in resumes. Abbott Laboratories says its personnel department has received about 200,000 resumes so far this year, roughly double the number for all of the year before. Microsoft Corp. says it is getting 45,000 resumes each month.
Both companies say they have policies of replying to all resumes with at least an automated response.
"Every person who encounters a resume gets some kind of a response," said Melissa Brotz, an Abbott spokeswoman.
The role of computers in processing and responding to resumes has increased substantially over the past three years. That is particularly true at large companies, many of which now direct applicants to apply via the Internet. "What happens is any resume that comes in over the Web automatically gets tucked into a human resource management system and never gets a human eye," said Peter Weddle, author of "Weddle's Job Seeker's Guide to Employment Web Sites."
Recruiters then use key words - say "bookkeeping" or "marketing" - to search the database for candidates who may fit their hiring requirements. Many job-seekers, frustrated that their resumes are being swallowed in a black hole, are flocking to networking sessions, looking for someone who has a friend who knows a manager who might be hiring.
In an environment where employers can afford to be picky and take their time, even an interview doesn't guarantee communication.
Bob Creech, and unemployed credit manager from Arlington Heights, Ill, said after an interview six weeks ago, he immediately sent "thank you" notes off to the people he met with.
"I never heard 'boo' back from them, not even on e-mail," Creech said.