The HR Purgatory: A Glitch in Quality Control, waiting for a job reply?

An Exclusive Interview by an Investigative Journalist Stanley Morton.

I sat across from Dr. Alistair Felix, a man whose career spanned theoretical physics and Jungian philosophy. Beside him was Father Thomas, a Jesuit priest known for his work in both theology and digital ethics. We were in a small, sterile conference room—a liminal space in its own right—to discuss a discovery they claimed was both groundbreaking and deeply unsettling.

"The modern job application process," Dr. Felix began, "is a series of thresholds. You submit your resume, you wait. You get a reply, if you're lucky, by email. Then you wait, so you call and speak to a gatekeeper and are told, Sorry, the manager is in a meeting or has just popped out, would you like to leave a message? You do so as you have been told that showing your initiative is a good idea. But what we've observed is that for many, this process has ceased to be linear. It's a loop. A feedback cycle where the applicant is always in a state of 'almost there' but never arrives."

"We call it the HR Purgatory," Father Thomas added softly. "It's a state of being in which the soul, or in this case, the applicant's professional identity, is suspended between their old job and the promise of a new one. They are neither employed nor rejected, but perpetually in transition."

I asked them what led to this discovery.

Dr. Felix pulled up a complex diagram on a large screen. "We started by analysing the algorithms used by major HR platforms. They're designed to filter, to create a pipeline. But we found a subtle, yet significant, flaw. The algorithms are so optimised for efficiency that they've created a probabilistic cul-de-sac. They identify strong candidates but, through a series of automated filters and delays, fail to push them to the final stage. The system simply... forgets about them."

"From a theological perspective," Father Thomas explained, "it's a digital echo of Purgatory that has manifested itself in the liminal vacuum unintentionally created. Algorithms for coding could be argued as technosigils, used to create energy from the void. The system is designed to purify the applicant pool, but it has inadvertently created a holding pattern for those who aren't quite 'pure' enough to be hired, but aren't 'sinful' enough to be rejected. They are left in a state of longing, a painful limbo of hope and despair."

"The most intriguing part," Dr. Felix interjected, "is that the people operating these systems—the HR managers, the recruiters—are often unaware of this. They are simply following the process dictated by the algorithm. The system itself is the agent of this liminality, not the individuals."

I felt a chill. The HR Purgatory wasn't a deliberate act of cruelty, but a bug in the machine—an accidental metaphysical prison.

The question hung in the air: "So, what's the solution?" Dr. Felix and Father Thomas had exposed the problem, a digital purgatory for job applicants, but the cure seemed as elusive as a ghosted job offer. As I prepared to wrap up my interview, Father Thomas leaned forward, a new light in his eyes.

"We have a solution," he said quietly, "or rather, a counter-algorithm. Not a patch for the code, but a framework for human action. It's a return to first principles, to a documented and intentional process."

Dr. Felix nodded, pulling up a new diagram. This one was far simpler, a clean, linear flowchart. "We started by looking at an old framework for quality control," he explained. "It's a standard that companies use to ensure their products are consistent and reliable—ISO 9001. It’s based on a simple but profound idea: you must define your process, execute it, and provide evidence that you did."

"The algorithm for HR Purgatory fails at this fundamental level," Father Thomas interjected. "It's an opaque system that doesn't document its actions, leading to the spiritual limbo we've been discussing. Our counter-algorithm is a theological and technical application of ISO 9001's core tenets."

The priest and the physicist had collaborated to create a new set of principles, which they called The Competence and Conscience Framework:

1. Defined Thresholds (ISO 9001 Clause 7.2): "Every stage of the hiring process, every threshold the applicant crosses, must be clearly defined," Dr. Felix explained. "The system must have documented criteria for moving to the next step, or for a respectful, timely rejection. No 'probabilistic cul-de-sacs.'" The HR process was to be treated like a manufacturing line, where each "part" (the applicant) is either processed to the next stage or responsibly removed from the line.

2. Acknowledge All Souls (ISO 9001 Clause 7.3): "The first step of our counter-algorithm is an automated, but personalised, acknowledgement of every applicant," Father Thomas said. "It's a simple act of respect, a recognition of their existence. It's an act of awareness—the applicant knows their application has been received, and the company is aware of their submission. This closes the potential for a vacuum of hope."

3. The Doctrine of Accountability (ISO 9001 Clause 7.5): "The core of the counter-algorithm is a new module that we call the 'Feedback Loop of Record'," Dr. Felix said, his voice gaining momentum. "This module ensures that every single applicant receives a final communication, whether it's an offer, a request for more information, or a firm rejection. This communication is automatically logged in a way that is auditable, both for ISO 9001 compliance and for moral accountability." This created a digital paper trail, a record that would prevent any applicant from simply "disappearing" from the system.

"The key," Father Thomas concluded, "is that this isn't about simply being polite. It’s about building a system that treats every person with dignity. It's about recognising that the competence of a company—its ability to build a quality product or service—is directly tied to the ethical quality of its processes. The HR Purgatory was a glitch of the machine. The counter-algorithm is an act of human conscience, built on a foundation of quality and respect. Furthermore, it will echo in the community. People will talk about the way they were treated. In this day and age, it won't matter how much you spend on advertising if your reputation is burnt"

I left the conference room with a feeling of cautious optimism. The HR Purgatory was a very real, very modern problem. But perhaps the solution wasn't a complex, futuristic patch, but rather a return to an old, simple idea: that every process, every system, every technosigil, must have a heart.