I think HR, or talent acquisition as they like to be known these days,
are suffering under the "knowledge is power" delusion. Don't expect to be told anything until they absolutely have to tell you. To do so would relinquish some of this perceived power.
A look back through this thread from the scores of keen as mustard guys and girls waiting to hear how they are progressing through the process, and willing to use PPRuNe as a resource to get that information, shows a great example of motivation and lateral thinking I would think. People who want to be engaged with the process and with Qantas in general. I would see that as a positive for the individuals concerned. It seems HR don't see it that way.
Rumour has it that contributors from the company side of things to this forum have been told to stop contributing. HR sees this as a leak of information that must be stopped. They see this leak as a reduction of their power over the process and that is not to be tolerated. What a poor pathetic excuse for human beings these supposedly human experts are. Welcome to the Qantas process.
Now I would have thought keeping people on hold files or going through the process would be in the company's interest. People are more likely to stick with it if they know exactly how many courses are starting, now and in the near future. If they know where they sit on the hold file and what the next stage is likely to be, and approximately when, they'll be less likely to be lost to the sand pit or a Chinese carrier before Qantas can take advantage of their skill set. Now I know daily updates for every individual going through the process is too much to ask, but what's wrong with a daily blog from the recruitment team that people can refer to. The information is common knowledge within the company and is of no value to our competitors from a corporate standpoint, so why the big secret? I'm sure our competitors know exactly what our plans are in more detail than us mere line drivers anyway. Maybe a weekly, or even monthly, email update from the company to those going through the process so those individuals can make important life decisions with the correct information. Even to know they haven't just been lost in the system because some asset lost their file, or inadvertently hit the delete button while they were concentrating on updateing their Facebook status.
Please don't be discouraged. Once you get past the gate keepers it is a great job for a company that is going through an exiting phase. I live in hope that, one day, these HR twats will be shown up for what they really are. Power hungry parasites that contribute nothing to the company bottom line, and in the process do very real damage to their host. I hope that one day those of us that actually do contribute to the core business will have more say in how our company ticks. What an exciting time that would be.
I know, tell him he's dreamin'.