From my Experience being Event Squad (assuming it's all consistent across staff groups), You will always get a message on if you're accepted or not. When denied, you likely won't get notified unless you reach out and ask, but patience is key. I think my application was held for a month or something.

Typically getting notified takes anywhere from a week to a month, and on top of being notified the wave of trials are usually stated in the recruitment drive thread as well.

If you have a reason to be inactive, your absence will be waived. This is typically always the case, unless you're gone for some monstrous amount of time, or all the time.

Edit: oops, didn't see prior responses. Ignore it I guess.