Feedback - probably one of the most contentious issues when people are in a recruitment process, but we almost always only hear about recruiters or employers providing a poor level of feedback - or none at all - to the candidate.
I completely agree that it's never acceptable to not give feedback. People work hard to research and understand a business, maybe even spend a lot of time and money getting to a company for an interview. If they do not get a job, the least they deserve is feedback to help them at their next interview.
But let me flip this around. How many candidates rightly have two or three different opportunities they are looking at, two or three different companies that have invested time and interest in them as a potential future employee? Senior people in these businesses have invested time, created relevant presentation titles for candidates to complete, paid for assessments and invested in the interview process too.
So when a candidate has a choice of offers (an ideal position to be in), how many of them give back constructive, useful feedback to the recruiter or business they are rejecting? In my experience, not very many.
There may sometimes be a call, but more often than not, just an email saying that they have accepted another opportunity.
So how does a company know where they went wrong? How do they get better at their recruitment process? It’s feedback that every candidate wants and deserves but they are generally not prepared to offer that same courtesy to a company they are turning down.
This may be a company that could at some point emerge again as a potential future employer, so I implore everyone in a recruitment process - do as would be done unto you. Feedback for all!
Our candidates recently indicated that one of their biggest frustrations when job hunting is not hearing back after being interviewed. Naturally, no one really wants to hear that they didn’t get the job they applied for, especially after a seemingly successful stage 1 and even 2 interview. But, it is important to convey the big fat “no” as quickly, sincerely and professionally as possible.
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