When do you give Feedback to a Rejected Candidate? If you consider it necessary, do you give feedback via the phone or email? (Note – if anyone always does it in person, let me know. You are a sadist of the recruiting world…)
There are a couple of strings floating on the topic over at Evil HR Lady and Ask A Manager, so check them
out and give me your flavor…
Here’s mine….
First up, I believe, deep down in my heart, that all candidates deserve feedback, but the type of feedback a candidate gets should be related to where you were in the process when the candidate was eliminated from consideration:
-For those simply applying, you need to get an automated email out that tells them where you are at. It needs to be well written enough to show a little compassion without sounding like Arnold in the Terminator…
-For those who were phone screened, ideally I think a note that’s a little more personalized from your email box rather than the ATS is in order.
-For those who came in for a face-to-face, ideally I think a quick phone call is in order.
So that’s my criteria, but let me say this – I don’t always live up to the standard. When you are juggling 13 things on a given day, the calls are the first thing to fall by the wayside, followed by the personalized, non ATS emails.
As far as what you say on the calls, Evil HR Lady is on the prowl for lawsuits, and rightfully so. You have to be careful what you say, but if you want to give real feedback, you need to give them something. I always start by telling the candidate the truth – that the decision to remove them from consideration is based on a combination of factors, including x, y and z that are job related. Then I let them know that the successful candidate had experience or fluency in a, b or c (preferably a combination) that put them over the top for a position in question.
Regarding timing, I think you can send the emails and be more general (especially the ATS version), but the phone calls really need to wait until you have the signed offer in from the selected candidate. If your search drags on for more than 30 days past the point where you interviewed the candidate live, you probably need to go ahead and make the call if they are no longer in consideration. Tough call to make, especially if you are telling them the search is still going and they are being removed from consideration…
The clock is always ticking. At least, I think it’s the clock….
huh-huh, sadist. . .This is an excellent point, what are your thoughts regarding when you can’t get a read on the HM or they’re “out of town”? Do you tell your candidate everyone that works at that company is a jerk? Just kidding. I think I know I shouldn’t do that.
I recently closed a search for a President’s position, and has spent significant time with the 3 candidates that I presented to the client for consideration. Of course, only one of them got the job, but I did call the other 2 candidates who were gracious enough to spend time with me, provide me information, references, etc. once the position was closed and the successful candidate started. Both candidaets were very appreciative of this feedback, and made comments to the effect that “these kinds of conversations are rare” and “recruiters usually don’t do this”. How unfortunate. If you’re building relationships with your candidates, as well as your clients, then that final step is vital! Not only could these candidates be a potential fit for future positions, they could also be potential future clients, so it’s also about business development.
I do admit that it is a challenge with the remaining individuals who expressed an interest in the opportunity, were referred by someone, or who I reached out to for networking. Communicating with these people becomes more difficult and time consuming, and is often done by email, but it still needs to be done. In executive search, you’re often only as good as your network, and you have to stay in touch with them to keep them!
I wish my last three interviews had been with you! I’m really experienced, and my interviews seem to go well, but after the line “We’ll just call your references and get back to you,” it all falls through. I suspect my last boss is giving me a bad reference, but it sounds like you don’t leave people wondering. That’s really helpful.