Would You Dare Tell Candidates the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth?

Now… I don't usually consider Fistful of Talent to be a space for the job seeker. But I've heard many a times that people see the blog as a job seeker's haven though because you get to get inside the head of recruiters and HR types – certainly helpful as part of the job search or for your work life in general. True. But here, we don't really throw out all of the brutal, honest truths behind the job search, nor do we make confessions about the uglys of how and why we recruit the way we do nor how people management decisions get made in our organizations. It's simply not safe. First and foremost, we each are representatives of brands – the companies we work for, our personal brands… and so there are many of us who can't always simply throw out to the interwebs exactly what is going on in our heads – including the occasional frustrations we might have with job seekers who don't show up to interviews giving it their all – again, for fear of tainting a great employment brand.

Yet job seekers are out there trolling the web looking for advice and guidance into their job search – anything to give them better insight into how to land their next job – including coming to this blog. (Which is of course better than getting workplace advice from a feminine products company, like this ad for how to ask for a raise. Ugh!) Straight from recruiters is where a job seeker should hope to get the best possible advice, right from the horse's mouth is what would be ideal. Yet what some may not realize is that even this mouth can get taped shut sometimes… and the insight I'd like to give, I can't always give. I mean, just think about it this way – how many times have you heard the issue raised oh-so many times from recruiters of how to tell a candidate that they are not a good cultural fit for your company? Folks have become tight lipped as companies are scared that bad cultural fit can get misinterpreted and bring on claims of discrimination.

So, there's a fear factor related to opening our mouths up too much. No one wants a lawsuit on their hands. And then there's the whole brand concern. Of course, a company would want their employees and brand ambassadors to all be on-message. Which is why a new blog that debuted recently has piqued my interest – The Hush Recruiter. It's a blog that is dedicated to job seekers written by corporate recruiters who are all blogging anonymously – precisely to avoid the prying eyes of their own companies who might shush them up otherwise. Some of it seems to be straight up venting about the antics of some job seekers. Some of it is true advice and guidance… but all of it is happening on the down low.

Interesting concept. But you can't help to stop and think about why recruiters just can't be more specific with candidates more often in the first place. Instead of a watered down statement of, "We selected a more qualified candidate," because we're fearful of lawsuits – why not, "You were not a good cultural fit, you did not exude enough confidence in your interviews so we were concerned that you would not be seen as credible with customers, and we felt that your PowerPoint skills were lacking." Wow. Can you imagine that?

But of course, we live in the real world where you and I both know that candidates sometimes don't take feedback so well. No one likes being told they aren't good enough. And there are plenty of horror stories that abound – candidates who've been rejected and therefore scorned, only to go and bash an employer in turn – sometimes very publicly. And no one wants to be that employer. So instead, candidates continue to receive generic rejections and declines (including from me – guilty). And so we have a bit of a problem on our hands. Job seekers aren't learning the lessons they need to learn. Employers continue to have to deal with job seekers who behave badly. Vicious cycle, eh? But at least they have the resources like the Hush Recruiter. For now, at least. Until someone from corporate comes and shuts ‘em down.