Building a Feedback Culture in Hiring

Why else does feedback seem unnecessary?

✔️High employment: It's easy for recruiters and hiring managers to feel like they don't need to provide feedback, especially when they have a “pool” of candidates.

✔️Psychological complexity: It can be awkward, or even uncomfortable, to tell someone they haven't been successful, even if it's constructive.

✔️Lack of knowledge: Many recruiters and hiring managers genuinely don't know how to provide good, actionable feedback.

So, about the meaning. What does feedback give?

Building relationships: Positive feedback keeps the door open for future opportunities. A candidate who feels heard and valued is more likely to be loyal to your company.

Career guidance: Even when a candidate isn’t successful, providing specific areas for improvement can be invaluable. It’s a powerful way to show that you care about their career. Remember, today’s junior may be tomorrow’s team leader.

Company reputation: A strong feedback culture reflects positively on your company brand. It shows that you are committed to being a supportive, green organization and makes candidates more likely to approach you.

Key recommendations for rejecting candidates:

✔️Be fast: don't let candidates wait too long for a response, usually 2 days is the standard time frame for receiving feedback.

✔️Be professional and respectful: Even if you reject a candidate, they deserve to be treated with courtesy. And don't forget that there are factors that may be considered discrimination: gender, nationality, place of residence, social status, physical characteristics, and other qualities of the candidate.

✔️Be “transparent”: It is advisable to give some feedback on why the candidate was not selected. This may help them improve their job search strategy.

✔️Be honest: don't give false hope or promises you can't keep.

✔️ End on a positive note: Wish them luck in finding the best job for them, and offer to stay in touch.

Types of failures that can be used:

Automated responses and form letters:
This is suitable for a large number of candidates, especially in the early stages.
* Pros: efficient and fast.
* Cons: Can be impersonal and lack specific feedback.

Personalized emails:
* Pros: Allows you to provide specific feedback and express gratitude while maintaining candidate loyalty.
* Cons: Can be labor intensive if you have a lot of candidates.

Phone calls:
* Pros: Allows for more personal conversation and the ability to answer questions, maintains the liveliness of communication and emotional connection.
* Cons: Can be more labor intensive than email or instant messaging.

Personal meeting:
* Pros: suitable for candidates for top positions with whom there may still be further communication in the future.
* Cons: the most resource-intensive option.

I would like to give examples of “refusals” from my practice after interviews with technical experts:

“Not enough experience” is the most common refusal option.

Hello! Thank you for your interest in our company and the position, unfortunately, at the moment your level of knowledge has been rated lower by colleagues than the project requires. Our experts recommend brushing up on theory and practice in such and such a stack (here we simply list the set of necessary technologies). If other interesting positions appear, I will contact you! I wish you good luck in your further searches and find a job you like!

“Inflated financial expectations”

Unfortunately, (based on the technical interview) we are not ready to offer you the desired level of income. (Also here we add technologies in which there was “not enough” experience.) I will be happy to chat if we have more positions, so I suggest staying in touch!

“Outgrown the role, too cool”, yes, yes, there are such people!

You mentioned that you were interested in [перечислите конкретные задачи/проекты/проблемы]I'm very sorry, but at the moment you are looking for tasks that we, unfortunately, cannot offer.
I wish you all the best in finding the best position that matches your ambitions!

The rejections above are written in a neutral tone, but remember that the best approach to rejection will vary depending on the specific situation and the communication format you have established between you.

Have you always been correctly refused?