An important part of our work as recruiters is to provide candidates with clear feedback after each important recruitment and selection phase. Job seekers are anxious to be updated about their performance, but they often complain about the lack of such feedback.
I don't mind sharing my opinion after an interview and I don't think rejection will do any harm, but it will improve candidates' future applications. If they don't know what caused the rejection, they will repeat the same mistake over and over again. Some recruiters charge this service as part of the consultancy activity, they want to sell their tips for improving applications and forget that it is part of the recruitment process.
Our mission as recruiters is first and foremost to guide people in their careers and to advise them where we can identify flaws. I also share the impression they have left on my clients - this is a special kind of feedback that is not so popular with recruiters either. Sometimes it is better to share these mutual impressions because in some contexts the behavior can be confusing. It is important for me to share my knowledge and my candidates are always happy to find out what needs to be improved in future applications.
If you do not give feedback, the candidate will guess the reason for his or her rejection. The mind will forge different scenarios and in most cases, job seekers will feel guilty themselves and that is not fair. Feedback to candidates after an interview will improve their job search strategies.
The vanishing act of some recruiters, I guess, may have the following reasons:
Not used to deal with negative feedback and communicate it further
A chaotic way of work
Forgetting tasks
Focus on other tasks
Too many recruitment processes in progress
Too much delay of the feedback moment
Considering it’s not an important recruitment step
Considering the fact that silence is interpreted as negative feedback
Not willing to give free advice
Sadly, as it sounds, I continue to read reviews from job seekers accusing the lack of feedback after interviews. Thumbs up for the true recruiters out there, who value people and hope they’ll inspire others.
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