Lack of Feedback: What Candidates Really Think!

Written by Russ Boreham: Alongside being an avid contributor to T-Impact Associates blog, Recruitment Yoga, Russ heads up the Project Management Resourcing team for external clients as well as managing recruitment for T-Impact’s Business Process Management Consultancy——————————————————————————————————————————–

Lack of Feedback: What Candidates Really Think!

With many employers now failing to give any permissible constructive feedback to unsuccessful candidates we have seen a sharp rise in the number of applicants who bring low expectations from the outset. This mind-set however is hugely detrimental to hiring campaigns and leads to long-term resentment from applicants.

As a professional agency recruiter acting as a hybrid internal recruitment manager my reputation and that of my clients (internal and external) can be quickly tarnished when feedback is not forth-coming. Most applicants will wait a matter of days before writing off an opportunity; meanwhile commercially savvy businesses are ensuring their brand reputation grows stronger by doing the little things well.

Feedback Should Not Be One Way

A lack of feedback is a solid warning sign for me as a professional recruiter as I know from experience that there are several reasons that a client will fail to provide feedback quickly. Candidates are not stupid and they draw their own conclusions – having asked a large number of them over the previous months, here is what people think when we fail to give them feedback:

1.       We can’t be bothered

The candidate thinks the line manager or HR manager simply cannot be bothered to write-up the interview, especially if they are having lots of interviews or juggling masses of hires at once. This leaves the candidate feeling unvalued and suspicious of our organisation.

2.       We are scared to provide feedback

Hiring managers are often over-analysed and sometimes an impression is left that we are concerned about giving negative feedback as it may lead to a debate about credentials or open the organisation up for potential prejudice claims.

3.       It wasn’t a real job

I have lost count how many times an applicant will ask me to confirm that the job is actually real before sending their profile. This is especially true if they have seen a role re-advertised or if they have been waiting for feedback for more than a couple of days. People think that the client may simply be interviewing to gain market intelligence or to even benchmark their own staff.

4.       A cheaper option or internal hire took place

Many organisations tend to undertake all recruitment at once with both internal and external processes running side by side. If there is an internal candidate it can often drag the process out longer than anticipated. Alternatively there may be another candidate the hiring manager is keen on and giving feedback can often inadvertently leak information regarding preference.

5.       We aren’t in the loop

As an HR representative, which I’m afraid to acknowledge most recruiters still are, we may not be in regular communication with the direct hiring manager. This is one of the key drivers that set limitations on the value recruiters are seen to add to the hiring process. I’m sure most of us have been subject to an applicant trying to circumvent the normal communication channels and take things into their own hands. Doesn’t end well, does it?

6.       Quite frankly we are prejudice

Often a favourite for the most disgruntled job applicant who has been on the market for a while and expected to have a job a long time ago. We (the client) may have rejected their application for non-transparent reasons such as a personal dislike for the candidate. As we are unable to identify a formal reason for rejecting them we are not giving any feedback.

7.       The piggy bank is empty

It seems innocuous enough but if the candidate assumes that the recruitment budget has been withdrawn then they see this as an underlying weakness in the company finances. In reality the hiring manager probably hasn’t provided feedback for fear of looking foolish, but which do you think the candidate will tell their network?

How far do you think a recruiter should go to get feedback for an applicant? I welcome your thoughts via the poll below.

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