3 ms·

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Likewise, it is not the job of your prospective clients (the scenario in which you run a web shop) to give you feedback

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Likewise, it is not the job of your prospective clients (the scenario in which you run a web shop) to give you feedback over why they chose a competitor over you. Perhaps you don't even know why. Wouldn't it be great though to have constructive feedback that would help you win future pitches?

pc86 11y ago
Agree 100%, however when is the last time you saw a business owner say something about how much they wished the candidates who passed would just tell them why and explain what they could have done to get them, etc? It seems like a fairly common complaint from rejected candidates that they want the company to continue investing in them after a decision has been made not to move forward. And in the rare instances when I've offered this advice or help after one or more requests, it has been invariably met with an attitude either that I am wrong/stupid for coming to such a conclusion (e.g. not enough education, or no experience with something we want someone to have experience in) or a flat out request to give them another shot.
- vitd 11y ago
  >in the rare instances when I've offered this advice or help after one or more requests, it has been invariably met with an attitude either that I am wrong/stupid for coming to such a conclusion... or a flat out request to give them another shot. Yeah, I've hit this and it really is annoying to deal with. I have one candidate we rejected 4 or 5 years ago because his resume was questionable, and once a year he still emails me asking for a position (and I'm not a hiring manager!). I have had it go the other way, too, though. I had a candidate who didn't meet some criteria. He asked why, and I told him. A year later he had done a bunch of work to improve himself and we hired him. So it can work both ways. But I definitely agree that the more common case is for the candidate to rationalize away why the company is wrong. And I think companies that got feedback from candidates would do the same thing: "He said we didn't offer a big enough salary, but our pay is exactly the median of other companies around here. He's just a prima donna!"

pc86 11y ago

Agree 100%, however when is the last time you saw a business owner say something about how much they wished the candidates who passed would just tell them why and explain what they could have done to get them, etc? It seems like a fairly common complaint from rejected candidates that they want the company to continue investing in them after a decision has been made not to move forward. And in the rare instances when I've offered this advice or help after one or more requests, it has been invariably met with an attitude either that I am wrong/stupid for coming to such a conclusion (e.g. not enough education, or no experience with something we want someone to have experience in) or a flat out request to give them another shot.

vitd 11y ago
>in the rare instances when I've offered this advice or help after one or more requests, it has been invariably met with an attitude either that I am wrong/stupid for coming to such a conclusion... or a flat out request to give them another shot. Yeah, I've hit this and it really is annoying to deal with. I have one candidate we rejected 4 or 5 years ago because his resume was questionable, and once a year he still emails me asking for a position (and I'm not a hiring manager!). I have had it go the other way, too, though. I had a candidate who didn't meet some criteria. He asked why, and I told him. A year later he had done a bunch of work to improve himself and we hired him. So it can work both ways. But I definitely agree that the more common case is for the candidate to rationalize away why the company is wrong. And I think companies that got feedback from candidates would do the same thing: "He said we didn't offer a big enough salary, but our pay is exactly the median of other companies around here. He's just a prima donna!"