3 ms·

In the old days, you often got a letter of rejection after an interview, and I started collecting them. That turned it around into a fun game. And after a while

by Isamu 10y ago

In the old days, you often got a letter of rejection after an interview, and I started collecting them. That turned it around into a fun game. And after a while, I realized that several of them were based on a common template. There must be some old HR book out there with an example rejection letter that many corporate HR departments used. It was calculated to let you down easy, to avoid making you mad and miserable. Point being, it was always rare that you would get actionable feedback from an interview, because it was always risky. Now it is just rare to the point of non-existent.

cm3 10y ago
All I'm looking for is one of: - you didn't meet our (technical) expectations - we cannot meet your expectations - you're qualified but we cannot pay that much - you're generally qualified, but we need a Foo Expert today The common letter one gets is "we chose somebody else who is a better fit". Sure, but what exactly fit better? I don't think this is too much to ask for. Even that kind of feedback is non-existent, and I'm off wondering whether it's one of those or some remark I made or something else. The most honest feedback I got was in small shops which didn't put an HR department between me and the CTO/CEO.
- cm3 10y ago
  That said, I have to learn to read people's questions better. In hindsight I believe some of the "let's go lunch with the CTO and these three people" setups are using a semi-informal chit-chat to fish for character incompatibilities with the rest of the team.
- smithgeek 10y ago
  This would be nice, but thinking about the interview process as it currently stands, I'm not sure if it would end up being that helpful. As an industry we're really pretty terrible at interviewing and identifying talent so maybe not getting any feedback is just as useful.
cm3 10y ago
Having realized some discrepancies in my skillset, I would actually prefer honest but temporarily-demotivating feedback. If not, I'll start questioning more stuff than actually has been a deal breaker. Yes, it will be painful for a while to hear "you cannot sing", but I'd prefer it. The more specific the better. After all, we're adults and I have to deal with my personal bugs daily anyway. Of course, this assumes the feedback is qualified, but that's up to my impression of how much I value their feedback. If I have the impression they're totally unqualified, I might not spend a second thought on their judgement.

by Isamu 10y ago

cm3 10y ago

All I'm looking for is one of: - you didn't meet our (technical) expectations - we cannot meet your expectations - you're qualified but we cannot pay that much - you're generally qualified, but we need a Foo Expert today The common letter one gets is "we chose somebody else who is a better fit". Sure, but what exactly fit better? I don't think this is too much to ask for. Even that kind of feedback is non-existent, and I'm off wondering whether it's one of those or some remark I made or something else. The most honest feedback I got was in small shops which didn't put an HR department between me and the CTO/CEO.

cm3 10y ago
That said, I have to learn to read people's questions better. In hindsight I believe some of the "let's go lunch with the CTO and these three people" setups are using a semi-informal chit-chat to fish for character incompatibilities with the rest of the team.
smithgeek 10y ago
This would be nice, but thinking about the interview process as it currently stands, I'm not sure if it would end up being that helpful. As an industry we're really pretty terrible at interviewing and identifying talent so maybe not getting any feedback is just as useful.

cm3 10y ago

Having realized some discrepancies in my skillset, I would actually prefer honest but temporarily-demotivating feedback. If not, I'll start questioning more stuff than actually has been a deal breaker. Yes, it will be painful for a while to hear "you cannot sing", but I'd prefer it. The more specific the better. After all, we're adults and I have to deal with my personal bugs daily anyway. Of course, this assumes the feedback is qualified, but that's up to my impression of how much I value their feedback. If I have the impression they're totally unqualified, I might not spend a second thought on their judgement.