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Yep. I've never worked for a company where we told people why they didn't make the cut. Heck, the person who delivered the bad news didn't even know - we sele

Yep. I've never worked for a company where we told people why they didn't make the cut. Heck, the person who delivered the bad news didn't even know - we selected the candidate we wanted (or none) and told HR to make the rest happen. In most cases there's no answer beyond someone else seemed like a better fit for the position. How would it help to know you would have got the job if only this other person didn't apply?

lifeisstillgood 9y ago
> How would it help to know you would have got the job if only this other person didn't apply? great way to look at what bothers us all after a rejection - thanks
l_t 9y ago
Well, it depends. At my job, we do give feedback to all our candidates. Basically, we condense our notes about the candidate down to the most important points and send it to them. We've found that candidates appreciate getting this kind of feedback because: 1. It gives them a kind of closure and treats them with respect. 2. It can help them improve for future applications. Usually, the reason is not "Someone else is a better fit". We're not just trying to fill one position -- if we find good engineers, we'll hire them. Usually feedback is related to stuff that came up in either the coding project or the interview. It helps people in the same way that code review helps them: by giving them an opportunity to learn and improve.
- gozur88 9y ago
  >Basically, we condense our notes about the candidate down to the most important points and send it to them. This is an excellent basis for a lawsuit.
  - l_t 9y ago
    How so? (edit: I wonder if we're talking about slightly different things here. The "notes" I'm referring to are primarily code commentary -- the same kind of material we cover in pair programming. As far as I know, we don't share notes about our internal decision-making process, which perhaps is what you're talking about.)
    - gozur88 9y ago
      Ah... I misunderstood. I thought you were sending them notes on your impressions of the candidates themselves.

lifeisstillgood 9y ago

> How would it help to know you would have got the job if only this other person didn't apply? great way to look at what bothers us all after a rejection - thanks

l_t 9y ago

Well, it depends. At my job, we do give feedback to all our candidates. Basically, we condense our notes about the candidate down to the most important points and send it to them. We've found that candidates appreciate getting this kind of feedback because: 1. It gives them a kind of closure and treats them with respect. 2. It can help them improve for future applications. Usually, the reason is not "Someone else is a better fit". We're not just trying to fill one position -- if we find good engineers, we'll hire them. Usually feedback is related to stuff that came up in either the coding project or the interview. It helps people in the same way that code review helps them: by giving them an opportunity to learn and improve.

gozur88 9y ago
>Basically, we condense our notes about the candidate down to the most important points and send it to them. This is an excellent basis for a lawsuit.
- l_t 9y ago
  How so? (edit: I wonder if we're talking about slightly different things here. The "notes" I'm referring to are primarily code commentary -- the same kind of material we cover in pair programming. As far as I know, we don't share notes about our internal decision-making process, which perhaps is what you're talking about.)
  - gozur88 9y ago
    Ah... I misunderstood. I thought you were sending them notes on your impressions of the candidates themselves.