4 ms·

> Neat followup: ask the companies who declined for a little insight. The main reason you aren't going to be getting any answers is anything the companies say

by irahul 15y ago

> Neat followup: ask the companies who declined for a little insight. The main reason you aren't going to be getting any answers is anything the companies say can be extrapolated to prove discrimination. No one is going to invite lawsuits by giving you constructive feedback. The reasoning that you already have a position doesn't matter.

kiba 15y ago
Maybe they should able to do that to anybody. Nobody wants to work for racists, assholes, or sexists.
- irahul 15y ago
  > Maybe they should able to do that to anybody. Nobody wants to work for racists, assholes, or sexists. I don't follow. It's not that the employers are racist, sexists or assholes(they might or might not be; that's not what that matters here). It's just that anything they say can be used as a basis for a lawsuit.
gnosis 15y ago
"The main reason you aren't going to be getting any answers is anything the companies say can be extrapolated to prove discrimination." That might be part of it. Another part of it is that many people are loathe to criticize anyone, and would find it uncomfortable to give a negative, but honest evaluation of someone to their face (or even through email). Another reason for not giving evaluations to rejected applicants is that people are busy, and feel like their own time would be wasted for the benefit of someone who's not a part of their company. A related reason is that the employers feel it would not benefit them in any way to give a rejected applicant an evaluation. It would only benefit the applicant. Finally, I think a lot of people just don't really care much about others. This goes double for people who they barely know, have no business relationship with, and will probably never see or hear from again.
- jtheory 15y ago
  I thought of both of these things -- but look at the places he interviewed. They spent a lot of time with him (sometimes several days!) and he was largely dealing with technical folk, not HR people. I'll bet if he asked them all in the right tone -- and without demanding a lot of time -- he'd get at least a few responses. I know it's possible, because I've read several posts in the past from people both saying they've done this (and providing some details), plus others on the hiring side saying they'll generally give useful feedback if asked at the end of the interview process.
gutnor 15y ago
Here in the UK they do it all the time. If you use a (good) agent, you get feedback on what the company liked/disliked during the interview and why they declined. Help you prepare for the next interview (if you gave a wrong impression).
- zorlem 15y ago
  I guess the things are much easier in Europe than in USA in this regard. Not facing a huge risk of being sued by a candidate you've turned down due to their lack of skills is liberating both for the employer and the potential employee. I personally have been frustrated on more than one occasion with the complete lack of feedback and transparency from USA (or multinational) companies. Working in Europe, on the other hand, I've tried to be open and honest to the candidates about their chances. I've personally called all the candidates I've had an interview with and told them if they've been rejected. I still think it was better for them to be updated so they could make informed decisions regarding their strengths and weaknesses, and their upcoming interviews.
  - Ecio78 15y ago
    If you use a (good) agent, you get feedback on what the company liked/disliked during the interview and why they declined I guess the things are much easier in Europe than in USA in this regard Unfortunately my experience is not the same: i've done several job interviews in the past months here in Italy and I had difficulties also having negative replies (they just dont tell you anything and after weeks/months you're supposed to know that you're not ok for them) I can sometimes understand it when they "process" tons of candidates (for one position a firm got 500 applications on a well known job site, they interviewed 2-300 persons and during the interview they said "if we dont call you by the next week, w're sorry you're not going to the next step") but it happened to me also a couple of times when i was first interviewed by an head hunter, and then send to talk to the employer (in one occasion i did 2 or 3 interviews with the employer). And then.. nothing, I tried to ask the HH if she had news.. vague responses, from which you cant understand if they've decided not to hire anyone, wait some months and evaluate other candidates, or they've just hired someone else. Maybe it's just an italian problem, but I think it's quite sad, generally you lose hours/days of your current job to go to this interviews, it would be just a sign of correctness to give at least a negative reply (a feedback probably would be asking too much)
Estragon 15y ago
What are the laws and/or precedents which establish the risks you're claiming here? Why does giving a candidate general feedback on their interview presentation expose a company to accusations of discrimination? I have received straight-up feedback on job applications in the past, so I don't think every employer sees it the way you do.

by irahul 15y ago

kiba 15y ago

Maybe they should able to do that to anybody. Nobody wants to work for racists, assholes, or sexists.

irahul 15y ago
> Maybe they should able to do that to anybody. Nobody wants to work for racists, assholes, or sexists. I don't follow. It's not that the employers are racist, sexists or assholes(they might or might not be; that's not what that matters here). It's just that anything they say can be used as a basis for a lawsuit.

gnosis 15y ago

"The main reason you aren't going to be getting any answers is anything the companies say can be extrapolated to prove discrimination." That might be part of it. Another part of it is that many people are loathe to criticize anyone, and would find it uncomfortable to give a negative, but honest evaluation of someone to their face (or even through email). Another reason for not giving evaluations to rejected applicants is that people are busy, and feel like their own time would be wasted for the benefit of someone who's not a part of their company. A related reason is that the employers feel it would not benefit them in any way to give a rejected applicant an evaluation. It would only benefit the applicant. Finally, I think a lot of people just don't really care much about others. This goes double for people who they barely know, have no business relationship with, and will probably never see or hear from again.

jtheory 15y ago
I thought of both of these things -- but look at the places he interviewed. They spent a lot of time with him (sometimes several days!) and he was largely dealing with technical folk, not HR people. I'll bet if he asked them all in the right tone -- and without demanding a lot of time -- he'd get at least a few responses. I know it's possible, because I've read several posts in the past from people both saying they've done this (and providing some details), plus others on the hiring side saying they'll generally give useful feedback if asked at the end of the interview process.

gutnor 15y ago

Here in the UK they do it all the time. If you use a (good) agent, you get feedback on what the company liked/disliked during the interview and why they declined. Help you prepare for the next interview (if you gave a wrong impression).

zorlem 15y ago
I guess the things are much easier in Europe than in USA in this regard. Not facing a huge risk of being sued by a candidate you've turned down due to their lack of skills is liberating both for the employer and the potential employee. I personally have been frustrated on more than one occasion with the complete lack of feedback and transparency from USA (or multinational) companies. Working in Europe, on the other hand, I've tried to be open and honest to the candidates about their chances. I've personally called all the candidates I've had an interview with and told them if they've been rejected. I still think it was better for them to be updated so they could make informed decisions regarding their strengths and weaknesses, and their upcoming interviews.
- Ecio78 15y ago
  If you use a (good) agent, you get feedback on what the company liked/disliked during the interview and why they declined I guess the things are much easier in Europe than in USA in this regard Unfortunately my experience is not the same: i've done several job interviews in the past months here in Italy and I had difficulties also having negative replies (they just dont tell you anything and after weeks/months you're supposed to know that you're not ok for them) I can sometimes understand it when they "process" tons of candidates (for one position a firm got 500 applications on a well known job site, they interviewed 2-300 persons and during the interview they said "if we dont call you by the next week, w're sorry you're not going to the next step") but it happened to me also a couple of times when i was first interviewed by an head hunter, and then send to talk to the employer (in one occasion i did 2 or 3 interviews with the employer). And then.. nothing, I tried to ask the HH if she had news.. vague responses, from which you cant understand if they've decided not to hire anyone, wait some months and evaluate other candidates, or they've just hired someone else. Maybe it's just an italian problem, but I think it's quite sad, generally you lose hours/days of your current job to go to this interviews, it would be just a sign of correctness to give at least a negative reply (a feedback probably would be asking too much)

Estragon 15y ago

What are the laws and/or precedents which establish the risks you're claiming here? Why does giving a candidate general feedback on their interview presentation expose a company to accusations of discrimination? I have received straight-up feedback on job applications in the past, so I don't think every employer sees it the way you do.