6 ms·

The best rejection letter I ever got was a personal note from the person hiring, saying "You were good, but we just needed someone who is stronger with [x], [y]

by idrios 3y ago

The best rejection letter I ever got was a personal note from the person hiring, saying "You were good, but we just needed someone who is stronger with [x], [y], and [z]". It felt actionable because it told me things I could improve on. Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position". Even if not true, it's a good "it's not you it's me" type of rejection.

hashtag-til 3y ago
An actionable feedback is quite good. To be fair, when recruiting we usually pass the feedback to those nice HR folks, who basically throw them away.
- drawnwren 3y ago
  I wonder how much of this is just their salary depending on the hiring market being as inefficient as possible. Seems like clear communication could go a long way to reducing HR workloads.
- blahyawnblah 3y ago
  A lot of companies won't say why for fear of litigation
  - tqi 3y ago
    Yeah, I think the risk is that there is a larger surface area for recruiters or hiring managers to do it badly: https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/zenni-49ers-glasses-discrimination-lawsuit-18613322.php https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/zenni-49ers-glasses-disc...
  - tjpnz 3y ago
    Even in countries where said litigation couldn't happen.
    - Beldin 3y ago
      In most non-dictatorships, private parties are free to start almost any civil case against each other. The judge may grant a motion to dismiss for things that are obviously bogus, but a decently filed grievance about the hiring process, supported by the counterparty's own statements, would likely require more scrutiny. That is: the litigation could probably happen in most countries and even not be summarily dismissed.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - dghlsakjg 3y ago
    I hear this excuse all the time, but can anyone give first hand knowledge of how realistic this fear is when giving feedback about performance during a technical portion? Any lawyers or managers here that have faced actual consequences for giving feedback? Having now been on the hiring side of things for technical interviews, I'll give feedback when asked, but I think that most people don't give feedback because its kind of a pain in the ass if you aren't organized.
geuis 3y ago
I just had one like this from a well known company over Christmas. I had made it to the first interview and it went exceptionally well. I received a follow up the next day that they were excited to continue and the hiring manager would reach out soon to schedule the next round of interviews. Unfortunately a day later I got a notice from them that the role I was interviewing for was being closed down. They encouraged me to look for other roles I was interested in and we could continue from there. I sent two, and then right after new years was informed they were freezing all hiring until mid January when they finalized their new head count. Then they were among the number of companies announcing new layoffs in the last couple weeks. Talk about disappointed but still being appreciative. I'm still excited about maybe getting on with the company one day simply because they treated the hiring process with a lot of respect and didn't waste my time. It wasn't a me thing, but just bad news coming down from higher up internally.
rthkljlkrj 3y ago
[dead]
dmurray 3y ago
> Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position". "We'd rather have no one than you!" seems like it should be more insulting, really. But I get it.
otteromkram 3y ago
Conversely, the worst ones are those that are super generic and hit your inbox at 3am. On the weekend.
jvanderbot 3y ago
I practically wrote my own rejection letter for Canonical. Their interview process required doing multiple long form writing responses, including telling them why I was an amazing High School student. I wasn't, and I'm quite proud of how much I've changed since then. As if the jerk from 1996 had any bearing on anything of relevance. Laughable. I don't want to be surrounded by people who can still brag about high school.
- dodos 3y ago
  I had a very similar experience with Canonical when I was looking for my first job. The entire tone of the transaction was very negative and passive aggressive. It made me nervous about their work culture so I decided not to continue the application process. I'm still a bit bummed about it since I would have loved to work in that space.
  - sokoloff 3y ago
    I had to submit my SAT scores for a job at D. E. Shaw & Co. I paused and had to check with the recruiter to make sure I'd heard her correctly. (I had.)
    - StreetChief 3y ago
      Are you just out of college?! That is insane to me.
      - sokoloff 3y ago
        I was in my late 20s at the time and had graduated from a well-known engineering school. They ask everyone, even tenured professors... It was also the single highest-density pool of talent that I've ever worked with, then or since. Our office manager had a PhD from Colgate.
    - DaveExeter 3y ago
      What's wrong with that? SAT scores measure IQ, and can't be gamed like grades.
smsm42 3y ago
The worst ones I've gotten are those that I didn't get. Like, after being actively engaged for several weeks and passing some interviews, just... wall of silence. Come on, people, if you don't want me - drop me a note, at least give me some closure. The weirdest ones were "we don't want you, but we will keep your data in the database just in case". Like, in which case? Do you have any other positions that you think I could match? Why not talk to me about them then? Do you expect to have them in some indefinite future and expect me to stay unemployed in the meanwhile? Or do you expect me to drop the position I just recently started in the meantime and jump to your company as soon as you call - because that's the kind of employee you're looking for? I'm just not sure what's the message here. Is it just general "we don't want to hire you, but don't worry, you're not a complete basket case, there's still a chance we might hire you eventually. Or maybe not". Confusing.
okdood64 3y ago
Back in 2016 I got rejected from Square. Admittedly I didn't do well on the interview and wasn't surprised. The recruiter actually got on the phone with me, and pointed out the signals (from notes from the hiring manager) that I was lacking for them. And how I could improve if I wanted to interview with them again. It all felt very respectful. Good for them for going above and beyond. That said I don't expect any company to tell me anything beyond "No thanks" after a failed interview.
zem 3y ago
I gave someone feedback like that once; they actually came back a few months later to reinterview, having worked on the gaps. got hired and went on to become one of our best developers.
Aeolun 3y ago
I used to think I liked rejection letters that came with actionable feedback, until I actually got it and realized it was all rubbish.
red-iron-pine 3y ago
> Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position". Even if not true, it's a good "it's not you it's me" type of rejection. "there is a hiring freeze put into place" bro it's early Feb-Mar, the job advert is < 30 days, and budgets came out but a few weeks earlier -- hiring ain't frozen. best guess was that it was a security-related tech company, and turning down people, esp. reasonably qualified ones, in a way that makes them mad is akin to drawing a target on your head. give custom feedback to those who got through the interview process so they feel like they are at least looked at, and shootdown the rest via something that feels impartial -- otherwise these wanna be blackhats will try to DDoS you.

by idrios 3y ago

hashtag-til 3y ago

An actionable feedback is quite good. To be fair, when recruiting we usually pass the feedback to those nice HR folks, who basically throw them away.

drawnwren 3y ago
I wonder how much of this is just their salary depending on the hiring market being as inefficient as possible. Seems like clear communication could go a long way to reducing HR workloads.
blahyawnblah 3y ago
A lot of companies won't say why for fear of litigation
- tqi 3y ago
  Yeah, I think the risk is that there is a larger surface area for recruiters or hiring managers to do it badly: https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/zenni-49ers-glasses-discrimination-lawsuit-18613322.php https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/zenni-49ers-glasses-disc...
- tjpnz 3y ago
  Even in countries where said litigation couldn't happen.
  - Beldin 3y ago
    In most non-dictatorships, private parties are free to start almost any civil case against each other. The judge may grant a motion to dismiss for things that are obviously bogus, but a decently filed grievance about the hiring process, supported by the counterparty's own statements, would likely require more scrutiny. That is: the litigation could probably happen in most countries and even not be summarily dismissed.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- dghlsakjg 3y ago
  I hear this excuse all the time, but can anyone give first hand knowledge of how realistic this fear is when giving feedback about performance during a technical portion? Any lawyers or managers here that have faced actual consequences for giving feedback? Having now been on the hiring side of things for technical interviews, I'll give feedback when asked, but I think that most people don't give feedback because its kind of a pain in the ass if you aren't organized.

geuis 3y ago

I just had one like this from a well known company over Christmas. I had made it to the first interview and it went exceptionally well. I received a follow up the next day that they were excited to continue and the hiring manager would reach out soon to schedule the next round of interviews. Unfortunately a day later I got a notice from them that the role I was interviewing for was being closed down. They encouraged me to look for other roles I was interested in and we could continue from there. I sent two, and then right after new years was informed they were freezing all hiring until mid January when they finalized their new head count. Then they were among the number of companies announcing new layoffs in the last couple weeks. Talk about disappointed but still being appreciative. I'm still excited about maybe getting on with the company one day simply because they treated the hiring process with a lot of respect and didn't waste my time. It wasn't a me thing, but just bad news coming down from higher up internally.

rthkljlkrj 3y ago

[dead]

dmurray 3y ago

> Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position". "We'd rather have no one than you!" seems like it should be more insulting, really. But I get it.

otteromkram 3y ago

Conversely, the worst ones are those that are super generic and hit your inbox at 3am. On the weekend.

jvanderbot 3y ago

I practically wrote my own rejection letter for Canonical. Their interview process required doing multiple long form writing responses, including telling them why I was an amazing High School student. I wasn't, and I'm quite proud of how much I've changed since then. As if the jerk from 1996 had any bearing on anything of relevance. Laughable. I don't want to be surrounded by people who can still brag about high school.

dodos 3y ago
I had a very similar experience with Canonical when I was looking for my first job. The entire tone of the transaction was very negative and passive aggressive. It made me nervous about their work culture so I decided not to continue the application process. I'm still a bit bummed about it since I would have loved to work in that space.
- sokoloff 3y ago
  I had to submit my SAT scores for a job at D. E. Shaw & Co. I paused and had to check with the recruiter to make sure I'd heard her correctly. (I had.)
  - StreetChief 3y ago
    Are you just out of college?! That is insane to me.
    - sokoloff 3y ago
      I was in my late 20s at the time and had graduated from a well-known engineering school. They ask everyone, even tenured professors... It was also the single highest-density pool of talent that I've ever worked with, then or since. Our office manager had a PhD from Colgate.
  - DaveExeter 3y ago
    What's wrong with that? SAT scores measure IQ, and can't be gamed like grades.

smsm42 3y ago

The worst ones I've gotten are those that I didn't get. Like, after being actively engaged for several weeks and passing some interviews, just... wall of silence. Come on, people, if you don't want me - drop me a note, at least give me some closure. The weirdest ones were "we don't want you, but we will keep your data in the database just in case". Like, in which case? Do you have any other positions that you think I could match? Why not talk to me about them then? Do you expect to have them in some indefinite future and expect me to stay unemployed in the meanwhile? Or do you expect me to drop the position I just recently started in the meantime and jump to your company as soon as you call - because that's the kind of employee you're looking for? I'm just not sure what's the message here. Is it just general "we don't want to hire you, but don't worry, you're not a complete basket case, there's still a chance we might hire you eventually. Or maybe not". Confusing.

okdood64 3y ago

Back in 2016 I got rejected from Square. Admittedly I didn't do well on the interview and wasn't surprised. The recruiter actually got on the phone with me, and pointed out the signals (from notes from the hiring manager) that I was lacking for them. And how I could improve if I wanted to interview with them again. It all felt very respectful. Good for them for going above and beyond. That said I don't expect any company to tell me anything beyond "No thanks" after a failed interview.

zem 3y ago

I gave someone feedback like that once; they actually came back a few months later to reinterview, having worked on the gaps. got hired and went on to become one of our best developers.

Aeolun 3y ago

I used to think I liked rejection letters that came with actionable feedback, until I actually got it and realized it was all rubbish.

red-iron-pine 3y ago

> Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position". Even if not true, it's a good "it's not you it's me" type of rejection. "there is a hiring freeze put into place" bro it's early Feb-Mar, the job advert is < 30 days, and budgets came out but a few weeks earlier -- hiring ain't frozen. best guess was that it was a security-related tech company, and turning down people, esp. reasonably qualified ones, in a way that makes them mad is akin to drawing a target on your head. give custom feedback to those who got through the interview process so they feel like they are at least looked at, and shootdown the rest via something that feels impartial -- otherwise these wanna be blackhats will try to DDoS you.