5 ms·
In-house recruiters or hiring managers, except perhaps the most inexperienced or unprofessional, will not press a candidate to explain a decision to decline an
by 7Figures2Commas 14y ago
In-house recruiters or hiring managers, except perhaps the most inexperienced or unprofessional, will not press a candidate to explain a decision to decline an offer. If the company really wanted you and is disappointed about your decision, you might be asked if there was anything that could have been handled better during the recruitment process or that would have swayed you, but it is highly unlikely that you'll be asked to provide a detailed rationale for your decision. In the odd case that you are pressured for one, you are under no obligation to bow to that pressure.
As for relationship-building and helping others:
1. You cannot build a relationship with every person you meet. This is not a realistic goal.
2. You cannot help every single person you meet. This is not a realistic goal.
3. People are good at discerning whether an offer to help is empty or legitimate. If you were seeking employment a week ago and haven't even started your new job, you have no business suggesting to the people who interviewed you at a rejected prospective employer that you are now in a position to assist them professionally. Offering such help concurrent with a notification that you have accepted employment elsewhere is, again, an act of extreme hubris and is likely to be seen as such.
- barrettabrooks 14y agoPerhaps we have some industry gaps between my professional experience and yours. I have experienced many recruiters and professionals who have wanted to know about specific competing offers and the reason for taking the offer. I see your argument on relationships and I respect it. I think we differ slightly in personal opinion, which is perfectly ok with me.
- willvarfar 14y agoYou may have met some of the inexperienced or naive ones then. If an experienced recruiter wants to know all about competing offers they are doing market research and you are giving them power over you and your future choices. Just politely and distantly avoid answering any follow-up after a decline.
- barrettabrooks 14y agoI noticed on your blog you referenced a recruiter that screwed you (or someone over). Do you think that experience and others has fundamentally altered the way you view recruiters and HR-types?
- willvarfar 14y agoSadly its rather that the decent recruiters/HRs I've met are few and far between. You can't really rub shoulders with fellow contractors without hearing everyone else's horror stories too. Sometimes some headhunter is referred around because they are that rare thing, a good person. But those exceptions are remarkably rare. Thx for finding my blog.
- Peroni 14y agoIn-house recruiters or hiring managers, except perhaps the most inexperienced or unprofessional, will not press a candidate to explain a decision to decline an offer. I couldn't possibly disagree more. If I have invested time into a potential employee and they decide at the end of the process that they don't want to accept our offer then I wouldn't think twice about (respectfully) asking for their rationale. Primarily because I want to ensure that there was no misunderstanding of the role or package but also so I can learn from it and ensure the next person I offer doesn't reject for the same reasons. I certainly wouldn't pressure someone into providing an explanation but I would consider it basic professional courtesy to be told why we were unsuccessful in acquiring that candidate.
- willvarfar 14y agoDo you tell those candidates you decline why you declined them?
- Peroni 14y agoCategorically. If the applicant has taken the effort to come and interview with us and we decide not to proceed then as a rule I will always give full and frank feedback as to why we came to our decision. Sometimes the feedback is hard to swallow but occasionally I'll get an applicant who challenges our decision and we will genuinely reconsider if they present a valid argument.
- willvarfar 14y agoThis could be a US thing but you should avoid giving a why you reject a candidate because you are opening yourself up to litigation. All companies big enough to have a policy on this have a "I'm afraid we don't have a position to offer you at this time" -kind of stock reply for this reason. If there's any follow-up at all its purpose will be to leave the candidate with a good impression, not to give the candidate any actual information. I've even known companies to say "I'm sorry, we don't discuss specific cases" and post a t-shirt to candidates who ask why.