4 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 Peroni 13y 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.
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 13y agoDo you tell those candidates you decline why you declined them?
- Peroni 13y 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 13y 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.
- Peroni 13y agoWell we're UK based and the fear of litigation is certainly a lot smaller. Obviously there is always a concern that a candidate will have a significantly negative reaction to a rejection but I spend a lot of time with all candidates who go through our interview process and build up a lot of rapport with them so I like to hope that they don't take the feedback personally.
- polymatter 13y agoI expect you'll agree that most UK companies don't do this though. Even for small companies, most won't give any feedback.
- Peroni 13y agoUnfortunately this tends to be the case more often than not. I don't think it's out of fear of litigation, I think it's simply laziness and pointless HR process.