5 ms·

I have the exact opposite experience. I think giving unsolicited feedback to candidates is unwise: * Sometimes the candidate just isn't good at what they

I have the exact opposite experience. I think giving unsolicited feedback to candidates is unwise: * Sometimes the candidate just isn't good at what they do. Telling people that, even in the most constructive way possible, can generate lots of negative emotions. You don't know who you're talking to, and if they'll take it well. * Sometimes the candidate is pretty good, but doesn't quite clear your bar. It's rediculously hard to communicate that without hurting people's egos. * Sometimes it's a matter of taste -- the person is good, but you know the delta between what you want to accomplish and what they want to accomplish is too great. Some people won't understand that and will interpret it as you not hiring them because you're an egocentric asshole. * Sometimes they're really smart, but you know they'll spend time futzing around with different technologies for technology's sake and will not be productive. Most people like that won't hear what you're telling them. * Sometimes something just rubs you the wrong way. What if the candidate seems to be jumping to conclusions too quickly and doesn't seem thoughtful enough? What if it feels very nuanced and any given example seems petty, but you just feel off in aggregate? It's extremely hard to communicate that to people, and will likely open up lots of emotions you don't want to be dealing with. I agree that it's a good idea to give honest feedback if people follow up and ask for it, and agree with not using form letters. A simple personal note can go a long way: Hi Bob, it's Jim at CompanyX. I discussed the interview with the team, and decided this isn't a good fit. Thanks for taking the time to interview with us, and good luck!

meric 13y ago
What's the problem just telling it straight - Hi Bob, It's Jim at CompanyX. I discussed the interview with the team. It's difficult for me to say this and I don't know how to say it properly, but we think you're pretty good but doesn't quite clear the bar for us. We'd like someone who has more experience in X, Y, Z, but in our interview, we thought A, B, C. I know our interview probably is no where near perfect and may not have presented the entirety of your skills, but unfortunately this is our interview process and we will have to abide by it. You're certainly welcome to try apply for jobs at our company in the future.. XYZABC... Thanks for taking the time to interview with us, and good luck! 'Good fit' tells nothing to the candidate what they can improve, and deters them from applying at your company in the future when they further develop their skills and attitude.
- coffeemug 13y ago
  I used to do that. Some people took it really well and thanked me, others got really defensive, upset, even angry. I'm happy to put in the time if people ask, but I found it's just not worth dealing with the emotional fallout of some percentage of the rejected candidates. (Unfortunately these folks ruin things for everyone else)
  - deleted 13y ago
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- badclient 13y ago
  Because my experience says that when you do the above, a good percentage of the candidates will disagree and debate with you about your assessment of them. Then when you just ignore them, you just look like a douche, not to mention there are candidates who will never give up and go to any lengths to express their disagreement with you. If you were only hiring one position for the year, you could may be do this. But when you are constantly hiring, this does not scale and can easily bog down down recruitment. I also feel that I am not in a position to give advice or feedback to someone I've barely known. Just because I didn't hire the guy does not mean that I was correct in not hiring him. At some level, we'll never know. So it's pretty hard to even have feedback that I can be 100% confident about.
  - wwweston 13y ago
    So here's a question -- if you send out a standard rejection notice, and someone came back to you and said: "Thanks for letting me know; sorry to hear we won't be working together at this time. "If you have any suggestions to give for additions to my skills and portfolio that might make for a more competitive application at some point in the future, I'd love to hear them!" Would you take the time to give any hints then? I occasionally send a note to this effect when I miss out on a job that I wanted enough I'd love to be able to reapply later for a similar position. But I've received a reply precisely once.
    - 13y ago
deleted 13y ago
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brandonb 13y ago
Hmm, did you actually encounter those bad behaviors, or are these hypothetical? I gave feedback to nearly everyone we interviewed onsite, and only dealt with one person who became defensive. I thought it'd be a problem but most people are actually very decent. For all of your examples, I think you can communicate the feedback in a specific, helpful, and gracious way. For example, for the candidate that you're worried would futz around with technology for technology's sake, why not say something like: "Hi X, Thanks for interviewing with us yesterday! Everybody on the team enjoyed meeting you. Unfortunately, I don't have great news for you: after a lot of discussion, we decided we can't make an offer. We thought you seemed really smart, and you did great on all of our algorithms and system design questions. What worried us is that, during the pair programming exercise, you spent a lot of time configuring your custom-built editor and trying to use a combination of the D and Brainfuck programming languages running within an Amiga emulator, when C compiled to x86 would have been a more practical choice. Since we're an early-stage startup with only six engineers and limited funding, everything we do has to directly relate to making our customers happy, and so we're especially sensitive about pragmatism at this stage. We know it's entirely possible we're making a mistake, but given our company's small size, we just have to be very cautious, even paranoid, with every single hire. Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it. And sorry again that things didn't work out this time. Best of luck with your other interviews, and please let me know if there's anything I can ever do to help!" (I'm making up details, but you get the point. I've sent lots of feedback of this type and rarely had a problem.)
- nairteashop 13y ago
  This is a nice and polite email and I can't see anyone getting offended by it. The problem however is if they respond disagreeing with your conclusion. Say, in your example above, the person responds with "I used D and Brainfuck in my custom-built editor to show that I am interested in new technologies and pick them up really quickly, and that I customize my workflow for maximum productivity. Aren't these great attributes in an early engineer? I had no idea you guys just wanted C to x86 - you should've asked!" And now you're stuck. Do you respond to this as well, and if so, how long would you keep the chain going? What if the person was actually correct? Would you now go back to your team and reverse the decision?
joyeuse6701 13y ago
The alternative you offered is better but I would add 'if you'd like feedback let us know'.

meric 13y ago

What's the problem just telling it straight - Hi Bob, It's Jim at CompanyX. I discussed the interview with the team. It's difficult for me to say this and I don't know how to say it properly, but we think you're pretty good but doesn't quite clear the bar for us. We'd like someone who has more experience in X, Y, Z, but in our interview, we thought A, B, C. I know our interview probably is no where near perfect and may not have presented the entirety of your skills, but unfortunately this is our interview process and we will have to abide by it. You're certainly welcome to try apply for jobs at our company in the future.. XYZABC... Thanks for taking the time to interview with us, and good luck! 'Good fit' tells nothing to the candidate what they can improve, and deters them from applying at your company in the future when they further develop their skills and attitude.

coffeemug 13y ago
I used to do that. Some people took it really well and thanked me, others got really defensive, upset, even angry. I'm happy to put in the time if people ask, but I found it's just not worth dealing with the emotional fallout of some percentage of the rejected candidates. (Unfortunately these folks ruin things for everyone else)
- deleted 13y ago
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badclient 13y ago
Because my experience says that when you do the above, a good percentage of the candidates will disagree and debate with you about your assessment of them. Then when you just ignore them, you just look like a douche, not to mention there are candidates who will never give up and go to any lengths to express their disagreement with you. If you were only hiring one position for the year, you could may be do this. But when you are constantly hiring, this does not scale and can easily bog down down recruitment. I also feel that I am not in a position to give advice or feedback to someone I've barely known. Just because I didn't hire the guy does not mean that I was correct in not hiring him. At some level, we'll never know. So it's pretty hard to even have feedback that I can be 100% confident about.
- wwweston 13y ago
  So here's a question -- if you send out a standard rejection notice, and someone came back to you and said: "Thanks for letting me know; sorry to hear we won't be working together at this time. "If you have any suggestions to give for additions to my skills and portfolio that might make for a more competitive application at some point in the future, I'd love to hear them!" Would you take the time to give any hints then? I occasionally send a note to this effect when I miss out on a job that I wanted enough I'd love to be able to reapply later for a similar position. But I've received a reply precisely once.
  - 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

brandonb 13y ago

Hmm, did you actually encounter those bad behaviors, or are these hypothetical? I gave feedback to nearly everyone we interviewed onsite, and only dealt with one person who became defensive. I thought it'd be a problem but most people are actually very decent. For all of your examples, I think you can communicate the feedback in a specific, helpful, and gracious way. For example, for the candidate that you're worried would futz around with technology for technology's sake, why not say something like: "Hi X, Thanks for interviewing with us yesterday! Everybody on the team enjoyed meeting you. Unfortunately, I don't have great news for you: after a lot of discussion, we decided we can't make an offer. We thought you seemed really smart, and you did great on all of our algorithms and system design questions. What worried us is that, during the pair programming exercise, you spent a lot of time configuring your custom-built editor and trying to use a combination of the D and Brainfuck programming languages running within an Amiga emulator, when C compiled to x86 would have been a more practical choice. Since we're an early-stage startup with only six engineers and limited funding, everything we do has to directly relate to making our customers happy, and so we're especially sensitive about pragmatism at this stage. We know it's entirely possible we're making a mistake, but given our company's small size, we just have to be very cautious, even paranoid, with every single hire. Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it. And sorry again that things didn't work out this time. Best of luck with your other interviews, and please let me know if there's anything I can ever do to help!" (I'm making up details, but you get the point. I've sent lots of feedback of this type and rarely had a problem.)

nairteashop 13y ago
This is a nice and polite email and I can't see anyone getting offended by it. The problem however is if they respond disagreeing with your conclusion. Say, in your example above, the person responds with "I used D and Brainfuck in my custom-built editor to show that I am interested in new technologies and pick them up really quickly, and that I customize my workflow for maximum productivity. Aren't these great attributes in an early engineer? I had no idea you guys just wanted C to x86 - you should've asked!" And now you're stuck. Do you respond to this as well, and if so, how long would you keep the chain going? What if the person was actually correct? Would you now go back to your team and reverse the decision?

joyeuse6701 13y ago

The alternative you offered is better but I would add 'if you'd like feedback let us know'.