Making 2025 The Year For Quality Feedback
Is anyone up for making an agreement with me to provide recruitment feedback to candidates who ask for it and to all candidates who’ve been interviewed as a minimum? And is anyone up for making that an immediate element of their recruitment policy so that it’s live for 1st January 2025? If you’re hesitating and prepared to read on or if you’re fully on board with the concept already please share this piece widely to get our message out there!
These are serious questions about serious topics, yet the madness continues, and candidates continue to get short shrift from potential employers. There have been so many appalling stories circulating on Linked In although my sense is that there’s no hint of change. Organisations continue to close recruitment processes early without warning and fail to let candidates know that they’re now excluded or categorized as a “late application.”
How many people would apply to an organisation which suddenly feels the pressure and (again) without warning decides that acknowledging applications isn’t for them? And how many people would spend days refining their application, CV and cover letter if they knew that the organisation didn’t see fit to provide any follow up even after an interview?
Over the years I’ve specialised in Resourcing and Recruitment I’ve probably heard all of the excuses about tight resources, company policy and candidate expectations although undeterred I’ve continued to bang the drum as loud as I can. It’s getting a little tiresome as despite my and many others’ promoting change, it simply isn’t happening fast enough. Many continue to spread their need to recruit “far and wide” using Linked In yet fail to acknowledge any interest expressed.
Surely there should be some simple rules of engagement. If a person invests some time and effort in reaching out to you or your organisation then shouldn’t that be repaid “like for like”? Isn’t that just good manners? In my experience most applicants are happy enough to receive some form of timely acknowledgement to their initial contact – it’s a kind of security that they’re not somehow “lost in the system.” And wouldn’t it be great if they got a contact name rather than an “unmanned inbox”? I can’t believe that in 2024 we’re still doing this!
Now we get to the tricky bit. Explaining to some applicants that you’re not up for interviewing them. They’re looking for a positive explanation and you’re needing to give a negative one. Please remember to make any message about them and not you or the volume of other candidates. All too often an applicant hears that it’s all about your “overwhelming response” or “the caliber of other candidates” when all they’re interested in is their success (or not).
I’d be thrilled if applicants could at least be offered a telephone conversation by way of follow up at this stage if they have specific questions, although I’m a realist. That said, if someone gets in touch I’m of the opinion that it often takes as long to say, “that’s not our policy” as “what are your specific questions” and deal with them. Timeliness come into play at this stage, too. Remember that if you don’t follow up or try to ignore an irritated candidate for too long they’ll simply become more time-consuming.
For me, it’s 100% necessary to provide feedback to all candidates who attend one or more of your interviews or attend an assessment centre. Good advice is to communicate your unsuccessful messages swiftly and with empathy. It’s entirely acceptable to ask candidates to contact you (to a specific deadline) and make an appointment for telephone feedback.
· Remember to work swiftly and accurately with your communications
· Keep in touch with candidates (or their agents) throughout the process
· Be honest about delays and remember an apology doesn’t cost anything
· Keep feedback personal to the applicant
· Remember that the candidate invested time in your process
· Remember candidates don’t disappear if you ignore them
If you need any help with updating your Recruitment Policy or finding a way to provide meaningful feedback to candidates, Let’s Chat
