Giving candidates feedback is an extremely important step of hiring processes. The way people are treated and their overall experience during the process plays a major part in whether they will participate in future hiring processes or even if they will recommend your company to others.
Hiring processes can be very stressful and anxiety inducing to candidates. With this in mind, recruiters must strive to provide the best experience possible to candidates – after all, they are interested in working in the company and have put in the effort into participating in the process.
In this article, we will go over some tactics to ensure the candidates receive adequate feedback, and thus provide a better candidate experience.
Why does feedback matter?
Unfortunately, companies don’t always provide feedback for candidates in hiring processes. While this practice does require some time and effort from recruiters, disregarding it can have serious negative consequences.
The lack of empathy with candidates can damage a company’s reputation, as a frustrated candidate is more likely to speak about their negative experience and thus influence the perception of their peers. When you add social media to the equation, it’s easy to see how a bad experience during the hiring process can deeply affect how future candidates feel about the organization.
The image of the company is an amalgamation of not only the products and services it offers, but also their practices as a whole, and that includes the way people feel about working there as well as the way candidates feel during the hiring process – whether they make it into the team or not. All these factors demonstrate the company’s values, and thus can impact its image.
This is why giving feedback to the candidates that don’t succeed in the hiring process is so important. They are still going to have an impact on the general public’s view of the company, and the best practice is to ensure that even if they do not become an employee, they still come away with respect for the organization and an overall positive experience.
How to give feedback to candidates
Now that you know the importance of feedback, we will go over some of the best practices you can adopt to give candidates adequate feedback after hiring processes.
Contact them as soon as possible
Let’s be honest: most candidates are applying to multiple jobs at a time, and the whole process can be very anxiety-inducing. The faster you get back to them, regardless of the result being positive or negative, the better. This shows the company values their time and understands their situation.
Point out their wins and how they could improve
When giving feedback to candidates that were rejected, take a two step approach: let them know what were their strengths throughout the process, and then point out where and how they can improve. This way, you provide them the most value possible. Remember, they invested their time and effort during the hiring process, so the least you can do is provide valuable insights in return, so that they can grow professionally (and who knows, at a later date, try again).
Give the feedback privately
Never point out mistakes or points of improvement in a public setting. This can cause embarrassment and in an extreme scenario, can even lead to lawsuits. Make sure the feedback is given privately, in a safe environment.
Keep the door open
Just because a candidate was rejected in a particular hiring process, it does not mean they will never be a match for your company. Therefore, it’s important to let candidates know that an initial “No” is not final, and that they are welcome to apply for different jobs in the future.
Use adequate channels
When giving feedback, use the appropriate channels, be it e-mail, a phone call, video call and so on. If the answer is negative, keep the conversation brief but make sure to answer any questions and as outlined before, point out what could be improved in the future.
About Rocketmat
Rocketmat is an AI company focused on HR data and processes. We help global companies hire, engage and retain talent with custom algorithms. If you want to learn more about how we can help your company, contact us.