Interview feedback
Interview feedback
As an applicant this is the final stages of the recruitment life-cycle where a Recruiter/HR Officer relays that all important information following your interview that will conclude if you have been successful or not. As a Recruiter this part is where you ultimately give good news to the one successful candidate and regret a bunch of other applicants that were unsuccessful so getting the feedback right for me personally is just as important as giving the good news. Some companies are good at this aspect of the recruitment cycle, and some are downright useless even forgetting the basics like providing timely, constructive feedback so that you the candidate know exactly how they can improve for future interviews. Here are my tips for both candidate and Recruiter alike when dealing with a feedback scenario.
Response example following an interview
“Thank you for your time at interview, unfortunately you have been unsuccessful at this point in time as the candidate we chose to employ has more experience”
This in my eyes is the classic brush off answer, and unfortunately one of the most common feedback responses that you will receive from companies that aren’t very good with specific feedback. What the Recruiter hasn’t done is taken time to really reflect on those unsuccessful candidates individually to tailor their feedback accordingly. What they have done though is to send feedback out in a “one size fits all” format which comes across as generic and uninformative to the unsuccessful applicants.
My advice to candidates is simple; if you are unhappy with the level and content of feedback given from an interview don’t be afraid to ask for specifics. Bat the ball back (always in a polite manner of course) and ask for “more detail” if the initial feedback is too generic. Please do not be afraid to ask the question, how else are you going to move forward if you are unsure of where things went wrong (remember it could be an easy fix)
Points for a Recruiter to contemplate
If you are a Recruiter looking after the full 360 process it is your duty to deliver feedback to unsuccessful candidates that have physically interviewed within a timely manner- simple. Now I know from a previous life no one likes to be the bearer of bad news, but the way you have to approach this is to offer clear explanation for why the candidate fell short at interview, and how they can improve for next time. Be specific with feedback; don’t mince your words with jargon either. If the candidate lacked confidence and did not display enough drive and passion during his/hers interview tell them this. They can’t correct and move forward if they don’t know what areas to focus on. This might seem harsh, but being told how to improve is part of life.
For me the right way to give feedback is to be both constructive and specific as candidates need to know what are their faults along with their positives during interview. Accentuate plus points let applicants know what positives were taken from the interview and where they shined. If the interview was conducted within a competency based format with pre-scripted questions it is easier to relay key areas to the candidate for future development as you can expand on areas of focus. Remember at the end of the day we all want to be treated fairly it’s as simple as that. Be fair and deliver clear constructive feedback.
Kevin Wann