The importance of Candidate feedback during the Interview Process
Providing interview feedback to candidate offers a number of benefits to a company’s hiring process. It enriches your relationship with close matched (but not ideal for that role) candidates who can be transferred into your talent pool and considered for future vacancies, it is also a form of professional respect to the candidate who’s taken time and effort to attend the interview. It also strengthens your reputation as an employer and is directly linked to the quality of applicants attracted to your future vacancies.
In the age of the keyboard warrior and social media, candidates rejected without explanation or feedback are quick to share their experiences (accurate or otherwise) of your company on social media. Glassdoor’s newly published candidates’ choice of the ‘Best Places To Interview 2017’ emphasises the importance of a positive brand.
David Collins, one of Redline’s Business and Customer Relationship Manager discusses the importance of preparing feedback and points to consider when giving candidates interview feedback: “Ensure all feedback is objective. You may not have personally felt able to work with a candidate but that is not the same as them not meeting the technical requirements of a job. Use neutral, not emotive language and treat everyone with respect. Here are some other points to consider when preparing candidate feedback:
- Align your feedback with the skills of the job description to ensure you offer constructive advice which your candidate can act on (for example, recommending the development of digital skills that would assist in achieving their career goals).
- Provide specific examples of responses to interview questions which could have been stronger, such as a response that suggested a lack of research into your company. Highlight any areas where the experience described on their
- CV did not match what was conveyed at interview.
- For candidates participating in pre-hire assessments, include feedback on how to improve their performance. This may include tips on improving their responses during a video interview. It will enable candidates to focus on acquiring new skills for future job applications.
- Avoid comparisons with other candidates. People are interested in what actions they can personally take to improve their job search, not what skills they lack in comparison to the successful applicant.
- Ask permission to stay in contact with ‘close match’ candidates for future vacancies before adding them to your talent pool. Regular updates on developments and upcoming opportunities in your business that may match their skillset will offset any concerns that you are ‘making excuses’.
David continues: “The personal touch - offering feedback by telephone rather than generic email - will go a long way to enhancing the overall candidate experience, but that feedback must be two way. Recruitment metrics highlight problematic areas in the hiring process but cannot convey a candidate’s personal viewpoint.”
“Providing constructive feedback also assumes a structured interview process but for many applicants that is not the case. Many hiring managers are lack formal training in interviewing. Building a picture that accurately reflects your candidate experience requires feedback from those candidates at the end of your hiring process. Incorporate a request for feedback form in your recruitment software. The data gathered can be used to streamline your overall hiring process.” adds David.
Providing candidate feedback to the client
David continues: “Redline seeks to create an efficient, accurate, and successful interview process for our Clients. One critical component is ensuring Candidates who have been invited for interview are well-informed and engaged about our clients’ business and the role. We know this reduces ‘wasted time’ and creates higher success rates from interviews, ultimately increasing the pace of hiring and reducing the overall cost. We also measure our performance in delivering feedback to candidates as we firmly believe it’s an essential part of Redline’s ‘brand and service’ and reflects positively on our clients’ brand. ”
“We generate Candidate Surveys which report what candidates say about their Redline experience as we prepare them for interviews with our clients as well as providing Clients with feedback on what the candidate thought of the clients’ interview process.”