I bet that you, yes YOU, the one reading this article, went through 1, 2, 3, 30, or even 200 interviews in your career AND were rejected without knowing the reason why and/or without getting any feedback AT ALL until this day. How do I know this? Come on. You know that I know. I will not tell anyone. Tell me how many. All right, I will admit. It happened to me as well. I know what you are thinking “IT WAS VERY FRUSTRATING AND UNPROFESSIONAL”.
Now, what should you do?
Well, you do need the feedback even if it is not positive. These are some of my suggestions on what you can do in case this happens and BEFORE it happens:
- First of all, I suggest that you ask the recruiter about the next step at the end of the interview. Is there a possibility that they will call you for another interview? If so, you need to be informed about all the relevant details regarding this upcoming interview. If you are doing only one interview, ask them when they will give you feedback
- Second of all, ask for the contact information of the interviewers or their business cards
- The next step is sending a thank you email after the interview
- Now, you will not like this part, I am sorry, but now you have to wait for the recruiter’s call or email
- Now, there are 2 case scenarios:
- The first one is where you are accepted; Congratulations are in order in that case.
- The second one is where you do not get any feedback at all or get the rejection email. Most of these emails are very standard and not personalized. One template is sent to all the rejected candidates. If you do not receive any feedback or if you receive the standard rejection email, you have a decision to make. It is up to you to decide if you want to contact them and ask about the status of your application or why you were rejected OR just concentrate on applying for other jobs. It doesn’t hurt to call them or follow up by email. You have nothing to lose. Even if you don’t receive an offer, at least you will know that you cannot rely on landing that position anymore and have to move on and pursue other opportunities. There are plenty of fish in the sea as the saying goes.
Now you are going to ask why they did not call back to tell you that you did not pass or why they sent a rejection email without explaining the reason behind the rejection. I cannot get into their heads but I can tell you what I think (maybe there are other reasons as well):
- They found the candidate that they are looking for and they really did not care about getting back to everyone else who did not pass and in case they sent a short email, they did not want to bother with explaining the reason behind the rejection to each and every candidate that was rejected
- They did not find the right candidate and they are still busy trying to find him or her
- They have a lot of urgent and/or important recruitments and they do not have an efficient way of getting back to all rejected candidates or they do not have time to do so
- They have some other issues to deal with and they will follow up with you later
- Other reasons
Anyways, the fact that you had an interview does not guarantee that you will land the job so DO NOT stop looking for a job until you actually sign the contract with your future employer.
Dear recruiter/headhunter,
The candidates did not go to work in order to meet you and even if they were unemployed, they still took time out of their day to meet you. The least you can do is give them feedback and send a personalized note explaining why they got rejected and give them some constructive criticism.
I understand that you did not choose them for the advertised position for whatever reason but at least give them advice and do not affect their future chances of landing a job and maybe you could suggest their resume to another company. The candidates need some kind of closure. They need to spend their precious time looking for a job instead of waiting to be contacted by recruiters who do not plan to do so. Some people can be very hesitant to call and follow up for several reasons: they do not want to seem too eager; they do not want to bother you etc…
It doesn’t hurt to have some humanity plus your company’s reputation is at stake and can easily be affected which would make people hesitant to apply for a job within your company. Did you forget about the times when you were a candidate? You know exactly what I am referring to. The stress, worrying, self-doubts, sadness that a candidate might feel when waiting for your feedback ESPECIALLY the ones who have bills to pay. So please, give them feedback. You never know when or under which circumstances you might meet and/or need them again…
What do you think? Do you agree?
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