Remember feedback?

Maybe it was before your time

A recruiting contact of mine got an earful from a hiring manager recently. For giving a candidate feedback on why they didn’t receive an offer.

Nothing crazy. Straightforward self-improvement stuff. Which is frowned upon in that particular establishment.

But it’s becoming more and more common. It’s an extension of how professional reference checks morphed into employment verification. Yes they worked here. Yes they’re eligible for rehire. That’s all you get.

The bigger the company, the more likely they’re paralyzed by the fear of litigation risk. Say the wrong thing to the wrong job seeker, you get a lawsuit coming your way.

Nevermind the damage this does:

👉Interviews are an imperfect process. (duh)

Once upon a time, it wasn’t uncommon to take ‘negative’ feedback. Discuss it with the candidate. Circle back with the hiring team. And re-evaluate if something was missed.

👉When people aren’t used to getting feedback, they don’t know how to take it.

Raise your hand if you’ve given someone feedback and they blew up on you? It happens more when they’re not used to hearing it.

👉It creates a skills gap.

How is anyone supposed to know to pivot their career when they’re not receiving substantive feedback on where they fell short?

There’s no fix here. Maybe write your congressman. Worked for getting salaries in job ads.

James Hornick

Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.