RecFest: Recruiters given ‘no chance’ of offering feedback, says expert
16 June 2014
Hiring managers should take the blame for offering minimal feedback to candidates and not the recruiter, an audience in London heard last week.
Mon, 16 Jun 2014 | By Matt Bodimeade
Hiring managers are ultimately responsible for the feedback which recruiters provide back to candidates post-interview, an audience in London heard last week.
Speaking at in-house recruitment event RecFest last week [12 June], Grant Weinberg, director of international talent acquisition at US biotechnology company Gilead Sciences, told the audience that as the hiring manager runs the final interview, it should be down to them to offer final feedback to the recruiter to provide to the candidate.
“The hiring manager is the one running the final interview, however, they give the recruiter no chance of actually offering an unsuccessful candidate any feedback,” he said.
“It should be down to them to provide the recruiter with enough valuable feedback to go back to the candidate and tell them why they were unsuccessful.”
A recent study by Gerry Crispin, the co-founder of a US recruitment insight and research consultancy, showed that 70% of companies do not provide unselected job applicants with any feedback. The reasons recruiters give include lack of time or method, and being uncomfortable communicating bad news.
However, as one delegate in the roundtable discussions after the presentation suggested, the whole purpose of feedback is to tell a candidate “where they went wrong, and how they can alter their interview technique for next time”.
Delegates at the event agreed that they often take flack from candidates for receiving minimal feedback, and many said that if they are given feedback by hiring managers there is “often a long delay” and the quality of feedback is “very poor”.
Speaking at in-house recruitment event RecFest last week [12 June], Grant Weinberg, director of international talent acquisition at US biotechnology company Gilead Sciences, told the audience that as the hiring manager runs the final interview, it should be down to them to offer final feedback to the recruiter to provide to the candidate.
“The hiring manager is the one running the final interview, however, they give the recruiter no chance of actually offering an unsuccessful candidate any feedback,” he said.
“It should be down to them to provide the recruiter with enough valuable feedback to go back to the candidate and tell them why they were unsuccessful.”
A recent study by Gerry Crispin, the co-founder of a US recruitment insight and research consultancy, showed that 70% of companies do not provide unselected job applicants with any feedback. The reasons recruiters give include lack of time or method, and being uncomfortable communicating bad news.
However, as one delegate in the roundtable discussions after the presentation suggested, the whole purpose of feedback is to tell a candidate “where they went wrong, and how they can alter their interview technique for next time”.
Delegates at the event agreed that they often take flack from candidates for receiving minimal feedback, and many said that if they are given feedback by hiring managers there is “often a long delay” and the quality of feedback is “very poor”.
- How do you approach giving feedback to candidates? Does your hiring manager often keep you in the dark when it comes to offering feedback? Sorry for the glitch, but just scroll right down and share your opinions!
