An article by my colleague Dinesh Gokhale described how a candidate would feel short-changed by a well orchestrated, well thought out , stage managed candidate experience. We conducted a survey to understand the candidates’ psychology better. This two part article covers the insights gained in the survey.
Candidates actively seek more information
Some might think why add to the information overload by telling the candidate why she is rejected. What difference would it make to her? Contrary to what is commonly believed majority of the candidates do value feedback. The survey shows that majority of the candidates call the company to get feedback. There’s no teacher better than failure. But how can you learn from the failure unless you know the reason behind it.
Candidate Value Feedback
Applicant Processing- A Lost Opportunity
Applicant process is in fact a marketing opportunity for the company to enhance its brand image. The applicant is a representative of the target segment and the process is a rare opportunity to engage in a two way communication with the target market. Every applicant is a potential future employee even if she may not be the best fit for the job for which she has applied. Companies must use this opportunity to develop a strong bond with the applicant by having a meaningful dialogue. How many companies actually do it?
Companies don’t provide feedback
Companies get all the information and get answers to all their questions, but that’s just half the story. Our survey indicated that majority of the applicants rarely get any constructive feedback. Most companies are simply wasting this valuable opportunity to engage. It’s more like a monologue and less like a dialogue.
Companies Fake It But Don’t Make It
Only one out of many applicants is selected. Thus it’s important to study the feedback that is received by the majority- the rejected applicants. Here are some typical answers given by companies to the rejected applicants.
Top 5 Excuses
Excuses can’t replace relevant and constructive feedback. Relationships can’t be built by pretending to be engaging. “Fake it till you make it ” formula doesn’t work if there is no intention of ever making it. In fact companies who provide stock answers instead of meaningful feedback may be perceived as spammers. The same sentiment is resonated by this article about “Well Designed Candidate Experience” .
Companies who buy time with promises that are never kept are pushing the applicants to become frustrated. Delay is the deadliest form of denial. One fails to understand why most companies take the applicants for granted.
What is the problem?
Companies don’t deliberately withhold information. The root cause is elsewhere. It’s the general lack of communication and clarity that engulfs all stages of the hiring process. Hiring is not seen as an activity of strategic importance by those engaging in it. Job descriptions, screening of resumes, interview scheduling and interviewing are conducted in silos and individuals engaging in these activities are not working in consonance as a single team. We will publish more insightful data which support these facts in the second part of this article.
Thank You!
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Vinayak Joglekar is a technology & recruitment expert with around 40 yrs. of experience. He is a distinguished thought leader who has changed trends in recruitment and futuristic software development. He is acclaimed for recruiting and developing great talents in IT.
Vinayak believes in empowering IT recruiters with technical knowledge so that they can earn their due respect. Currently, he is the CTO of Synerzip and Director of Rezoomex.