Rejected!

The Candidate Experience calls all candidates to sit down and pay attention! Once the applicant submits their application, the Candidate Experience should begin. But depending on the organization, that is only sometimes true. How we disposition and release our candidates tells a lot about the organization's culture and the overall Candidate Experience. Does the Candidate's Experience matter when the candidate will not be selected? The answer is YES; it certainly matters!

The generic automated "Thank you - No-reply" email is necessary. It is a must as we receive applicants, "Thank you for your application – Confirmation No Reply Email." And even when you are sorting through resumes, screening, and maybe even after the initial phone interview, "Thank You –After Further Review." Yet, once we have put a candidate through more than two or three interviews, jumped through this hoop, tamed this fire-breathing dragon, and we still aren't sure, can you come back for a final test that will involve questions that aren't remotely related to the position that will earn you $15.00/hour! Great, we have made it to the final rounds, thank you for coming to our office three times, but unfortunately, you haven't been selected. We have 15 final candidates and offered the position to three. I would say yes, and send the Thank you – Regrets email; however, leave the ball in the candidate's court, and allow them to call or follow up with you to receive specific feedback. After making it to the final rounds, consider all the time a candidate puts into the process. We have ALL been on the candidate's side of the table. And maybe a simple "no" through an automated generic email will help us save time, and perhaps that is enough for 10 of the 12 candidates that didn't get the position. However, when those two candidates reach out for more feedback, a well-developed response, with specific feedback or specific takeaways for a candidate to improve upon, can mean everything. Do we not owe it to them? The thank you but no thank you email rejection and silence upon their emails or calls for feedback is completely unprofessional; does it sit well with you?

We all can agree that learning from our failures is what we want, and being a qualified candidate is what we strive to do. No one (okay, no one rational) goes through an entire interview process, making it to the final two, and secretly hopes to be rejected because the question about what s/he plans to be doing in five years could've been taken way out of proportion.

We have all been the candidates; you know and understand the feeling. Nail biting, leg shaking, waiting for the panel to give you a chance to correct an answer, "Is there anything you wished you answered differently?" No one ever asks that – "But yes, yes, please! The five-year question. In five years, I didn't mean to come off like I would be in your position; I just wanted to come off like I am ambitious and ready to conquer this position and the next! Wait, this is my next step in my career move, and I can't wait to see what I can contribute and learn from the position and the team." PHEWW.

For the follow-ups, email the Recruiter hoping to learn more. But what candidates don't know is most of the time, the Recruiter is left in the dark as much as the candidate. And if not, they are given responses like "No, s/he is ready to be the CEO; s/he wouldn't make eye contact; s/he must be a liar; s/he won't be happy here." – Recruiter is thinking, "Right! Many people apply to roles and go through all of the hoops to avoid getting the position in the end."

I have been in Talent Acquisition for more than 10 years, and working as a Recruiter, I have often heard my Hiring Managers say - "Hmm, s/he is way overqualified." Recruiter "Please explain" Recruiter silently thinks, "Oh, you mean s/he is smarter than you. And instead of hiring someone qualified, meets all the must-haves and nice to haves, and having someone on your team that would make headway, questioning the statuesque and thereby expanding you (hiring manager) and your team, we would rather relegate them, as if being overqualified is equally to be not qualified."

The hiring manager does have a full-time job, and there is a 99% chance that the job isn't Hiring. This is just a duty of one of the many duties. But how much time does the average hiring manager spend on Hiring? According to SHRM, the average time to make one hire across all industries is about 36 days. Once the requisition is created, should the hire not be Recruiter and Hiring Managers top priority? Bringing new Talent into the organization is a commitment, not just for the hiring manager, Recruiter but the organization.

The candidate and new hire experience should be ingrained into the culture. As a Talent Acquisition professional, I always tell my hiring managers, "Remember that candidates shouldn't be expert interviewers" or "Put yourself in their shoes; remember when you were the candidate."

A little feedback goes a long way and eliminates the candidate's downward spiral of what ifs or asking themselves all the questions.

o??Was it my age?

o??Did they notice I was pregnant?

o??Is it because I am a woman/man?

o??Was my hair too black?

o??Was I not black enough?

o??Did they hear my foreign accent?

o??Did I say this? I should've said that.

This list continues and can tremendously affect the candidate's self-esteem and future interviews. In reality, it wasn't any of these things that didn't get them the position; it was simply because candidate B had specific skills, and the Hiring Manager felt them coming over with these skills would reduce their onboarding time.

Give the candidate two minutes of your time and give them the genuine and honest feedback they deserve. It will make a difference in their world and show your current employees and future candidates that people are a top priority. After all, actions do speak louder than words.

Providing a candidate with feedback can take time and a lot of effort. The feedback should be honest yet specific to the position/job requirements and not offensive to the candidate's character. If there isn't one thing that sticks out about the candidates and their interviewing, instead of giving them nothing, "You are a stellar candidate, and it was a hard choice. Our decision came down to specific skills, and thus was the deciding factor."

This is all a reflection of the organization; the Candidate's Experience is everything and should matter if or if not the candidate is selected for hire. A company where people are a top priority is necessary for today's market, and the Candidate Experience reflects how you treat people from the beginning. If you want the A-Players on your team, you have to sell them as hard as they must sell themselves.

Think in these terms. Rejected candidates have a network of hundreds, if not thousands, of other potential candidates/employees; candidates provide feedback on LinkedIn and Glassdoor or share their experience with their network for two reasons – this is a fact that the worst experience OR the very best experiences are the experiences that make it to your company's Glassdoor page. Don't believe in looking at your organization's Glassdoor page; everyone is over the moon or hates life and everyone associated with that company. I, for one, want to be with the organization that has rejected candidates screaming their praises. "No, Sally, I didn't get the job with XYZ, but the detailed feedback they gave me after the interview and the time put into following up with me, says everything I need to know. This company cares about its people. I know you are looking for a new opportunity in Accounting? you should check out XYZ." OR is this a company with a culture where a non-response is indeed a response? We don't need to answer your questions now as an applicant or in the future as a New Hire. This culture considers your emails and questions beneath them? You should bother with someone else. "Well, Sally, after spending several hours over a few weeks interviewing with XYZ, I was ghosted and never heard anything. If I were you, I wouldn't bother applying with them; clearly, they don't know how to treat people."

I want my rejected candidates to connect with me, send me their family, friends, and peers, and reapply in the future when we have a role just for them! But this isn't something that can start and end with one single Recruiter; it must begin with the culture; a people-focused culture will naturally assist in creating a world-class Candidate Experience.

What do we want to say to the candidate with a vast network of fellow people with similar experiences and skills?