Feedback is not just about conveying the evaluation message. Here the form is just as important as the content itself. So how to construct solid recruitment feedback and put it in words that will empower the candidate instead of bringing them down? Have a look at how we do it in Snowdog.

Recruitment feedback is part of a deal

It’s as simple as that. A candidate invests their time and effort into our recruitment process, so we invest our good will and fair assessment in return. It is a mutual agreement and, well, it goes without saying, by opening a new recruitment process we naturally oblige ourselves to be there for a candidate. Feedback is a way of building trust and communication between a candidate and our company (as well as a way of creating a bond that may bring the rejected candidate back to our company in the future, as happened with me). So being honest and transparent shows what we, ourselves, value in our work ethics and the company culture.

Provide feedback every step of the way

When is a good time to share feedback with the candidate? After each step of the recruitment process, be it submitting a CV, completing a recruitment task or attending a job interview.

Sure thing, such feedback should be duly adapted to each stage of the process requirements and, always, factual. And, it’s really important to meet the deadlines we promise to meet. So, if I inform the candidate they will get our feedback on their task in a week, I do my best to get back to them with the information in time. Should it happen the feedback is not ready yet, I inform the candidate with honesty that it’s taking more time than expected. And, well, sometimes, in the hustle of everyday work, it does happen. Though we do our best to deliver on our promises.

Feedback: a proper blend of form and content

Sometimes it’s not the feedback message but its form that triggers the candidate off. So, before hitting the button Send with my recruitment feedback, I do my best to weigh my words, wanting them to be apt and constructive, and at the same time I don’t want to beat around the bush. A vague message will leave the candidate confused, full of doubts and unanswered questions, and, quite possibly, with a sense of not being treated seriously. Concrete information, giving a direction for improvement, all seasoned with positivity and kindness may do much good. Also, I really avoid being confrontational and always bear in mind it’s vital for me to stick to the facts and job requirements.

Appreciate, affirm, and encourage

I like to start my feedback message with simple but personalised (as much as possible) words of appreciation, showing that my team and I recognise the candidate’s effort and thank them for their time.

Then I do my best to affirm what was good. Simply to help the recruitee identify and reinforce their strong points. I note the candidate’s strengths, wherever I can, and I tend to be specific and give examples.

Next, I explain whether the applicant meets the requirements for the position, and, if they don’t, I encourage the candidate to improve by directing them to various sources, and showing them areas they could work on.

If there are any remaining questions that might have stayed unanswered during the previous interactions, I provide an answer. And, equally important, I ask for feedback myself!

Two-way street

Feedback is a way of engaging with a candidate in an honest give and take. And in Snowdog we believe it’s really important to ask our candidates for their point of view at the end of the recruitment process. How it went from their perspective, what was good, what could be improved, if they were satisfied with the duration of the process. We appreciate any suggestions that could make our recruitment process work better in the future. It’s also a great means to understand they way our candidates think, what they appreciate, and what doesn’t necessarily work for them.

Case in point

I’m writing this article with the words There’s no failure, only feedback echoing in the back of my mind. All in all, each experience is a lesson. And with this inspiration in mind, let’s get to practice.

And to give you an example of how I and my fellow recruiter put the theory into action, have a look at an example of the recruitment feedback we provide after an interview part:

Hi XXX, thank you for meeting with us yesterday. Having discussed our feedback with XXX (hiring manager), I am sorry to say we will not be inviting you to further steps of the recruitment process. You did great during the first part of the interview, however, the second part showed some gaps in your technical knowledge and skills, please find below the reasons for our decision: 1. Soft-skills part: When it comes to soft-skills assessment, you’d be a great fit. You showed a lot of creativity and empathy towards your colleagues and you seem to be a great team player. You mentioned some really great ideas (such as…) and demonstrated very good organizational skills. 2. Tech knowledge: While you do have a general understanding of how things work, you’re still lacking some hard skills in the given field, for example, …. You mentioned a lot of good practices in your responses (such as …), but … Your responses were to the point, but sometimes were lacking details or a bit more structured knowledge. In the future it would be great if you could back your answers with some concrete examples. So, it’s mainly for these reasons that we decided not to proceed further with your application. To help you develop further in your career path, we would like to recommend you this book: XXX You can also check the online course on the matter here: XXX It will help you catch up with some technical basics and give you a bigger picture. I really appreciate the time and effort you invested into this process and I hope, even though the outcome wasn’t positive, this experience can still be useful to you. Also, we believe that feedback is a two-way street and would like to ask you how the recruitment process went from your perspective. If you could, please, fill out this quick survey XXX, it would really help us make sure that we provide our candidates with the best experience possible. I wish you the best of luck with your future career steps :) XXX

So, if a candidate hasn’t made it in our recruitment process yet, let’s just focus exactly on this last word. ‘Yet’ means there’s still something to come and the candidate may well get there and be much better professionally… just later on.

Words have power. The power to build trust, to give wings, and to create partnership in recruitment. Let’s try to make the best of them, then.