Tell HN: Don't leave candidates without reply

8 points by werbel 4 years ago | 5 comments

Hello everyone,

Most of you already know this, however, if it's a food for thought or a reminder for at least one person, it's definitely worth it.

• Please, never leave candidates in recruitment process without reply. •

Recently I had an actual pleasure interviewing with quite young and promising startup. Four meetings with three technical founders. Great moods and immediate, positive, mutual feedback. Last one ended with “We’re going to debrief today and let you know what the next steps are”… and then nothing.

Personally, I don’t mind. It’s more of a red flag for me than disappointment. I’m also 100% OK being rejected as I understand that with such a small team, even purely personal, vague hunch is enough to make such decision. By now, as probably most of you, I’m also confident enough in my value that it doesn't affect me directly in a negative way.

Not everyone is in a such fortunate position though. For people at the beginning of their careers and those struggling with self-esteem for any other reason, this can be literal torment. Getting a decent job, they’ve spent a lot of time preparing for, is such an important foundation that everything else is on hold in their life until that happens.

As a friend, partner, or a mentor, I’ve rode a passenger seat of weeks-long roller-coaster rides from excitement to doubt. I’ve witnessed months of stress from being stuck in a limbo. I’ve seen last bits of self-confidence being completely stripped away and depressions deepened when no reply hits as “I’m not even worth a short email”.

It doesn’t have to be complete lack of response and reactions don’t have to be so severe. Yet, while from a company perspective recruitment process of a single person might start and finish within half an hour, on the other side it could be even years of rejection.

I’m not asking for charity and it shouldn’t affect actual hiring decision. However, on behalf of those that don’t have their voice in professional environment yet, I’m pleading for •compassion•. Simply by keeping them as informed as you can, as promptly as you can.

For you, the recruitment team in your company, or anyone else in your network, it might be a minute of effort to write “We’ll get back to you by the end of next week” or “Unfortunately, we decided not to move forward”. For the recipient, simply knowing where they stand can make the biggest difference in the world.

LinuxBender 4 years ago |

I would add to this, whether or not someone is going to be hired they should have a quick follow-up that is polite and professional and in person not email. The candidate should not be left with a sour taste in their mouth after the experience. Even if they do not get the job, their friends might. The word of mouth is powerful and this is highly connected small world. This is something that recruiters at good companies are supposed to be teaching the teams performing the phone screening and doing in person interviews. As stated, a lack of this is a red flag. If people say they are too busy, that is not a valid excuse. Hiring quality people and providing a professional experience should always be the highest priority.

werbel 4 years ago | |

Yes, completely agree and thank you for expanding.

I mentioned the absolute minimum so there's no excuse. At the same time, even a robotic, automated reply is infinitely more than nothing.

Jimini-Snicket 4 years ago |

Received a rejection letter 6 months after application, I forgot I had applied.

pinewurst 4 years ago | |

I've received them 10+ months after application. I just assumed they were cleaning out their ATS and those were auto-dispatched on record deletion.

polka_haunts_us 4 years ago | | |

I received a rejection 18 months after an application, which was then followed by a notice soon after that the rejection was sent in error and that they were extremely excited to move forward with the process.