There’s nothing more frustrating than when candidates ghost, right? You spend so much time getting to know a promising potential employee, and then — poof! — they disappear without explanation. Now imagine how candidates feel when you do the same thing to them, offering no explanation for why they weren’t chosen. Unfortunately, it’s happening frequently, leading to the highest candidate resentment rates ever.
After a poor candidate experience, rejected applicants become less likely to apply again, recommend your brand to others, or purchase anything from your company, harming your employer brand. On the other hand, when candidates did receive feedback, they were 30% to 50% more willing to refer others compared to those who didn’t get feedback.
But how do you give unsuccessful candidates feedback as a consistent and effective part of your hiring process?
At ClearCompany’s ninth annual Talent Success Conference last month, our top-notch talent acquisition team shared how giving candidate feedback has helped build up our employer brand. They gave TSC attendees a gold mine of advice on why giving post-job interview feedback should be a priority and how to do it effectively — even when it’s awkward.
Now, we want to share their advice to help recruiting pros like you understand the importance of candidate feedback. Let’s dig into the insightful discussion with ClearCompany’s Brian Abraham, Director of Talent Acquisition, Brian Smith, Manager of Recruiting, and Senior Recruiter Catherine Patterson.
Why Giving Candidate Feedback Matters
We often talk about how a positive candidate experience impacts your ability to hire top talent. As an indicator of the employee experience at your company, it’s a deciding factor for many in their job search. But unfortunately, it’s also an anomaly — hence rising candidate resentment rates. 2024 CandE Benchmark Reports showed resentment climbed to a record 15% in North America and 28% for candidates in the tech industry.
“The bar is so low for candidate experience that a positive candidate experience is an exception to the norm these days,” said Abraham, citing a 2024 Forbes article.
Thanks to feedback from job seekers themselves, we know that they’re fed up with long, drawn-out interview processes and getting ghosted by potential employers. 50% of candidates just want transparency around their application status. In the current landscape, consistent communication during the recruitment process alone is a huge differentiator.
But your talent acquisition team can take it one step further by providing rejected candidates feedback on their interview performance. 70% of candidates say a clear reason for their rejection would leave them with a positive impression of the company. Candidates want to feel their time and effort are respected — 35% said that a recruiter who makes them feel appreciated is critical during the hiring process.
What better way to do that than by giving actionable feedback that can help your unsuccessful candidates ace future interviews?
The simple truth is that while you’re going to have lots of excellent candidates, you won’t be able to hire every one of them. You want to do your best to maintain a positive relationship with them — maybe they’re a great fit for a future opportunity or have the perfect recommendation in their network. But you’ll never know if you’re ghosting candidates and sending generic rejection emails.
Put in the extra effort to offer feedback to candidates who aren’t chosen to foster trust and strengthen your employer brand.
Common Challenges in Giving Candidate Feedback
There are plenty of understandable reasons your company might not be giving candidate feedback, as the ClearCompany TA team discussed. Even if you’re giving positive interview feedback, it can be awkward to tell candidates that they’re not moving forward in the hiring process and explain the why behind that decision.
The hesitancy to give feedback, said Patterson, is often due to fear. Recruiters might be afraid of offending a candidate, inciting a lawsuit, or other negative responses. “With the prevalence of social media, I think there’s a fear of an interaction being posted publicly,” said Patterson.
Smith said another reason could be a lack of context from the hiring manager about why the particular hiring decision was made. “I think it’s really important to get on the same page as the hiring team before the recruiting process starts so you can deliver that feedback when necessary.”
Even though it can be difficult to give negative interview feedback while telling candidates they’re no longer being considered, it’s worth pushing through the discomfort. “Overwhelmingly, I’ve had more positive responses to negative feedback than anyone coming back and disagreeing,” said Smith.
How to Give Effective Candidate Feedback (Even When It’s Negative)
Improve the candidate experience at your organization with these tips for giving candidate feedback from ClearCompany’s own Talent Acquisition team.
Make Recruiters “Guides” to the Interview Process
At ClearCompany, recruiters take the role of “a guide to our company and the interview process, not a gatekeeper,” said Abraham. What that means is that recruiters are not “standing in between the person and the job they want,” but instead, they “stand side by side… and say, ‘Here’s how this process is going to go,’” said Abraham.
Recruiters “want to start building a partnership right off the bat where [candidates] know you are looking out for their best interests,” said Abraham. “In doing that, you’re setting up an environment where they’re not going to view negative feedback the same way when you’re already giving them a bunch of the information they need to be successful.”
One way to start building that trust right away, said Patterson, “is by really clearly explaining what the interview process is going to look like, as well as what to expect at each stage of the interview process.” You can do that during candidate screenings to set expectations.
“Your employer brand, which is really your relationship with these candidates, is built on a foundation of respect. If you don’t give it when it matters most, it’s not going to come back to you.”
- Brian Abraham, Director of Talent Acquisition, ClearCompany
Don’t Make It Personal
Pointing out candidates’ areas for improvement is never easy, but our TA team has some advice for taking the sting out of criticism and offering helpful feedback.
When giving negative feedback, said Patterson, “I try to speak to the role and not to the person, and I avoid any negative feedback related to personal or character traits that may feel more like a personal attack rather than constructive feedback.”
She gave an example of how you can reframe feedback you receive from the hiring team to relate it back to the role’s requirements. “If I received feedback that maybe a candidate lacked the professional communication style that we really needed for that role,” Patterson said she’d tell the candidate that “for this role, we really need an individual who has a bit more experience communicating with executive leaders.”
Phone Calls vs. Emails
You don’t have to make hours of phone calls to give candidates feedback, according to our TA team. In many cases, especially in the early interview stages, an email is just fine.
When you are calling candidates to let them know they’re no longer being considered, Smith has some tips for delivering the news. “When I get on a call with somebody, I really want to share that positive feedback first and kind of lighten the mood a little bit,” he said. It also gives them “something that they can take away to their next interview” to help land their next opportunity.
Deliver Feedback Quickly
One of candidates’ most common complaints — and a top reason they drop out of consideration — is that hiring takes too long. They’re left hanging for weeks on end, wondering if the hiring manager is just out on vacation or if the role is long since filled.
“Getting back to candidates in a timely manner can definitely make a big difference,” said Smith. In addition to the time they’ve already invested in your company, “they might have other interviews going on or have to make other decisions.”
At the end of the day, giving candidate feedback — and delivering it in a tactful, timely manner — is about respect. “Your employer brand, which is really your relationship with these candidates, is built on a foundation of respect. If you don’t give it when it matters most, it’s not going to come back to you,” said Abraham.
Watch the full TSC session for tips on writing candidate rejection emails and delivering both positive and negative feedback.
A “Revolutionary” Candidate Experience
What did a rejected ClearCompany candidate tell our President and Co-Founder Colin Kingsbury about his candidate experience? Why did another call the ClearCompany candidate experience “revolutionary?”
Download the Talent Acquisition team’s full TSC session to find out!
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