Are you one of those , who have faced the case of – “not getting to hear from the HR ” or “not getting a proper feedback from the consultant”, post your interview for a job opening.
It’s interesting to see that the recruiters, who were constantly after you to attend a job interview and had been following up aggressively, have no feedback to share with you, once the interview is done.
Most of the time if you try to probe or seek feedback, you get a stock reply, most probably one of the below mentioned lines:
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We will get back to you / we are evaluating other candidates.
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We are yet to get a feedback from the hiring manager.
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The position has been placed “on hold” as of now, we will connect again when we start hiring.
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The client is evaluating other candidates and will get back to you.
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We are yet to get a feedback from the client.
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The position has been placed on “hold” as of now by the client, we will connect again when they start hiring.
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Please connect with the consultant.
In rare cases, you get the following reply:
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Sorry, your profile has not been shortlisted.
or, worded in a slightly better way:
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Sorry, we would not be taking this forward, as we have already closed the position.
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We have closed the present position, but would love to meet you again for any future openings.
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In an extremely rare case, you will get a – “feedback” along with the reply.
Well! the experience can be frustrating, it can be demoralising for you if the story repeats itself a few times. We can clearly say that the approach of the hiring managers and the consultants lack professionalism, but I think there is not much that can be done about the whole thing. The problem can be seen as a process level issue, but also have a lot to do with human psychology – “saying no”, and some thing to do with business needs and priorities – “the actual need and urgency to close a hiring”.
Why they avoid a negative reply?
If you are unsure about something, and you feel you may have to consider a candidate some time in future, you definitely wont say “no” and close an option. There is always a possibility that an employer, who has not given you a feedback on your interview, can call you up some time next month to take the case to the next level. It is assumed that a negative feedback will turn the candidate off from the whole process. Choice for many – stay silent than say a “No”.
Why do they miss out on feedback?
My personal belief and hopefully an appropriate one is that we are in a position to give a feedback, when we are sure about something and have reasons to justify a decision, when we are not we cannot really justify it – it will be too much of a hard work to create a justification for a “No”. Once again – its easier to stay silent.
Well, if you have ever felt bad about the whole scenario and have felt disappointed, with a possible negative thought about your own suitability or employability !! Relax !!.
There may be lot of other reasons for a “no reply” , a “negative reply” etc. and it may not have any thing to do with you.
Praveen is the Founder & Principal Consultant of KHEdge, a boutique HR & Business Process Advisory firm. Over last 15 years he has advised & worked with promoters, founders, business leaders, HR leaders in areas of - Business Strategy, HR Strategy, Organisation Design etc.