because the one doing the rejecting doesn't have to, so they don't. there's absolutely no upside unless you want to spite someone intentionally.
see also: friendship, dating, sales, party invitations
Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
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Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#12Nothing unknown was said in this article.
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#13I've just hired several new employees and at the risk of sounding all "firstworldproblems" it's a more draining and tricky process than I expected (not too dissimilar to being the interviewee, to be fair). This article nails it by saying judgments are often subjective or open to argument - in my case, it was always either down to experience or personality, and with the latter one, you're not going anywhere good by te…
as the old adage goes, finding a job is a full time job.
and so is finding the right candidate. if you rush, it can lead to a huge, costly mistake.
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#14I tried to implement at one place I was a Lead Dev. We wanted to let candidates allow to ask when we reject them why.
We got a string of really bad candidates, it really didn't make sense as a policy and was shot down.
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#15because the one doing the rejecting doesn't have to, so they don't. there's absolutely no upside unless you want to spite someone intentionally. see also: friendship, dating, sales, party invitations
I think if a company provides feedback it would make me more likely to apply in the future. If they ignore you, definitely not.
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#16Not only does fear of lawsuits prevent companies from disclosing no-hire reasons, it prevents them from even recording those reasons internally. If you get rejected and don't know why, take heart: a year from now the company also won't know why. You can apply again as if it were Groundhog Day.
It really, really depends on the company. A certain company has interviewed and rejected me three times, for the last two times the interviewers showed up with lists of questions from previous times.
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#17because the one doing the rejecting doesn't have to, so they don't. there's absolutely no upside unless you want to spite someone intentionally. see also: friendship, dating, sales, party invitations
Your "see-also's" provide good perspective. It's not just legal.
Some of the situations you identify (dating, friendship, sales, as well as interviews) have the attribute of "found nothing compelling". There was no single problem, but nothing emerged in the package or the interview that stood out.
In this case, the lack-of-match is not obviously the candidate's fault, and trying to provide feedback is forcing a conclusion ("that's your problem right there") that isn't justified by the information gathered.
And the best thing in such a case may be to say nothing, because you know nothing. ("Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.")
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#18I get it that giving feedback can expose a company to lawsuits and takes a lot of time, now, what's the excuse for not even informing the candidate of the rejection? many companies simply stop communicating.
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#19I once received feedback after being rejected for a position. In this particular case I knew full well why I hadn't been given me the job, but nonetheless their willingness to open up about their decision making process made a big and lasting impression on me. Of course, it was a startup. No company with more than 20 employees would probably even consider doing something like this, and unfortunately I doubt that will…
> At the other end of the spectrum are companies or teams that don't even bother notifying candidates they've been rejected. I'm sure they have good reasons, but to me that sends a negative signal.
As someone who's done that before, it's because my plate is too full (my own fault), which is why I'm looking for candidates, and I'm busy dealing with everybody who is still in the pipeline or getting used to working with the person who got through the pipeline.
Then I tell myself "Fuck, I really should send those people an email explaining my decision. But I don't know what to say or how to not sound like a dick. Fuck it, I'll do it tomorrow".
Then this repeats for a week. Then two weeks. Then three weeks.
Then I tell myself "Fuck, if I do it now, I'm just going to look like an even bigger dick for not having done it yet. Best never contact this person ever again and if they happen to bump into me in real life, pretend I didn't see them and hope they don't recognise me."
That said, big companies have professionals whose job it is to make sure this doesn't happen.
Re: Why Do Employers Rarely Offer Explanations to Rejected Candidates?
#20Oddly, Facebook(where the author works) is the only tech company that has given me actionable feedback.
Yep. I asked the HR rep if people get mad or threaten lawsuits. She said a few people will argue ("I solved that problem!") but she just pleads ignorance on tech details.