How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole • Hacker News Board

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#21

Post by tomerico » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:39 PM UTC

jhchen wrote: post #19

ams6110 wrote: post #3

The reason many places don't do this is not so much to avoid feeling like an a-hole but to avoid accidental liability. There are so many things you can't say or ask in an interview, that a lot of companies that are big enough to have an HR person or department will require a very generic rejection letter just to be sure they don't provide grounds for a lawsuit.

Is there a way I can just waive my ability to sue? I would love to know my weaknesses in the eyes of others.

Not likely. Consider an extreme example where they admit they didn't hire you because you are black. They broke the law and cannot be protected.

In other words, your signature does not provide a lot of legal security

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#22

Post by v21 » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:39 PM UTC

I've got rejected a couple of times with good, useful feedback, and a couple of times with "We can't afford to hire anyone else for a while". In both cases, I end up happy for the feedback, not pissed I didn't get the position. I want to work for the company more than I did before. I follow the companies with interest, and feel a vague sense of attachment to them. If I saw the people who rejected me at some kind of conference, I would go up and say hi. I would recommend them to my friends.

So - please do this. Unless you don't care about my opinion of you. You may not.

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#23

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:40 PM UTC

jhchen wrote: post #19

ams6110 wrote: post #3

The reason many places don't do this is not so much to avoid feeling like an a-hole but to avoid accidental liability. There are so many things you can't say or ask in an interview, that a lot of companies that are big enough to have an HR person or department will require a very generic rejection letter just to be sure they don't provide grounds for a lawsuit.

Is there a way I can just waive my ability to sue? I would love to know my weaknesses in the eyes of others.

[deleted]

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#24

Post by variety » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:43 PM UTC

ig1 wrote: post #5

A lot of big companies do give feedback on request though especially for developer roles where you can give specific factual feedback (candidate was weak in multi-threading, etc.) It's one of the big advantages of technical interviews. You don't have to rely purely on subjective human judgement.

You don't have to rely purely on subjective human judgement.

And yet (aside from mega deal-breakers, like clearly overstating competence in some category) that's pretty much what hiring decisions come down to: "Are they for real? Can I rely on them? Will I get along with them?" -- the battery of contrived, essentially "objective" assessment that get thrown at candidates notwithstanding.

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#25

Post by andrewljohnson » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:45 PM UTC

This sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen to me.

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#26

Post by joe_the_user » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:47 PM UTC

tjr wrote: post #13

One time I got a rejection letter from a company that included a list of reasons that people are usually rejected. One of the reasons was spelling or grammar errors in their cover letter or resume. As it happened, this letter that they sent out contained both a spelling error and a grammatical error. In retrospect, this was perhaps a little too snarky, but I wrote back to them and pointed this out. They contacted me…

Well,

At least such a letter would alert the candidate to those errors, information that would be useful for future application.

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#27

Post by mcritz » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:49 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #3

The reason many places don't do this is not so much to avoid feeling like an a-hole but to avoid accidental liability. There are so many things you can't say or ask in an interview, that a lot of companies that are big enough to have an HR person or department will require a very generic rejection letter just to be sure they don't provide grounds for a lawsuit.

Avoiding a lawsuit is as easy as not citing illegal reasons for not hiring someone. E.g. “You’re a woman,” “you’re Indian,” “we’re uncertain how your disability will effect our workplace,” or “you’re too old.” (Or their codeword equivalents.) I think the author is just being civil and I commend him for it.

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#28

Post by crocowhile » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 9:59 PM UTC

oiuytgyuio wrote: post #2

You don't have any company lawyers do you? Most companies in the land of the lawyer don't even send rejection letters, just in case the candidate decides that it contains some grounds to sue you over. It doesn't even have to be good grounds - they just need a sleazy enough lawyer. The more info you give them the more ammo they have. Yes it sucks to simply not hear from a company, and it leads to negative recomendatio…

>Most companies in the land of the lawyer don't even send rejection letters, just in case the candidate decides that it contains some grounds to sue you over.

There are so many reasons I am glad I don't live in the usa anymore.

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#29

Post by smallblacksun » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 10:04 PM UTC

mcritz wrote: post #27

ams6110 wrote: post #3

The reason many places don't do this is not so much to avoid feeling like an a-hole but to avoid accidental liability. There are so many things you can't say or ask in an interview, that a lot of companies that are big enough to have an HR person or department will require a very generic rejection letter just to be sure they don't provide grounds for a lawsuit.

Avoiding a lawsuit is as easy as not citing illegal reasons for not hiring someone. E.g. “You’re a woman,” “you’re Indian,” “we’re uncertain how your disability will effect our workplace,” or “you’re too old.” (Or their codeword equivalents.) I think the author is just being civil and I commend him for it.

A good lawyer can twist almost anything into an illegal reason.

Re: How to reject a job candidate without being an asshole

#30

Post by mikeryan » Thu, Dec 09, 2010, 10:04 PM UTC

jhchen wrote: post #19

ams6110 wrote: post #3

The reason many places don't do this is not so much to avoid feeling like an a-hole but to avoid accidental liability. There are so many things you can't say or ask in an interview, that a lot of companies that are big enough to have an HR person or department will require a very generic rejection letter just to be sure they don't provide grounds for a lawsuit.

Is there a way I can just waive my ability to sue? I would love to know my weaknesses in the eyes of others.

Because the default tends to be to say nothing, frequently if you just ask directly for feedback may get it. Its a bit of a back door to the policy.

When I worked for "MegaCorp" we didn't give any feedback voluntarily but if a candidate asked me directly I would let them know. I frequently hired junior engineers* and felt almost a responsibility to give them some input, particularly if their issue was technical. If they were just an ass, I'd likely stick to the company line and not say anything.

* I found most senior engineers are pretty well aware of their deficiencies and almost never would ask for feedback.