Getting feedback when a company declines to make an offer
I recently interviewed for a position at The Atlantic Monthly as part of their data team. After two hours in person, a phone screen, and a two hour coding test, I was told I was "in contention" -- and then they went radio silent for two weeks. Finally I heard back from the recruiter that they had declined, but provided no other feedback. I contacted the hiring manager, who I'd already exchanged several emails with, to ask if he had any constructive feedback, but did not receive a reply.
I understand the potential reluctance of a firm to provide feedback to candidates they decline to hire, even ones they feel are reasonably strong: they are probably concerned about legal ramifications. But still, this feels unprofessional, especially when you've spent a day or so invested in the interview process.
I'm curious what the HN crowd has to say about this.
23 comments
[ 5.4 ms ] story [ 68.5 ms ] threadOtherwise keep playing the game according to their rules.
It's never comfortable, but it's something that I think you deserve to get.
Just as a side note, I think a lot of people know why they were rejected. It's rare that people think the interview went great and they still did not get an offer.
i don't think this is true at all. Being on both sides, i know most people i interview have a higher opinion of the interview than i do.
But also the interviewer might truely like you, and so you feel good about things, but someone higher up nixes the hire, for nebulous reasons.
It's not dissimilar to why many companies can't provide more info on reference checks than the dates of someone's employment.
If you don't recall any major red flags, it really might just be an issue of fit. Maybe you didn't have a specific type of experience or expertise that they decided would work best for this job (and another candidate did). It doesn't mean you're not a great candidate, just that you're not the right candidate for this job at this company.
Can you give an example of specific kinds of feedback that would open a company up for legal action?
When you communicate, be clear that you're a grown-up and are look for constructive feedback.
Sounds like this may have been your first job interview ever, TBH.
Move on.
At your next interview, ask the final tech interviewer before you leave, what their impression is. I wouldn't do this with every interviewer because the response (good or bad) will change your psyche and affect the rest of the interviews through the day.
Don't bother asking the HR person (usually they are the final person you speak to before you leave), they won't tell you anything useful. For smaller companies, where the HR rep will have some useful feedback for the hiring manager, do make an impression on them before you leave that you like the company and the folks you met and hope that you'll be a good fit, etc. A compliment about some aspect of the company wouldn't hurt either.
And look at it this way. It doesn't matter what the feedback is. If you're not a good fit, you're not a good fit. If you feel the reasons are wrong, you'll just get mad about it (and frequently their reasons are wrong, but the interview format doesn't allow for deep exploration of any candidate). If they are right, they are right. You shouldn't change your presentation of yourself based on some company's personal, biased impression. You should find a company that wants to hire you.
"I'm always looking for ways to improve, and I've found in my career that interviews are a great way to expose oneself to new growth opportunities. If you, or anyone on the team, has some feedback based on the interview, regardless of whether or not I get the position, I'd love to hear it."
This has the added benefit of showing a few things:
[1] You're committed to growing and improving. [2] You're open to feedback. [3] You're showing you'd value their team's opinion, which signals your own interest in the team.
Mind you, a lot of companies won't want to share any information for legal reasons. Not much you can do about that, but it never hurts to ask.
Frankly, you should be honored that they actually contacted you to tell you they didn't want you. It is very common for companies to just hope you forget.
I've had a reasonably long career and have been blessed (and perhaps lucky) to have gotten almost every job I've interviewed for, so I wasn't quite sure whether feedback is the norm or not, as I haven't been in the position to assess that.
The summary, though, seems to be not to expect feedback, at least not post-interview, if you are not made an offer. This is understandable from a liability perspective. More professional companies will, after an interview, at least notify you (or your recruiter) that they have decided to pass on your candidacy. And finally, lack of feedback is not necessarily indicative of a poor, nor a great, interview. Any number of factors may have come into play, including, as far as one knows, say, that at the last minute the CTO decided to hire his cousin.
There are some cases where it's just attitude. Like I feel this person was just blasting her resume to everyone and picked someone whose cover letter felt a bit more sincere.
There are plenty of cases where someone is simply not qualified. Or that I'd get the impression that this person is not very smart and choose not to move forward with the interview process.
Weak English is another major reason. We rarely need someone good with algorithms or a specific tech skill. This is all learnable. What we really need is someone who can build what we want the first time, and not spend 2 weeks building the wrong thing. Or having to hire someone else to read the manual for them. It's really hard to explain why you'd think someone has poor English. Grammatical errors and a few typos are okay. But sometimes it feels like some effort to simply communicate with the person.
Also do note that the person on the other end is human. We don't really want to say why we reject someone, as the reason is often unfair and false. It's very uncomfortable to explain it. Easier to just ghost someone.
It does not matter if they want to have a no-feedback policy for legal risk mitigation reasons or anything else, it is just simply an unacceptable way to treat a person after taking up their time. And it becomes more egregious as they take more time with more interviews or assessments.
The hard truth is that most companies are bad, in a Moral Mazes sense, and the fact that these inhumane practices get adopted by the majority is not an endorsement that they are in any sense OK or tolerable. They aren’t.
When a company fails to give sincere feedback after taking up your time, just be thankful you get to avoid them, as it seems clear it would be a toxic workplace culture.