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Giving feedback after interview

Iwona Nowak

Hello,

I had a couple of interviews recently and I needed to reject all the candidates as they were not suitable for the role. One of the candidates got back to me asking for specific feedback. We felt that he was a great cultural fit, he had relevant experience; however he was nervous throughout the whole interview and didn't ask enough questions about the role itself, the team etc.

What would you advise to say to the candidate? Should I be honest with him and tell him that we felt that he didn't ask enough questions during the interview. Is it appropriate to mention that he was very nervous? 

I would appreciate your comments and advice.

Thanks,

Iwona.

Parents
  • I try very hard to encourage all of our managers to use a points-based competency question system (I go as far as to write them suggested questions relevant to the role). This doesn't need to take away instinct or gut from the process (in fact, it shouldn't: those feelings are important) but it does mean that, if a candidate is rejected and asks for feedback (frankly, I think that if you interview someone, you should *offer* feedback, not wait to be asked) then you can immediately produce the score sheet and spot the areas in which their answers were weak or lacked convincing evidence of comptence.

    Incidentally, this also has the effect of at least partly overcoming prejudice arising from a candidate's manner or appearance. If their answers to the questions were strong and well-evidenced then the way they presented those answers will often be overlooked or at least treated as another competency, measured alongside all the others.

    Remember: if you base decisions on how well someone performed at interview, what you'll get is employees who are good at interviews.
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  • I try very hard to encourage all of our managers to use a points-based competency question system (I go as far as to write them suggested questions relevant to the role). This doesn't need to take away instinct or gut from the process (in fact, it shouldn't: those feelings are important) but it does mean that, if a candidate is rejected and asks for feedback (frankly, I think that if you interview someone, you should *offer* feedback, not wait to be asked) then you can immediately produce the score sheet and spot the areas in which their answers were weak or lacked convincing evidence of comptence.

    Incidentally, this also has the effect of at least partly overcoming prejudice arising from a candidate's manner or appearance. If their answers to the questions were strong and well-evidenced then the way they presented those answers will often be overlooked or at least treated as another competency, measured alongside all the others.

    Remember: if you base decisions on how well someone performed at interview, what you'll get is employees who are good at interviews.
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