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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.

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  • Just to be contrary myself (and though I whole-heartedly agree with what's been said above), I think there may be another aspect to this. I've been in many interviews where I've suspected that someone hasn't done themselves justice because of their nerves - we all have.

    But sometimes, where a role depends on good communication skills and all you have to go on is an off-tempo interview where the candidate hasn't managed to connect with the interviewers, you can't be sure that their poor communication was down to nerves. It probably was, but maybe not. Making a decision that it was "just nerves" wouldn't be right without further evidence.

    If you are genuinely in the situation where no one ticks all the boxes, the suggestion to get the candidate back in for an informal chat with the team, a tour of the site, etc, might give you the opportunity to check that properly. You certainly can't lose.

    Finally, I agree that I'm more nervous in interviews when I really want the job - but I've also been more nervous in interviews when the interview set up has put me off balance for one reason or another. It might be a good opportunity to review the process and the personalities involved - because if all the candidates failed because they were too nervous, it probably wasn't about them.
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  • Just to be contrary myself (and though I whole-heartedly agree with what's been said above), I think there may be another aspect to this. I've been in many interviews where I've suspected that someone hasn't done themselves justice because of their nerves - we all have.

    But sometimes, where a role depends on good communication skills and all you have to go on is an off-tempo interview where the candidate hasn't managed to connect with the interviewers, you can't be sure that their poor communication was down to nerves. It probably was, but maybe not. Making a decision that it was "just nerves" wouldn't be right without further evidence.

    If you are genuinely in the situation where no one ticks all the boxes, the suggestion to get the candidate back in for an informal chat with the team, a tour of the site, etc, might give you the opportunity to check that properly. You certainly can't lose.

    Finally, I agree that I'm more nervous in interviews when I really want the job - but I've also been more nervous in interviews when the interview set up has put me off balance for one reason or another. It might be a good opportunity to review the process and the personalities involved - because if all the candidates failed because they were too nervous, it probably wasn't about them.
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