Over the course of the last year, Bendel Services had had the pleasure of working with many candidates who are in the business of applying for positions in the world of work.  At last count, we were up to 607 clients.  In the course of our work with them, we are proud to say that we have maintained an on-going relationship with many who call for continuing assistance, report in on the status of their candidacy or who want to check on some generic aspect of the interview before they head into that daunting experience.

One of the refrains we hear all-too-often is that, despite the request, they rarely receive any feedback – and even when they get feedback, it is often not helpful.  It should be noted that these applicants are not likely calling Human Resources or the chair of the interview team to complain about the process or to ask for additional consideration.  Mostly they are after answers to this single question: “What could I have done to improve my performance on this interview so I can use your suggestions in the next one?”

The standard reply goes something like this:  “You had a great interview but we had a fair number of candidates from which to choose. There were quite a few who had more experience in the field than you do and we decided to go with those people.”  If you think about it, that statement says nothing really helpful to the candidate.  It justifies the selection.  Good feedback is not about your process; it’s about candidate performance.

First, let’s be clear.  Candidates who call back for a debriefing are serious candidates.  They have likely taken the time to prepare fully for the position in your organization of whom you are, for them, the representative.  The candidates have shown interest and willingness to prepare and to put themselves on the line in what we all know is a nerve-wracking experience.  Don’t they deserve more from you in return?  Don’t you have the responsibility  to represent your organization as an invitational organization, one that people would want to work for especially when the day comes, and it will come, that there is a shortage and you’ll need applicants to fill your vacancies? You need to realize that you are talking to someone who will talk to others.  Being available to offer high quality feedback is one of the ways you can leave people with a positive impression and you never know when you are going to need them.

So what constitutes high quality feedback? Here are a few tips:

1. The candidates (and you) will be well served by having a script that will give you quality data to substantiate your observations.
2. Start with positive data-based observations.  “If you recall in Question 3, we asked about your experience.  I really liked the way you handled it. In addition to drawing on some of the experience you had that was relatable to the position, you indicated that you would be very willing to undergo any training the company offered or to take some additional training through the local college.”  A statement like that leaves the interviewers with a very positive impression of both your enthusiasm and your willingness to do what you have to do to get the job done or “I watched you interact with each member of the team.  I noted that you used their names in responding to their questions and also made eye contact regularly, looking down only to check your notes.  That gave us the kind of formal but personal touch that we were looking for in our candidates.  Don’t forget to do the same thing in your next interview.”
3. Don’t be excessively critical.  Understand that, if candidates are looking to improve and had asked for a debriefing, they must be prepared to get an honest reply – but an honest reply that is stated in such a way as to concentrate on interview “behaviours” and not on the “quality or value of the people” as candidates.  If candidates, for instance, do not manage the time well (candidates tend to spend too long on the first question and get caught at the end) tell them about the need to improve time management in the interview.  “We had five questions and thirty minutes or roughly 6 minutes per question in terms of response time. My script tells me you spent 12 minutes answering Question # 1 (you had a dynamite answer though it proved too long) and about 90 seconds answering Question # 5.  That caused you to miss a real opportunity to ‘show your stuff’ in that last question and weakened your overall performance in terms of quality information.  Next time you’re in an interview, do the math for the response time and stick with it.  Wear a watch or monitor the time if there is a clock on the wall.  That should help address this problem.”  These are just a few examples of the kind of feedback you should/could give.
4. End on a positive note.  While still being honest (you don’t want to encourage a poor candidate to reapply), if appropriate point out that your organization is often in a hiring situation and you would encourage re-applying if the opportunity arises again.  If you can’t say that, simply end with: “I hope this gives you some useful material to consider the next time you present yourself for an interview. Thanks for your interest in us and for following up with us.”

Finally, by way of a general comment on feedback:  Be honest. (“To thine own self be true/And it must follow as the night the day/Thou canst not then be false to any man.” says Shakespeare.)  At the same time, you do not want to destroy people’s confidence or sense of themselves.  Allow them to leave a feedback session with a clear understanding of where they need to improve, a positive impression of your organization and, above all, with their dignity in tact.  They are owed that much.

Join us next week with the first of our series on alternatives or additions to interviews for selection purposes. We guaranty it will “stir up some debate!”

Dr. Dan

To arrange a customized Interviewing webinar for your recruiters (with examples on how to create alignment between the job description, advertisement, selection process, reference checks, debriefing, training and appraisal processes) contact Jen and Dan at info@bendelservices.com.