Rejection by any other name should smell as sweet
An industry peer of mine recently applied for a job with a big well-known company. The first and second round interviews came and went with positive outcomes. There was some online testing and further assessment and when it came down to it, she missed out on the role. When she reached out for feedback, she was told the company policy was that they don’t give feedback. On reading this email from my well-skilled peer, all I could think was - who benefits from that? With popular businesses and/or popular roles, the list of applicants can be long. But short lists are …well, short. Surely there is a few minutes to spare to provide a brief note on why they didn’t fit the criteria?
At lunch a few weeks back, some friends were telling me of an experience they had heard of during large scale grad interviews. Hundreds of keen graduates would turn up at 9am for a group interview for graduate positions with a global company. When the group returned after the morning tea break, it was half the size. No one talked about where the other graduates had gone or why. This leaves a bad taste in the mouth of those remaining while they wait for their turn to leave for ‘The island’ (if you have seen the movie you will know what I mean). While it might seem like the volume of applications requires a cutthroat response in terms of of ‘culling’ numbers for just a few roles, I’m sure there is a better way that at least informs those remaining (and those that didn’t make the grade).
Richard Branson as you might imagine gets 1000’s of applicants for roles at Virgin. He was concerned about the impact on those hopefuls as they were turned away. To manage this, he made a short video that helped them understand the process. You might say “well that’s impersonal”. Given the above two scenarios I have been told of lately, I would say a message from a CEO who has taken the time to care speaks volumes about the type of organisation that Virgin is aspiring to be.
Excellent people get rejected every day. Rejection is hard no matter which side of it you are on. But it’s even harder for the person left wondering how they could improve. Could you reconsider your candidate rejection processes to show your genuinely care and to better serve candidates given the effort they have made to apply?