The Reqs is our fictionalized recruiting team battling real-world talent acquisition problems. Through multiple episodes, the goal is to show you the real problems and how our solutions can help you solve those challenges in this current environment. These solutions aren't aspirational. They are tried and true because they come from multiple years of building talent programs, recruiting, and building teams for multiple industries and for companies ranging from startups to public.

Now on to Episode 3. This episode? This is the episode about situations we see the most that we wish we didn't. Just remember: It's fixable. Ask about The Interview Arc workshop series - a program that trains your interview panels while your recruiters focus on recruiting.

Episode 3: "Ghosted Feedback"”

Una didn't even get her coffee mug all the way up to her mouth because the email she was reading made her so angry. It was there—midway between her throat and her chin—as she pursed her lips.

Hi Una,

I hope all is well. I just received a rejection email about the role I was interviewing for and honestly I'm a little disappointed and confused. After speaking with Sidra (who I know is out so that's why I'm emailing you), the hiring manager, and then the department head—all interviews I thought went well—the generic rejection email had no information so I reached out to your recruiting coordinator for feedback (they were listed on Sidra's OOO). They said they had no feedback—that it was all positive in the notes.

I know from my past candidacy and interacting with you that you are usually really good at giving some feedback in this stage, so I didn't understand how everything was positive but I got a generic rejection? Any help you can give me would be great. You and your team are usually pretty exceptional so I thought maybe it was a process thing. Thanks for all your help from the past.

Una took a deep breath and marked the email unread. Immediately she went to her messaging platform and pulled up the new recruiting coordinator.

Una: Hey Alex, do you have a few minutes to chat about a candidate for Sidra's Product role since she's out? I just got an email I'm confused about.

Alex: Sure.

Una clicked the video chat button to initiate. Alex joined right away.

"Thanks for joining so quickly! I know Sidra will be back in a few days and we've had a few check-ins, but I just got an email from ___________ and it was confusing. They got a generic rejection email?"

Alex's face dropped.

"That's totally my fault. I didn't mean to send the generic one! I was trying to get information from the scorecards in the ATS and I saw that there was nothing really helpful there. So I pinged the hiring manager and they were like 'Oh I told Sidra my thoughts already' and I was all 'But Sidra's out and we don't have any notes' and they were all 'Oh maybe she left by then. Let me see if I can find the email' but then they went to a meeting and ghosted me. And then I was cleaning out the stages and I sent the generic one by accident but I didn't mean to, so I just left it because I didn't want them to get two."

Una took a deep breath. She went to the candidate record in the ATS. The notes left by the hiring manager and the department head were embarrassing. She checked their interview training record—last training was a year and a half ago. She looked at her calendar. Her own req load was currently at 20, Alex was at 10, and Sidra's were going to be 25 when she got back—but currently she and Alex were managing her reqs. No time for training.

"We have to fix this. This is a candidate who's been in our pipeline for two years—we've just been waiting to find the right role which I thought was this one, but we can't not send feedback—especially after having a hiring manager and department head interview."

"I know! I'm sorry I goofed on the generic one. I just didn't want them to get nothing but the hiring manager said to pass and then ghosted me."

Alex was newish to corporate recruiting. And meant well. Una knew mistakes happened so the process part was fixable.

"That's okay. Next time just ping me directly—"

"You were so busy—"

"Not that busy. Our candidate reputation is important and we may have lost some credibility here. I'll talk to the hiring manager but next time loop me in. We're a team."

“This is all new for me. I didn’t come from a place that cared so much about what the candidates thought. I promise I’m trying!”

“I know you are. And not everybody does it how we do it. Every place is different. I wasn’t the kind of candidate people fell over but I knew I could do a great job. I want everyone to feel like they have a chance here. Including you.”

"Thanks, Una."

They ended the video call. Una rubbed her temples and pulled up her boss on messaging.

Una: We just had a very strong candidate get treated poorly. I know we chatted about this before and the recruiting team is so busy recruiting that some of our important things like training and process are suffering. I need some training money and time. Our interviewers can't be the reason our reputation suffers.

Boss: It's not a candidate market, Una…

Una: It's not right now. But nothing is forever and you know I hate being reactive. Besides, we don't want to be like every other company. That's in our values.

Boss: Ugh. How many reqs do you have open again?

Una: This quarter? About 60 for three people.

Boss: That's a lot of reqs.

Una: That's a lot of candidates.

Boss: Let me see what I can do…

There’s no need to let your talent problems continue. Recruiters are busy recruiting but we can solve your training challenges to ensure you are getting the best candidate assessments you need to make your business stronger.

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