Hiring Tools: How to Provide Interview Feedback to Candidates

Is it easy for you to provide interview feedback to rejected candidates? If so, you’re among the lucky ones. Most recruiters are scared of screwing it up, offending candidates, or causing legal problems for their company. There are, however, ways to get it properly without any risks.

Providing candidates with interview feedback is a crucial step in boosting the candidate experience while using hiring tools. It also reflects positively on your company. Candidates can know where they succeeded and what they can do to improve and ace their next interview.

But, are you one of those recruiters who find it hard to provide feedback, particularly to unselected candidates?

Well, leveraging hiring tools just might make that process a little easier!

Candidates are more likely to re-consider your company for a position in the future if you give them feedback and comments on their performance during the interview process while implementing hiring tools.

With that being said, here are some tips on how to provide interview feedback to candidates while using hiring tools.

But first, what is interview feedback?

Interview feedback is the process of providing feedback to a candidate on their interview performance. It consists of taking detailed notes regarding the candidate’s eligibility for the position – during and after a job interview.

Candidates’ responses to questions, skills, or any remark that will make them a good match for the job are included in the notes taken. Your notes will give reliable input that can be shared with the rest of the hiring team to assist you in making the right decision.

Yet, providing candidates with interview feedback is optional and might not appear beneficial at first

But, it can be a true game changer.

Here’s how providing feedback after an interview using hiring tools like EVA-REC, might help you in the long run.

Do not compare candidates

Comparing candidates to others and bringing it up to them is not advised. Candidates understand that they are not hired because someone else was better. There’s no need to inform them. They don’t care whether someone else has more advanced degrees or has shown greater skills and abilities. It will not help them improve, and some candidates may find such comparisons offensive.

Comparing will not assist the candidate with improving, and a few will see this behavior as rude. Many others probably will not even accept it since they know nothing about the different candidates you interviewed in the company.

Suggest helpful and actionable ways to improve

Candidate interview feedback should be constructive and relevant. So when sending constructive feedback through your hiring tools, write a list of everything you want to highlight to the candidate. Mention and consider what they could do differently the next time they go through an interview. This way,you’ll help great candidates enhance their interviewing skills and provide you with incentives to recruit them in the future.

Yes, we all understand that feedback is crucial, but it will not be beneficial unless you help the candidate improve for future interviews. Counting specific and actionable ideas allows the candidate to understand what they did poorly and how they can do it better for next time.

Therefore, rather than just stating that the candidate’s skills could be improved, why not provide a few tips and approaches? If you saw the candidate needed more work in a specific area, let them know so they can focus on improving it more.

Praise candidates when possible

Highlight what the candidate did well without making it sound fake – false praise is never appreciated. However, if there were aspects of a candidate that you appreciated, express them. Feedback from an interview does not have to be entirely negative. Positive feedback can also do wonders.

Candidates must understand what they did successfully in the interview, to keep a good list of do’s and don’ts for their next big interview.

Positively highlighting things is a well-known approach for providing meaningful feedback hence why it is considered a great way to enhance the candidate experience.

So the next time you plan on sending a follow-up email through your hiring tool, you might want to compliment their job understanding and thank them for their effort and time during the interview.

Be specific about the feedback you give

If you decide not to inform the candidate the precise reason for why their interview or assessment was not successful, the candidate will be confused and well, not really convinced.

Be precise, transparent, and honest with all candidates leaving room for improvements to work on and develop their skills. Being specific about the feedback means you need to dig deep. Tell candidates what skill sets to improve.

For example, you may notice that the candidate is overly stressed and agitated. In this case, you might suggest that they try to calm down before the interview. Another example is if a candidate is applying for a sales position who lacks some communication skills, you can advise them on how to improve them.

Keeping it short

As an HR specialist, you need to consider providing feedback while using automated and reliable hiring tools like EVA-REC. Not every candidate will be a good fit for the job, but you can help them fine tune their skills, and unravel their full potential in their upcoming interviews.

Providing feedback after an interview is effective in the long run. When developing a competitive employer brand, candidate experience is a critical component to consider. And keep in mind that rejection emails are always appreciated by candidates!

EVA-REC, among plenty of hiring tools, is an award-winning platform that automates and improves the hiring process through next-generation AI technology. Small businesses to industry leaders rely on such hiring tools to find and hire the people they can depend on. If you’d like to try our award-winning hiring tool, book a free one-on-one demo here!

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