Why Employers Don't Give Interview Feedback
Plus: Creative Ways To Ask How You Did
Candidates for employment often wonder why companies don’t take the time to let them know why they weren’t hired. In a perfect world, employers would always tell you how you did in a job interview. If you knew there were things you could improve, it would help set you up for success the next time around.
Being ghosted by an employer is hard enough when you’ve applied for a job and don’t hear anything. It’s even worse when you’ve gone through a hiring process that could include multiple interviews, presentations, and more.
Do employers have to give interview feedback? The short answer is no. For some civil service roles, guidelines may require notification. However, in most cases companies aren’t required to notify applicants why they weren’t hired.
Reasons Employers Don’t Let Candidates Know Why They Were Rejected
There are many reasons why employers don’t provide feedback to candidates they have interviewed. Most don’t. It could be because of concerns about getting sued by someone who was rejected, getting negative publicity online from disgruntled applicants who thought they were perfect for the job, or it could be a matter of the time required to respond in a meaningful way.
Legal Concerns
One of the main reasons employers don’t provide interview feedback is concern about legal issues. Companies are careful to avoid doing anything that could get them in legal trouble, including potential liability, discrimination issues, and allegations of bias from applicants who weren’t hired.
If job applicants believe they weren’t hired because of their gender, race, disability, or religion, they can file employment discrimination claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against employers who rejected them. State and local laws also protect against discrimination for job seekers.
Company Policy
Many company policies preclude giving candidate feedback. It can be hard to manage a feedback process in large companies with many offices, locations, and hiring managers. Employers need consistent hiring policies across the organization.
Automated Notification Systems
Often, an automated system (or HR department) handles the notification process, which may simply be a form letter (“we have decided to go with another candidate”) or even no follow-up at all. Interviewers may not be involved in sending rejection notifications and may not have any communication with applications after the interview.
Time Constraints
Notifying rejected candidates can be time-consuming. Unfortunately, many companies don’t have the resources to collect feedback from interviewers, compile responses, ensure their legal bases are covered, and communicate with applicants.
Angry Rejected Candidates
Another concern is the candidate's reaction and the company’s reputation. Angry rejected applicants have written nasty LinkedIn posts, trashed the company on social media, and given bad reviews on Glassdoor about why they weren’t hired. No employer wants to be dragged through the mud (and a possible public relations nightmare) because a candidate didn’t get the offer they expected.
Privacy Issues
Again, social media (and privacy) are issues. When interview feedback is shared, companies are concerned about being called out online and negative information being disseminated about them and their hiring staff. It’s not worth it to deal with problems that wouldn’t have been an issue if the employer hadn’t given feedback.
Multiple Interviewers Involved in Hiring
The hiring process is more complicated than ever. For many jobs, there are multiple interviews with various people, including recruiters, hiring managers, department managers, team leads and members, and other constituents who are interested in who is being hired. Everyone might not agree on who they like the best, so it can be hard to define a reason why someone didn’t get the job.
Subjective vs. Objective Decision-Making
The selected candidate isn’t always the best candidate on paper. Personality and other factors play a role, and it can be a subjective decision based on what the employer is looking for at that point in time and how the candidate meshes with the company’s staff and goals. Sometimes, one candidate connects with the team a bit more than the others, which can tip the scales in their favor.
Keeping It Simple
The simplest reason is that it’s easier not to get involved in sharing feedback, possibly getting into conversations with people you aren’t going to hire, setting yourself up for discrimination issues, or getting trashed online because the candidate didn’t like what you told them.
You Can Ask for Feedback (Here’s How)
Even though you may not get a response, one strategy for asking why you didn’t get the job is not to ask directly. Instead, phrase your questions as asking for advice on what you could do better or differently.
For example, you could ask:
Do you have any suggestions for improving my application materials or job interview participation?
Is there experience, skills, or qualifications that I don’t have that you felt would be important for this position?
Do you have any advice on what I can do to improve my hireability for a role such as this one?
Bonus question: If you liked the company, you could ask them to consider you for other positions in the future and ask for advice on what you could do to prepare.
Employers are more likely to give feedback over the phone because they don’t have to put anything in writing that could come back to bite them, but not many do. If you’re lucky enough to get a phone call from a hiring manager, asking a question or two about why you weren’t hired is perfectly acceptable.
Our Favorite Tips & Tools
Find a Remote Job: It can be hard to find employers that offer fully remote positions. Remote-First Coaching has created a list of fully remote or remote-first companies, meaning most employees can work from home. Also, check out Remotive, the site lists only vetted 100% fully remote positions. (Note: Remotive is a sponsor, but editorial recommendations are independent of sponsorship relationships.)
Cut Back on LinkedIn Notifications: LinkedIn has added some new notification features (like network catch-up updates), and if you are getting too many, you can opt out of those you don't want to receive. Here's how to change your notification settings.
Zoom Practice Meeting: Before you participate in a job interview, it's always a good idea to test your computer settings and make sure your background is appropriate and your appearance is professional. Sign in to Zoom's practice meeting for a trial run to ensure everything is set.
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