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I still have PTSD from job hunting, and this is not because of anything else than rejection emails. But beyond rejection emails, there is the smh moment of being ghosted by recruiters. When I ask many young job seekers what comes to their mind when they hear “We will get back to you”, they laugh and tell me they know better than expecting feedback.
After a job interview, it's common to feel anxious and wonder how you did. Unfortunately, it's also common not to hear back from the employer. The waiting period or ghosting from recruiters is probably one of the job search's toughest (and most annoying) phases.
If you're repeatedly not getting feedback after your interviews, there could be a few obvious reasons why. But many times, we prefer to receive even negative feedback instead of total ghosting from companies where we interviewed at.
So, I met with a couple of recruiting officers to know what goes on inside their recruiting rooms while job seekers wait endlessly with mixed emotions. I got to know 5 reasons why we don’t get any feedback at all from recruiters after an interview.
While there is the factor of not being qualified or the best fit for the role, there are also reasons that really have nothing to do with you as a candidate. With these 5 reasons, you can troubleshoot and avoid making potential heartbreaks in future job search endeavors.
5 reasons why you don’t get feedback from recruiters
1. “Delay in receiving updates from other members on the hiring team”- Ify/ Tech Recruiter
A lot of times, it stems from a delay in receiving feedback from a hiring manager or any other person who took one of the interview stages. As a recruiter, I could have my feedback ready for the candidate, but when there’s nothing come from other persons who have spoken with the candidate, then there’s really nothing to feedback to them.
If it’s an in-house recruiter, it’s most likely there’s no final decision yet. You might be qualified and great for a role, but there are candidates who show up and are equally good. So, the conversation draws for a long time and employers want to be very sure of the best choice before ruling out the other person completely. And often, if time has elapsed for too long, they just move on without even getting back to the candidate. The same applies to recruitment from an agency. Agency recruiters have to interface with a lot of stakeholders and most times these people take time.
2. “Inability to give candidates negative feedback”
This is really a thing. Some recruiters do not know how to give negative feedback to candidates. They don’t know how to give such a disappointing message and so they allow silence do the magic.
3. “Overwhelming recruitment processes”
Another reason is recruiters are overwhelmed with the whole process. There are hundreds of submissions or more, and many of these move on to the interview stage. Engaging with a lot of candidates during the interview process makes it easy to just ignore those that will not be moving forward.
4. “Target roles no longer a priority”
It’s also possible that the role is no longer a priority, canceled, or on hold. Unless the candidate checks back, many recruiters just ignore and move on. So it’s not a case of being unqualified for a role, it’s just that the role isn’t needed anymore, or at that moment.
5. "Most recruiters and candidates think it's not important" -Wemimo/ Talent Acquisition Expert
I think it's mostly culture, most applications and adverts are semi formal. And both recruiters and candidates, sometimes, don't seem to think it's important, but the few candidates that call or mail for feedback end up getting one. And some just naturally believe no feedback means not considered, which is not true.
It's also important to request for feedback as a candidate. Sometimes, the silence is because some candidate are so good and are now considered for a higher position in the organization. After filling the initial position advertised, the recruiter keeps you in view but you don't bother to ask. When they get to that later date, the organization may not be able to contact the candidate again and have to consider someone else.
Bottom Line
Poor performance at an interview and not getting employed for a role are basic reasons why recruiters do not send feedback to candidates. And if you’re a job seeker, you should get fully equipped for your next interview. However, a candidate who interviewed for a role has the right to know if they got in or not. Ghosting candidates, in addition to constant rejection emails, affect their self-esteem and confidence to explore other opportunities.
But the recruitment process can be quite daunting, which is why a recruitment agency might be a discreet option to explore when there’s a need to hire.
So, do you have open roles to fill in your startup? CareerBuddy has the best hiring tools for handling the entire process, with a 90.3% candidate retention rate.
Contact CareerBuddy to hire your next employee!