A couple of years back I was shortlisted for a well-known, reputed multinational organization and I had to appear for their recruitment drive. I had to report there at about 8:30 AM and the recruitment process consisted of GD followed a couple of rounds of interview. After clearing the GD and the first interview round, I appeared for the last round of interview. It was a managerial and HR round and mostly consisted of questions about me. I answered whatever they asked me and I could understand from their non-verbal expressions, that they were quite satisfied with my answers. I came out of my interview, getting a feeling of being shortlisted. But to my utter surprise, I was rejected. I left the building, thinking about where I went wrong considering the fact that I gave my best out there and they also seemed to be impressed by me. I was puzzled and confused and I really hoped at that time, that they should have told me after my rejection where I went wrong and where I can improve.

All I wanted at that time was feedback. Feedback would have clearly responded to my questions of   rejection and would have left me – less confused. Essentially feedback is considered to be the last and the most crucial step in the entire recruitment process. But sadly, many companies fail to provide a reason of their doings, let alone a plausible one. Companies should understand that when candidates are signing up for them, they should at least respect our decision by providing a platform where we can share our thoughts easily. In the recent times, feedback is considered to be a crucial step and a recruitment process is considered to be incomplete without this step.

Why feedback is considered to be a very important step is due to these reasons:

1. Feedback ensures the transparency of the recruitment process of an organization. It remove the fuzziness involved in the process of selection.
2. Candidates better understand what went wrong in the process and it makes them stronger when they appear for the next drive.
3. Feedback, if solicited from the candidates, help the recruiters to understand any loopholes in the recruitment process and it also provides an avenue for the recruiters to improve themselves.
4. Ensures transparency of the company which can promote the employer branding and can also be a tool or a source of great competitive advantage.
5. Word of mouth is a tool which can make or break an organization. As in the case of mine, if feedback was provided, even though I did not get selected, I would have definitely spread the good word for that company.

The process which most company fails to understand is very simple. Our industry thrives on feedback and to get a very first-hand experience of how any program appeals to the mass, one should definitely implement the feedback step in each and every process. From a candidate’s perspective, I can say that it is not feasible to get selected in every company, but if I am giving sometime for one company, I might as well know what went wrong for me to be rejected from that company.

As for companies, they should understand – Respect works in both ways.

Source – Self