Dear Manager with Manners, 

I recently wrote a blog article about candidates ghosting a recruiter, but let’s remember that follow-up is a two-way street. The short and skinny of that article is this – do not, for any reason, stop communicating with a hiring manager or recruiter. And guess what? That’s the same rule of thumb I’m going to tell you. Let’s get to the details. 

So, you’ve done the majority of the work already, right? You wrote the description, posted it, got an influx of candidates, narrowed it down, sat through a lot of interviews (good and bad), and you’ve made your selection. Congrats! 

However, it’s super easy to fall into the trap of giving 100% of your attention to your new hire and putting the hiring process behind you. Let’s be honest, it’s a pain to follow back up. But I promise you can pencil in time to send a candidate a quick email or spend five minutes on the phone with them. 

Hey, recruiter! This rule goes for you, too. If you interview a candidate but never submit them to the client, you have to be honest and let them know why they weren’t submitted. 

So, you’ve got the email up, but what do you tell them? 

Be honest! Just not brutally honest. Let them know why they weren’t selected, but be sure to keep their spirit high. You don’t want them to go into the next interview feeling discouraged. 

Here’s my template:

1. Let them know that you enjoyed speaking with them. Mention something specific if you can. Example: I really enjoyed hearing about how you managed the XYZ team to accomplish ABC. 
2. Simply state that they were not selected for this particular job at this time. 
3. Tell them at least one thing that they did really well in the interview process.
4. End with an encouraging reminder that they are a great candidate and the right role is out there, maybe even with this company down the road. 
5. Make yourself available to give specific feedback if they’d like to hear it. 

And that’s it. It’s not rocket science, but doing this quick and easy follow-up could save you from the unintended repercussions of pissing off a candidate. 

Ever heard of Glassdoor? It’s a website that lets candidates rate interview processes and review hiring managers. Many of my candidates check out Glassdoor prior to heading into interviews. Those reviews matter. The reputation of your recruitment business matters. Following up with candidates. Don’t give someone an excuse to leave a review out of frustration. 

I cannot tell you how appreciative candidates have been when I followed up on their status. Unfortunately, I hear way too often that they never hear back from the recruiter or hiring manager. I hope this gives you some good insight about how and why following-up is so important. 

Sincerely,
Jenny