We, recruiters, always remember to follow up rigorously with candidates with whom we move ahead. However, in order to close the positions faster, we often forget or even sometimes get lazy in giving feedback to the rejected candidates or to the ones who are never considered for the interview in the first place.

All the declined candidates are NOT bad performers; there could be several reasons for their rejection. Letting your candidates know the rejection reason respectfully and thoughtfully is one of the most crucial steps in the hiring process.

Giving negative feedback is always an unpleasant task, which most of us like to avoid. That’s where you recruiters play an essential role in safeguarding not only your brand as a recruiter, but also your company’s brand, by handling such sensitive talks with your candidates tactfully. Your style of communication can either make or break the great candidate’s experience.

So, let’s talk about the 5 Ws for articulating feedback to the declining candidates for elevating your employer's brand.

1. Why deliver feedback—First, to generate a positive candidate experience, which in turn strengthens your company image and network multi-fold. Many studies have shown that when candidates experience timely communication throughout the hiring process and receive a reason for their rejection, they appreciate it.

Different candidates react differently to a given feedback. Therefore, it is crucial to communicate it well.

While many candidates take specific feedback as a learning opportunity for their next level, some may consider it personal and feel offended and question your decision. Therefore, some recruiters believe that if the rejection is on grounds of behavioral issues (e.g., attitude problem) or discriminatory issues (such as, pregnant women, local candidates only), giving neutral feedback is the safe bet to stay away from unwanted employment complaints.

Second, this will help you build a stronger talent pipeline, which results in closing positions faster. You may grow your LinkedIn connections by adding declined candidates in your network who may be competent for other roles and by asking them for a reference who could be a potential match for the open position.

Note: You may get access to your candidates’ connections if they have an open setting in their LinkedIn account for showing their relationships to their 1st-degree ones. You never know when these connections may turn out to be useful to you.

2. Who should deliver feedback— Recruiters are in touch with the candidates from the starting point of the hiring process, so you should be the face of the company for all sorts of communication—you build a rapport with candidates over time and can better empathize with them in delivering negative feedback as well.

You sound more confident and professional in front of the candidates when you do your homework, by receiving concrete feedback from the interviewers and the hiring managers in advance. Never hesitate to ask for the honest feedback from them. This binds interviewers to document detailed feedback during or after the interview, which not only helps you in passing it on to the candidates, but also in streamlining your search for further hiring.

Moreover, transparent rejection feedback excludes candidate bias in most cases and makes the hiring process more standardized and streamlined.

If you are new in the field of recruiting, I’d recommend you seek advice from the supervisor or an experienced colleague before articulating feedback to the candidates. There is no harm in doing so until you gain confidence in handling feedback situations individually.

3. When to inform candidates—Keep your candidates posted on the feedback as soon as you get the final decision, within a day or two after the interview.

Giving feedback within the time-frame usually happens for the candidates who are either clean select or complete reject. But there are scenarios when the hiring managers find it tough to convey the final decision in two days, and they demand more time to get back to you. The reasons for holding back the feedback could be numerous—for instance, the borderline performance of the candidate during the interview, or the project doesn’t get materialized and so forth.

Be upfront in letting them know why the feedback is being delayed such as, “We are interviewing other candidates for the role before we make the final decision”, or “The start date of the project is pushed back”, and so on. This way, you keep the candidate interested in your position even though it is taking longer to decide.

4. Ways to communicate candidates—Whether your company is a Fortune 500 company, a big enterprise, or a start-up, having written or verbal communication in different situations is a must that reflects on your professionalism.

You can set up an auto-reply in your applicant tracking system (ATS) if the candidate has never been interviewed. However, if you are a budding company and do not have an ATS, then you may have to respond to each unselected resume via an email. I know it’s easier said than done but try to respond to as many candidates as you can.

Furthermore, I strongly believe in phoning or speaking in-person to the candidates when they attend an interview with you. It is imperative to explain to them why the meeting didn’t work out well, and if anything changes in the future, you’ll contact them.

In addition, have a follow-up written email to close the loop. By doing so, we may get a chance to hear back something from the candidates as well. At that time, we can always encourage them to tell us their overall experience with us so far. You never know, you may get some real inputs about your hiring process such as resume screening time, interviewer attitude, and so on.

If you get positive feedback from the candidates, then you should leverage this opportunity by asking them to review their overall hiring experience on the review sites such as Glassdoor or over LinkedIn for your company. This activity is an inexpensive tool for building your company’s online reputation.

Without a doubt, that’s great word-of-mouth publicity for any company!

5. What to tell or write to the rejected candidates — This is the most crucial part of delivering the feedback to your candidates. Have a blend of generic and specific feedback during the different stages of the hiring process.

Avoid using the most overused phrase such as, “We’ll get back to you soon”. Always back your generic statement with the concrete reason that is specific to a candidate.

Your verbal and written feedback should start with the positive feedback(appreciate candidate’s time for the interview and highlight his/her strengths) followed by constructive criticism(his/her areas of improvement) and finally end the communication loop with a positive note( ask him/her to reapply in future or refer him/her to other hirers).

Note: Most companies have a cooling-off period for rejected candidates when they are not permitted to reapply with the same company during that period. The duration varies from company to company, from 6 months to 1 year. Hence, ask your rejected candidates to reapply after the cooling-off period is over.

Happy Recruiting!