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Submitted by Nevergiveup on
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I have very detailed interviews and rate different aspects of a candidate when I do the interview.

Is it OK if I let my feedback and notes be known to them? It is my first impression of them, and if I were were candidate I would be very thankful for the feedback.

Having said that, I know this goes beyond convention. I am OK if he knows what aspects he needs to get better to impress the next interviewer. I'm ok if he knows this, just as long as he's telling the truth I really don't mind him knowing what I felt he was weak in.

What are your thoughts on this?

eatafrog's picture
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I say keep your notes to yourself. Your job is to interview people and find a good fit for open positions in your company, not to give feedback to interviewees. It seems like you've developed a good system for learning about candidates. That's worth retaining.

jrb3's picture
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I view it as a kindness to do this, especially as someone experienced interviewing more junior folks, so I do this on occasion.   No negative repercussions so far that I know of.  It lets me extend my network into the bargain, so I really should be doing this more often!

I only use personal channels for this.  What I make clear is that it's a personal connection, not official and not representing the company in any way.  The first "personal" contact is merely to get permission to add to my network and to find out whether s/he's would like some of my thoughts on the interview.  When the reply expresses interest, I give brief summary about what I saw, what I heard, and what I felt -- those in certain Toastmasters clubs will recognize this formula for structuring speech evaluations.  Conversations can continue from there, just like for someone I met at a party or in the grocery store.

It's all clearly on the personal level, on personal channels.  I've not yet been somewhere that company policy blocks such an effort to improve the pool of candidates within my profession; so I've never had to decide how to resolve that conflict.

jrb3's picture
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I've used "official channels" for this in one situation:  where I'm the owner of the company, and the feedback is an optional (and short!) extension of the call I make to tell someone s/he's not going forward in the interview process.  Again, a chance to extend the network, and can give me a sense of whether this interviewee gets on my "bench" or might be worth spending some attention on.

I suspect a fair number of executives use both these tactics -- I've not asked.

jrb3's picture
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Missed making a vital emphasis:  I give summary not the [detailed] notes.  Those notes are part of your work-product for your company, and (as part of its interviewing process) should be kept company-confidential.