Q. I've managed the recruitment process for my department's interns for a few years now, and this year I've come up against a new tactic that's giving me pause. It's one I'd thought of using myself in my job-searching days, but now that I'm on the other side of it I'm not sure if it's a good idea.
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After receiving a standard "thanks for your application, we've selected someone else" letter, two candidates from different schools wrote to ask if I could tell them where their application had been lacking and what they could do to improve. As I said, I'd thought of doing this myself once, but now I see that it could put a recruiter in an uncomfortable position. In this case, there wasn't a specific reason I didn't choose the candidates -- it wasn't that we had a GPA cutoff or required a certain degree of experience -- they just weren't strong contenders, for a variety of reasons. And if there were a specific reason, I'm not sure how candid I could be about it, legally.
I don't fault these students for asking the question; I just don't know what to tell them. From your standpoint, how much can I tell a candidate?
Marian A. These are tough times for candidates, with fewer traditional internships being offered, and so it is no wonder that some will be genuinely worried and curious about what didn't work for them. Each
year, we get way more qualified candidates than we can hire, so in many cases, it's not a case of where they were lacking.
If you can give them some time -- and these are not two-minute phone calls -- I would try to answer a question other than "Where am I lacking?"
It might be, "What should I do now if I am not landing an internship?" If they can apply again in the future it might be, "What can I do to be a better candidate next year?" Or, it might be, "What can I do to make my application stronger?"
Trying to describe a person's deficiencies -- especially when they really don't have any -- discourages them and can make them defensive or angry. Instead, make this a coaching conversation that looks ahead and that gives them some positive strategies or suggestions they can act on.
I think it is perfectly appropriate for a recruiter to...
