Candidate experience

The Note No Recruiter Wants to Send

Hi {{candidate_first_name}},

Thank you so much for applying for a position with our company. I’ve truly enjoyed working with you as your recruiter and main point of contact through our process! It’s such a competitive market for top talent nowadays, and we’ve been really excited about you.

I know you submitted your resume awhile ago and I’m really sorry it took a few weeks to actually start your interviews. When we first opened up the req there was so much volume to go through. So many people that apply online are not even close to being remotely qualified - it’s “spray and pray,” meaning folks who drop resumes for any open role, hopeful in trying to increase their chances. All it really does though is create a lot of volume and manual work for my team.

It’s this old ATS we have to use. Our jobs page is run by their software so that’s what you’re using when you apply. I know people complain about it being clunky and buggy. Does it really make you go through five pages of information even after you upload the resume? We’ve had it forever, and my boss doesn’t wants to look at any alternatives - he said we don’t have the budget for something new, even though this is the software I use most often, next to email.

I remember when I first saw your resume though – it can get pretty monotonous, reading through endless cover letters, but yours stood out - so thoughtful and well-written! It’s too bad that the interview process was rough. The Hiring Manager was very apologetic about missing the first scheduled time and then being 10 minutes late to the one I re-scheduled. I couldn’t help but march to his desk to remind him “I told you this candidate is amazing!” But most hiring managers are terrible at prioritizing interviews, so I suppose I’m used to it.

Then the on-site. They’re always a mess. I mean, the whole day must be so confusing and awkward for you, not having any idea what’s going on, playing musical chairs with different conference rooms all day, and answering the same questions over and over again from unprepared interviewers. I feel like I’m constantly nagging other interviewers, reminding them to get to interviews on time, read resumes before they walk into the room, and submit feedback quickly afterward…I don’t know why interviewers act like interviews are such a chore. These are their future team members they’re helping recruit, they should know how important this is, right?

About timely feedback though, I can’t blame them. No one likes logging into the ATS to submit feedback, I’m pretty sure half of them don’t even have the password anymore. Secondly, most of them don’t have much interviewing experience so people feel pretty unsure about being asked to make a hiring call. I mean besides Daniel who basically likes anyone who went to an Ivy League…

So. I just wanted to follow up and touch base - I was super bummed when I got your email about withdrawing from our process.

I remembered now though, you mentioned it early on, when you asked why it took so long from the job posting going up to actually start interviews…. You had said you were in late stages with other companies, but I didn’t realize they’d be able to move this quickly for you.

The hiring manager is going to be pretty upset when he hears. He’s understandably stressed out about this search, which means the existing team struggles with the workload longer. I feel like as a recruiter, fingers are pointed at me whenever we lose someone like you. I wish hiring managers saw me more as a partner, not just a scapegoat. I really like my job, I’m good at it, but I get the feeling that people think I’m in recruiting because I have to be, like I can’t do better....

Hey, I’m glad for you. I’ve actually heard really great things about them, and I hope you’ll like it. No, thank you - you were really great to work with and it’s been really good getting to know you so far. I’ll make sure we’re connected on Linkedin! And you never know, our paths could cross again some day! I would really like that.

Best,

{Recruiter}

 

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*Image from Death to the Stock Photo

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