What is constructive feedback? 5 Tips for giving effective candidate interview feedback

During the recruitment process, it's easy to overlook the process of giving candidate feedback from interviews, but it really is important and in turn, reflects on your organisation. It also gives you the opportunity to help unsuccessful candidates for future roles, pointing out where they can improve in weaker areas the next time around.

As recruiters, we seek to provide every candidate with constructive feedback on an interview, focusing on useful and specific information to help a candidate improve their performance or to understand what skills they need to work on in order to secure the type of career move they are looking for. Our aim is to help them understand how they can do better in future, rather than simply pointing out what they did wrong.

According to a survey by Debut of 70,000 job hunters between the ages of 18 and 23, a huge 77% thought that feedback should be a legal requirement and 80% of those asked had never received interview feedback.

But giving meaningful, valuable candidate feedback can be tricky. There’s an art to delivering critical feedback and tips for improvement, without causing offence or demoralising someone.

Here’s our tips for providing constructive feedback:

1. Ensure you make notes in the interview, and type them up afterwards

Taking notes during the interview and writing them up immediately afterwards ensures that all key points are recorded when they are still fresh in your mind. This can help you provide clear and concise feedback to the candidate, as well as allowing you to accurately compare how different candidates performed.

By taking detailed notes you can easily identify a candidate's strengths and weaknesses, as well as specific areas needing improvement.

2. Keep feedback professional

Feedback from interviews should always be provided in a professional manner while maintaining a non-confrontational tone. The ideal approach is to be "honest but kind" giving clear and direct feedback while also taking the candidate's emotions into consideration. When providing feedback to candidates who have made it to the next round of interviews, it's essential to acknowledge their strengths and what they did well in the previous round.

Be sure to listen to their perspective and provide an opportunity for them to ask questions or to provide their own feedback. Ultimately, providing constructive comments to candidates is an opportunity to help them grow and develop, and can contribute to a positive recruitment experience for all involved.

3. Ensure everything you say is constructive

When giving candidate interview feedback, make sure that everything you say or write is constructive. For example, if you notice someone struggling with a particular question during the interview, provide them with specific guidance on how to answer similar questions in the future. This can include tips on what kind of information you were looking for, and what to avoid.

When giving feedback, make sure to be specific and provide actionable advice that the person can implement in their next interview or similar situation. By doing this, you can help the person to grow and learn from their mistakes, while also showing that you care about their success. Remember to keep the tone positive and encouraging, as this will help to build trust and confidence between you and the other person.

4. Be specific and include context

Be specific and include context. Share examples for everything you’re saying, referring to specific questions and answers from the interview. This can help the candidate understand exactly what you're talking about and where they need to improve.

Providing specific examples can also help the candidate see their performance from your perspective. This can help them understand how their behavior or responses may have come across and provide them with a clearer picture of how to improve. Video interviewing is a great tool for providing specific feedback to candidates, as it allows you to quote them directly and provide clear examples of their behavior or responses. By using video interviewing software, you can capture the entire interaction and provide feedback that is very specific and actionable.

5. Include positive feedback as well as areas for improvement

Don’t forget to include both positive comments as well as areas for improvement in your interview feedback. This can help build the candidate's confidence and make it easier for them to accept more critical points.

Make sure your positive feedback is genuine and specific. For example, you could praise the candidate for their professionalism or for their ability to think on their feet during the interview. This can help to balance any criticism and ensures the candidate feels encouraged to improve.

The timing of interview feedback is also important. It’s fine to take time to organise your thoughts and deliver criticism sensitively, but waiting too long is bad for all involved because it can cause frustration and anxiety for the candidate and can reflect poorly on your company. Lastly, don’t forget to ask for feedback on your performance from the candidate too. It can be hugely valuable to get their thoughts on your process, the interview in general as well as your business’s Employee Value Proposition.

This can help you to understand how to improve your recruitment process. as well as highlighting any issues such as delays and waiting times, inconsistent candidate experiences, and overly complex processes.

By providing feedback from interviews that is specific, timely, actionable, respectful, and balanced, you can ensure your recruitment process is a positive one, regardless of whether an applicant is successful or not.

Did you know that our CASTTalent Solution includes our consultants carrying out all first-stage interviews, ensuring that feedback is provided to all candidates, and ensuring your employer brand is communicated consistently?

Contact us today to discuss your hiring needs and find out how we can find the talent your business needs to succeed.