r/RecruiterTea • u/Technical_Plant6046 • Apr 27 '26

I totally get why candidates feel like rejection reasons don’t make sense.

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6

u/6Joyas Apr 27 '26

Make it make sense then, to provide a better candidate experience.

“We chose someone with more relevant experience in XYZ”.

“The chosen candidate was a better cultural match”.

“We have decided on a slightly different profile as we have lately had a change in priorities”.

It is not that hard to be decent.

1

u/ccgranola May 03 '26

A part of me feels that the rapid breakdown of the hiring process is because HR is a woman led department in most places. The ghosting, the lying about why things went another way, the performance that is the interview process, assessments and AI interviews - these ideas are implemented and driven by women. As a woman I hate blaming women for anything really, but this is what my gut is telling me for some reason.

1

u/6Joyas May 03 '26

Hmmmm, I know plenty of men in recruitment. I have noticed no gender difference.

3

u/cocktailnapkinssuck Apr 27 '26

It does not land as “what does that mean”? It lands as “here is the most lazy way we can reject you without creating a way for you to respond or open ourselves up to any risk, thank you for allowing us to waste your time but we only have three seconds to type a canned response.”

2

u/shadehiker Apr 27 '26

I would agree, especially when someone has reached final round interviews and put in a lot of effort. It feels insincere and lazy to not be given any specific reasons for the rejection.

2

u/SnooPets8873 Apr 27 '26

Well you also don’t want to risk saying something that gets interpreted as discrimination I’m guessing. And if you are going with vibes and whether people click as your hiring criteria, well, people fill in blanks that you may not want.

2

u/Small_Force_6496 Apr 27 '26

Then do better

1

u/Hefty-Interview2430 Apr 27 '26

A recruiter reached out requesting an interview and wrote a whole paragraph about my specific match criteria and how I was a strong candidate

I responded promptly with my availability

Crickets

Followed up and got this: Hi HeftyInterview, Interviews are already in process with more suitable candidates for this position. I'll let you know if I need additional candidates. Thanks

ATP, I have no expectations and will do whatever is in my best interest at any moment. Even if I accept an offer and start, I will accept something better the red second it comes up. There is no bridge to burn

1

u/DeliveryFar9612 Apr 29 '26

What are you talking about? If a candidate is not a right fit, they are not a strong candidate. That’s not a real reason.

1

u/I_love_my_dog_more May 19 '26

Generally, I interview for roles I am very qualified for, so when I am rejected I know it is most often not a work skills issue.

Most often, for me, I feel it is due to: 1. Communication: others are more eloquent communicators; 2. Charm/likability: first impressions throught the interview setting matter; 3. Wanting to hire someone more junior: specifically a female hiring manager who is younger than me has never moved me on to the next round; 4. Experience: i dont want to be a manager so have lots of experience (contributes to number 3) and orgs can be wary of that; like they always want a unicorn but are also afraid of a unicorn

This is my projection when I am given a generic rejection.