[sokoloff]

Having been in industry 30 years, it’s only about 15% of the time that I have any specific constructive feedback that’s worth sharing. “When you’re talking about problem X, first make sure you understand the problem because it seemed like you jumped straight into a solution that missed a key element of the question.” Or something similarly specific.

In most cases, it’s more “you did okay, but someone else did better in this noisy, wide error-bar interaction”; giving someone feedback of “just be better next time” isn’t particularly helpful or motivating and some candidates will take that as a invitation to press for further details which may not exist and certainly won’t be coming.

In cases where there is specific feedback, I give it to recruiters who hopefully share it with the candidate. (Anecdotally, I have talked with recruiters who have done just that, which is how I know that some candidates just won’t drop it.)

If you’re never getting specific feedback, it’s probably the case that you’re consistently doing fine in interviews and someone else just wiggled a little higher on that particular day.

[SoftTalker]

And often it boils down to an intangible "we felt a better vibe with candidate B" and that's probably something they will never come out and say.

My reaction to the feedback he got when he finally jogged someone into responding was like yours. It was the typical cliche rejection letter. Maybe a bit more personal than some. I'm sure that the "wires got crossed" and the "email never made it to your inbox" are just a smokescreen for "we hired someone else and didn't bother to let you know."