[idrios]

The best rejection letter I ever got was a personal note from the person hiring, saying "You were good, but we just needed someone who is stronger with [x], [y], and [z]". It felt actionable because it told me things I could improve on.

Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position". Even if not true, it's a good "it's not you it's me" type of rejection.

[geuis]

I just had one like this from a well known company over Christmas. I had made it to the first interview and it went exceptionally well. I received a follow up the next day that they were excited to continue and the hiring manager would reach out soon to schedule the next round of interviews.

Unfortunately a day later I got a notice from them that the role I was interviewing for was being closed down. They encouraged me to look for other roles I was interested in and we could continue from there. I sent two, and then right after new years was informed they were freezing all hiring until mid January when they finalized their new head count. Then they were among the number of companies announcing new layoffs in the last couple weeks.

Talk about disappointed but still being appreciative. I'm still excited about maybe getting on with the company one day simply because they treated the hiring process with a lot of respect and didn't waste my time. It wasn't a me thing, but just bad news coming down from higher up internally.

[dmurray]

> Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position".

"We'd rather have no one than you!" seems like it should be more insulting, really. But I get it.

[hashtag-til]

An actionable feedback is quite good. To be fair, when recruiting we usually pass the feedback to those nice HR folks, who basically throw them away.

[blahyawnblah]

A lot of companies won't say why for fear of litigation

[dghlsakjg]

I hear this excuse all the time, but can anyone give first hand knowledge of how realistic this fear is when giving feedback about performance during a technical portion? Any lawyers or managers here that have faced actual consequences for giving feedback?

Having now been on the hiring side of things for technical interviews, I'll give feedback when asked, but I think that most people don't give feedback because its kind of a pain in the ass if you aren't organized.

[tqi]

Yeah, I think the risk is that there is a larger surface area for recruiters or hiring managers to do it badly: https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/zenni-49ers-glasses-disc...

[tjpnz]

Even in countries where said litigation couldn't happen.

[Beldin]

In most non-dictatorships, private parties are free to start almost any civil case against each other. The judge may grant a motion to dismiss for things that are obviously bogus, but a decently filed grievance about the hiring process, supported by the counterparty's own statements, would likely require more scrutiny.

That is: the litigation could probably happen in most countries and even not be summarily dismissed.

[drawnwren]

I wonder how much of this is just their salary depending on the hiring market being as inefficient as possible. Seems like clear communication could go a long way to reducing HR workloads.

[okdood64]

Back in 2016 I got rejected from Square. Admittedly I didn't do well on the interview and wasn't surprised.

The recruiter actually got on the phone with me, and pointed out the signals (from notes from the hiring manager) that I was lacking for them. And how I could improve if I wanted to interview with them again.

It all felt very respectful. Good for them for going above and beyond.

That said I don't expect any company to tell me anything beyond "No thanks" after a failed interview.

[zem]

I gave someone feedback like that once; they actually came back a few months later to reinterview, having worked on the gaps. got hired and went on to become one of our best developers.

[Aeolun]

I used to think I liked rejection letters that came with actionable feedback, until I actually got it and realized it was all rubbish.

[jvanderbot]

I practically wrote my own rejection letter for Canonical. Their interview process required doing multiple long form writing responses, including telling them why I was an amazing High School student. I wasn't, and I'm quite proud of how much I've changed since then. As if the jerk from 1996 had any bearing on anything of relevance. Laughable.

I don't want to be surrounded by people who can still brag about high school.

[dodos]

I had a very similar experience with Canonical when I was looking for my first job. The entire tone of the transaction was very negative and passive aggressive. It made me nervous about their work culture so I decided not to continue the application process. I'm still a bit bummed about it since I would have loved to work in that space.

[sokoloff]

I had to submit my SAT scores for a job at D. E. Shaw & Co.

I paused and had to check with the recruiter to make sure I'd heard her correctly. (I had.)

[DaveExeter]

What's wrong with that? SAT scores measure IQ, and can't be gamed like grades.

[StreetChief]

Have you ever seen this chart? SAT score correlates almost exactly with income.

https://www.futurescienceleaders.com/yvr1b/wp-content/upload...

[sokoloff]

What is the relationship across those income ranges between income and parental IQ?

https://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/08/least-surprising-cor...

Saying that SAT scores correlate closely with income in response to someone claiming that SAT scores measure IQ could be a statement of agreement or disagreement, depending on the relationships among the various measures.

[jvanderbot]

SAT is a decent measure of IQ when corrected for the number of times you've taken the SAT. Rich folks can take it a lot, including prep courses.

[StreetChief]

Are you just out of college?! That is insane to me.

[sokoloff]

I was in my late 20s at the time and had graduated from a well-known engineering school. They ask everyone, even tenured professors...

It was also the single highest-density pool of talent that I've ever worked with, then or since. Our office manager had a PhD from Colgate.

[kunley]

At one job, Canonical was our vendor and I need to admit, they tended to be arrogant also towards the paying customer.

[smsm42]

I've talked to some Canonical interviewers and they all were perfectly nice. No "high school brag" vibe at all. I suspect people who wrote those long form questions and people who actually do the interviews are completely different departments and the latter have no much influence on the former.

[smsm42]

The worst ones I've gotten are those that I didn't get. Like, after being actively engaged for several weeks and passing some interviews, just... wall of silence. Come on, people, if you don't want me - drop me a note, at least give me some closure.

The weirdest ones were "we don't want you, but we will keep your data in the database just in case". Like, in which case? Do you have any other positions that you think I could match? Why not talk to me about them then? Do you expect to have them in some indefinite future and expect me to stay unemployed in the meanwhile? Or do you expect me to drop the position I just recently started in the meantime and jump to your company as soon as you call - because that's the kind of employee you're looking for? I'm just not sure what's the message here. Is it just general "we don't want to hire you, but don't worry, you're not a complete basket case, there's still a chance we might hire you eventually. Or maybe not". Confusing.

[red-iron-pine]

> Aside from that one, the rejections that were the least self-esteem-damaging were ones that said "we've decided not to fill the position". Even if not true, it's a good "it's not you it's me" type of rejection.

"there is a hiring freeze put into place"

bro it's early Feb-Mar, the job advert is < 30 days, and budgets came out but a few weeks earlier -- hiring ain't frozen.

best guess was that it was a security-related tech company, and turning down people, esp. reasonably qualified ones, in a way that makes them mad is akin to drawing a target on your head. give custom feedback to those who got through the interview process so they feel like they are at least looked at, and shootdown the rest via something that feels impartial -- otherwise these wanna be blackhats will try to DDoS you.

[otteromkram]

Conversely, the worst ones are those that are super generic and hit your inbox at 3am. On the weekend.