To feedback or not to feedback - it’s an age-old question debated by employers and jobseekers alike. Is giving feedback to job applicants necessary? If so, who should you give feedback to?

When we asked our LinkedIn audience the second question, there was a fairly even split between “everyone” and “only those who have had an interview or are one of the final candidates”. It also raised the interesting question of whether who you give it to depends on what you mean by the term feedback.

What do we mean by feedback?

Feedback can be put into two categories....

• General feedback about where a candidate is in the application process. EG Congratulations you've got an interview.

• Specific feedback on what that candidate could have done better in order to have progressed further in the application process.

How do you give feedback?

Let's start from the assumption that we agree that giving feedback to applicants is important. And it is. Keeping candidates informed and giving them feedback helps to:

• Shape them into a better candidate next time round - which might benefit your organisation if they reapply at a later date (especially if you liked them enough the first time round to progress them partway) or will benefit the next organisation that hires them and generally make the world a better place.

• Create an impression of your organisation as a decent employer, which makes it more likely the candidate will talk about your organisation favourably even if you don't end up employing them.

How and when you give feedback depends on whether you are giving progress feedback or detailed feedback.

Progress feedback

This feedback tells the candidate where they are in the application process. It might be positive - "We'd like to invite you to an interview", or it might be not so great - "We're sorry to tell you we won't be progressing your application further" or it might just be straightforward - "Thank you, we've received your application.

It's fairly easy to set up templated emails for this kind of feedback so there's really no reason not to offer it to all candidates. It gives structure to your recruitment process and keeps candidates well informed, which helps them manage their own jobseeking journey.

However, if you are getting hundreds of applicants (and in the current competitive job market, that may be the case), you may find it too time-consuming, even to send templated emails to initial applicants. In this case, we recommend telling candidates this upfront. Send a templated initial email acknowledging receipt of the application and explaining the next steps or add it into your job ad. Make it clear for example if you will only be contacting people who have been shortlisted for interview. 

If you are going to take this approach put a time frame on it. It's no help to candidates knowing that only interviewees will be contacted if they don't know how long they should hold out hope. Make sure the timeframe is realistic enough for you to get your initial sift done. For example - "Only candidates shortlisted for interview will be contacted. If you haven't heard from us within 3 weeks of the closing date, then we're sorry to say we won't be progressing your application."

Applicant-specific feedback

This type of feedback is more specific to each candidate and actually tells them what they have done well or not so well. The consensus is that this type of feedback only needs to be given to those who have made it through to the interview stage or beyond.

If you do want to give more feedback to all applicants you could consider a general feedback email to all those who did not get an interview. This could include some general themes of what the successful applicants did well so those who are unsuccessful can compare their own applications. Here's an example of part of a feedback email we've used previously at Do Good Jobs.

We used a shortlisting scoring matrix on the criteria we required for this position, with different weightings assigned to each criteria. The top-rated criteria included:

• Evidence of success in a similar role

• Experience building relationships

• Clear values alignment with the work that we do at Do Good Jobs

We were then impressed by those of you who:

• Wrote personalised cover letters that really dug into why you wanted this specific role, included past successes you were part of and mirrored back the specific experience or skills we were looking at in this project

• Showcased your interest and/or experience in working or volunteering in the for-purpose sector and how this has influenced your career. We also gave extra brownie points to those who had clearly researched Do Good Jobs, and understood our mission and values.

While not giving specific feedback to each candidate, it does make clear what we were looking for and what a successful application looked like.or those who reach the interview stage and beyond, you might consider giving more detailed feedback on their performance. Here are some tips to help you do that.

• It can be useful to record applicant's answers to interview questions and notes from their CVs and cover letters in a candidate scoring matrix. This not only helps you compare candidates when making decisions but it also makes it easier to pull out parts for feedback afterwards.

• Try to give your feedback as soon as possible after the interview or your final stage. That way it is fresh in your mind and also in the candidate's mind to help them reflect.

• Make your feedback specific rather than using generic phrases like "you didn't quite meet the skillset we were looking for".

• Try not to make all your feedback negative. It's already disheartening when you don't get a role, so try not to make it worse. So putting a positive spin on things that didn't go so well and highlighting things the applicant did do well can leave them feeling more positive.

• Keep your feedback professional and related to the application.

• Keep your feedback short and sweet. While you do want to help every applicant, you don't want to find yourself embroiled in lengthy back-and-forths with unsuccessful candidates.

Asking for and receiving feedback as a jobseeker

As a jobseeker, there's nothing to stop you from asking for feedback from a potential employer if they haven't provided it, especially if you made it a substantial way through the application process.

Send a polite email asking if the recruiter would have time to provide you with some feedback. You might like to propose some specific areas or questions that you would like feedback on to make it simpler for them.