Comments on: The Gift of No

By: Ayush

Ayush — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:18:00 +0000

Are Fresher candidates really ready to hear a NO?

By: Lisa Scales

Lisa Scales — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 11:13:00 +0000

I love this Heather – in my eyes Candidate Experience = timely honesty – thats all anyone wants in job application processes and in life! I think we have the opportunity now with the technology we have at our fingertips to remove Candidate Experience as a concept entirely – if it wasn’t a problem Candidate Experience would NOT exist. Love your post and love the honesty within it.

By: Heather Bussing

Heather Bussing — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:51:00 +0000

I agree that it’s also important for people to be honest with themselves about whether they are qualified for the positions they apply for. Why waste everyone’s time?

Part of it has to do with state unemployment benefits. In order to get benefits, you have to show you applied for jobs. Any job will do. In these situations, the “candidate” is really just looking for the rejection.

By: D. Mark Hornung

D. Mark Hornung — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:24:00 +0000

Excellent post, Heather. People want some certitude in their lives. That’s why, if an airline is going to cancel a flight, passengers prefer you just come right out and do it rather than keep delaying the flight until it is later than the one scheduled after it. Same is true with job seekers. Honesty and transparency are fundamental to a good candidate experience.

By: Tammy Colson

Tammy Colson — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:51:00 +0000

Thanks for saying this. It has been one of my goals in my contract recruiting to get the yeses and nos to the candidates as quickly as possible. However, if folks want to see more yeses, they need to make sure they are an 80% match to job requirements when they apply – and they need to be honest with themselves, along with at least making an attempt to tell me how you fit if its not completely obvious.

Otherwise, many candidates are setting themselves up for disappointment when they apply for a mechanical engineering job with a degree in molecular biology. There’s no turning that into a “maybe” fit. It does mean you apply for less jobs, but it also increases the chance of rising to the top of the heap.