“They really liked you, but felt you were overqualified for the position”
This is the recruitment worlds version of “it’s not you, it’s me!”
At the start of my career, I used this all the time. It softens the blow of rejection and helps give the candidates ego, a little belly rub.
But is this really helpful for anyone involved?
This year has brought about post after post, from people saying they’re constantly being told they’re ‘overqualified’ for a role and that they can’t understand why they aren’t getting anywhere.
Feedback needs to help candidates get better; with the aim of improving their chances of being successful, the next time they interview.
Providing this soft form of feedback, adds no value and in turns leads to this mass attitude of ‘the HR/Recruitment process is broken’.
So… let’s all agree to stop using this cop out line, and candidates let’s agree to embrace some constructive feedback.
And you never know, we might just all end up with the results we want.