Reject Via Telephone

Is rejecting an applicant via Phone norm ?

JBS
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

You want he should ask you to dinner?

Simon Lucy
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

No, but a consolation prize like SuperBowl or an MP3 player would be awesome!

Pepe Le'Pew
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

No, it's not the norm. The norm is to just leave the candidate hanging.

If you meant "is it polite or proper" then I'd say yes. In fact, I would personally prefer it since I'll get a phone call before I'd get a letter.

Philo

Philo
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

In fact I'd say it's preferrable, because it would give the rejected party the chance to ask what was the deciding factor in the other guy's favor or where he was deficient.

Good feedback to have for the next time.

old_timer
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

"In fact I'd say it's preferrable, because it would give the rejected party the chance to ask what was the deciding factor in the other guy's favor or where he was deficient."

Nobody will give you a straight answer to that question - too much potential liability.

Norrick
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Bah, you wimps. There's no liability if you didn't break the law in the first place.

I answer this question honestly. Nobody's ever sued me.

Brad Wilson (dotnetguy.techieswithcats.com)
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

> Bah, you wimps. There's no liability if you didn't break the law in the first place.

And even if you did, so long as you don't say "Because you're a black, jewish transgendered lesbian woman in a wheelchair" and make up some other excuse, you should be fine. ;)

Sum Dum Gai
Thursday, March 4, 2004

If someone wasted half my day calling me in for a face to face to say 'sorry dude . . .' , I might feel honour bound to argue the toss.

As for giving objective feedback on a rejection, well, in the current climate you might interview ten excellent candidates and give the job on the basis of a very marginal difference in perceived ability. In which case, objective feedback might seem a little petty. 'Hey dude, we didn't give you the job because the successful candidate only made three apostrophe-errors in her CV and you had four.' Or worse still 'we thought the successful candidate was a slightly better fit for the social mix of the team.'

BOTV
Thursday, March 4, 2004

Had a chuckle at Philo's response. Too true.

pdq
Thursday, March 4, 2004

Actually, I think that a written notification (paper or email) would be acceptable as well. Basically, I just want to know, by any means, as soon as possible, so I can continue making other arrangements.

The only really rude and unacceptable option is to not notify the unsuccessful candidates at all (which has become far to common, as Philo notes).

Bill Tomlinson
Thursday, March 4, 2004

Microsoft. It was on the 4th day after my Onsite Interview - I got the Call from -425 Area Code - Answered the Call - hoping a +ve News...

Alas - :(

JBS
Thursday, March 4, 2004

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