Importance of feedback after a Job Interview

Bindu2 Comments

6/30/2011 6:37 PM

 Not every candidate makes it to the interview. Thus when a firm advertises for a vacant position huge number of people will apply. Then there is short listing of CVs. Once the CVs are shortlisted then the candidates are asked for their expected salary. Then there will be some preliminary discussion over phone about the interest and suitability of the candidate over telephonic interview. After passing through all these stages, if the firm still feels the candidate is almost fits in the position then it will ask him to come and have a f2f interview.

After this stage, if the candidate is selected definitely he will get the good news. Otherwise how many firms have the sense to inform the candidate that they have not been selected and thank the candidate for going through the whole process?

There are firms which do send regret letter even at the first stage where in the CV is not shortlisted. On the other hand most of the firms do not call back the candidate and inform him that he is not selected. Either the candidate will have to request for the status of his candidature or he has to presume that since they did not call he is not selected. Most of the times the candidate might find somebody who offers a job and does not bother about the results of the other interviews he attended.

This might not apply to government organizations where in the list of selected candidates is displayed on their website, and results are declared in newspapers. The candidates will come to know the results of UPSC, KPSC or SBI are announced and thus if their roll numbers are not there in the list they understand they are not selected. Also due to the huge number of candidates going for the interview it might not be possible for the organization to give feedback to each candidate.

Where as in firms where in 4-5 candidates are interviewed for a opening and one of them is selected or none of them are selected… it is the duty of the interviewer to inform the candidate that he is not selected and give him a feedback why he is not selected.

Now you might ask me, why should the interviewer give feedback?

When you are short listing a candidate for an interview, definitely you are doing so because he has the required qualification and experience.  You feel that if that person joins your organization you will benefit from that. You are not doing any help or favor to him by calling him for an interview. You are calling him because you feel he might be the right person. After the interview if you feel he is not the right person don’t you think it is good manners to inform him that sorry you don’t fit here? You are not paying him for the amount and time he spent to go through all the process of your recruitment. He would have taken leave at the place where he is currently working. He might have travelled from other city just to attend the interview. He would have kept aside so many other works just to attend the interview. After all this he does not even come to know that he is not selected. He just has to presume he is not selected. It sounds so awkward!

Now how does the interviewing firm gain by giving feedback to unsuccessful candidate?

It is important to inform the candidate about the result of interview, by doing so the organization shows that it is organized.

By giving feedback to the candidate about the reason for not selecting the candidates it will not only help the candidate but it will help itself as the candidate will be better prepared next time when he applies for the job with the organization.

If the candidate comes to know that he does not fit in with organization due to some inherent characteristic of his, he might not apply again and thus will save the time of firm.

The firm will have a healthy relationship with the candidate by giving honest feedback. The candidate might refer other candidates who are more suitable for the job. The candidate might maintain good relationships with the firm or the interviewer and might help the firm whenever necessary.

Let me give you some examples.

Candidate A attended an interview with the firm Z for the position of a counselor. The firm Z was planning to hoist new program suitable for MBA pass outs. The course would help the students better prepared for the corporate world.  The interview went on for almost an hour where in the interviewer told in detail about the firm, the course and objectives and the candidate told about her experience and expertise.  Candidate A was not selected as the firm found someone more suitable for the job. The firm informed the candidate about he/she being not selected and thanked her for the interest she showed in the opening.

Candidate A later on joined an MBA institution as faculty. Because firm Z was in touch with her and she knew about the course they are offering, she recommended the same to her students who took the course offered by firm Z. Thus firm Z benefited by maintaining good relationship with the candidate who was not selected for what so ever reason.

If every firm starts giving feedback after the interview every firm will benefit.  How does that happen?

These days most of the organizations give aptitude tests, psychometric tests to analyses the candidate. Thus a person who is not suitable for the post of a Trainer might be more suitable for the post of a manager.  Thus telling the candidate about the results of the tests he/she undertook the firm helps the candidate in choosing right career for him which would benefit every firm.

It’s true that firm wants to be on the safer side, does not want any arguments and allegations for not selecting a candidate, thus it would not like to mention anything like you did not have expertise in that or this, which might lead to arguments like, how can you say that etc.

But at the same time, it’s very much necessary to keep the candidate informed about what is happening from beginning of the interview process till final selection or rejection.

Some firms are very quick in short listing then interviewing and then giving results. Some firms take lot of time like 3-4 months since giving advertisements to final selection.  Unless the candidate is aware about the recruitment pattern of the firm he has applied to, he/she will have to undergo lot of stress and uncertainty.  Highly qualified and confident candidate might not want to keep waiting for the results and go ahead with any firm that offers her first.  At the same time if the candidate is informed about the steps involved in firm’s hiring process and average time taken to arrive at final decision he/she will keep the other offers in hold until they here from their dream firm.

Finally it is mutual dependence when it comes to employer and employee, even if it is an aspiring employee. One should not take for granted the candidate who comes for the interview. The HR team should ensure at every step the candidate is informed of what is happening and final results. If the firm can give feedback on demand, that would be great.

Internet Marketing

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Importance of Internet Marketing

Before talking about the need for Internet Marketing course and the potential candidates for that course let me briefly talk about the importance of Internet Marketing.

In today’s world if a business entity does not have its presence in Internet, then it does not exist at all for majority of the people! For an example, if I am searching for a school, first thing I do is search the internet for reviews, listings and rankings of the school. Then I will have a look at their website, and then if I like the content and the way they have given a picture of themselves I will call them by taking their phone number from their website. If somebody tells me School A is good, but if I don’t find its mention anywhere in the internet I will not go in search of the school!

This happens with any product or service. There are so many products for which it is not required to visit the show room and see the product before buying. For example CDs, or books. People know what they want, they will check out the online shops, select products, make payment through online banking and product is delivered to their doorsteps.

Also in case if they have to visit the place like schools or garment shops they will read all reviews and advertisements in the internet, then make a shortlist based on that and visit only those places.

Definitely newspaper ads, TV commercials will be there, but we change channel when we see advertisements in TV, we may not read the ad in newspaper unless we are searching for a particular product that day. The advantage of internet is, somebody who is really in search of our services will land in our website and will definitely contact us, if his needs matches our services. He can do this search at his free time.

Mr. A or Mrs.B  might be getting different mails about Personal Loans, Jewellery, shopping, computer courses, real estate etc, they may not read every mail as and when it comes, but one day when Mr. A wants to buy a site, he will simply search in his inbox, if anything relevant is there, and will contact that person.  Where as if we have distributed pamphlets along with newspaper or at an exhibition the person will not have it with him, when he decides to buy that product.

Thus matters relating from the birth of baby to schooling, marriage and old age homes, everything finds a place in Internet.

Also it’s very apparent that Direct sales force is becoming obsolete these days, as nobody entertains such sales men/ women at their door steps. Neither the decision makers are at home during day. Both husband and wife will be working, and even if somebody is at home, the watchman will not allow the direct sales people to enter the apartment!!

Hence the need for extensive Internet marketing is clearly seen. Also along with this, the need to master the art of Internet marketing has gained utmost importance in business world.

Gombe Habba – The Doll Festival

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Dasara Bombe - Head shaking Dasara dolls

Doll house festival

In Karnataka we have the tradition of exhibiting all the Dolls neatly and making some themes out of it and invite neighbors to come and have a look at the same. Children are given some sweets. This event happens during the Dasara festival. Dasara festival falls usually during september or Octover month. It is also called as Navaraatri (Nine nights). During those 9 nights every night one or the other festival will be there.

In local language this occasion is called as ‘ Gombe koorisuvudu’ literally translated as ‘seating of Dolls’. This practice started few centuries ago by the Wodeyars the then rulers of Mysore Dynasty.

In this ‘Festival of Dolls’ the dolls are seated in a particular order by making as many rows as needed depending on the number of Dolls. And the rows will resemble a staircase. This is usually done using different sized Benchs or boxes, or combination of what ever is avaialble at home. Then it is covered with white cloth. Then the Dolls are arranged on that.

If a home is having good collection of Dolls, they will reserve each row for one theme. In one row they will narrate the story of Ramayana, another row will be for Mahabharata and so on. These days people include modern dolls with new messages like ‘save environment’ etc.

One keeps buying Dolls and goes on adding to his/her collection.

I was hardly 10 years old when we came to Mysore. During that time we used sow the raagi cereal in a Tray of mud. This would be done few weeks before Dasara. Thus by the time Dasara approached we used to have the raagi grown up resembling the shape of Grass. Thus this this would be used to portray either the Crop field or the Jungle and relevant Dolls would be kept in that plantation. How I wish I want to try that again.

Thus every home which celebrate Doll house festival will make use of its creativity and go on making different themes.

The regular set of dolls we find in these Doll houses are a ‘Marriage set – a Pair of wooden dolls having a bride and groom’ This doll is usually present in all the Brahmin families, as this is given during the time of wedding to the newly wed couple. This ritual might have started during the time of child marriages.

Bride and Bridegroom
Bride and Groom dolls
Dasara procession
Dasara Procession

There will be the dolls of Rama, Lakshmana and Seetha. Krishna and Radha. Some village setting and other Gods and Goddesses.

Few mix up the modern toys with the classic toys, I feel it will spoil its ethnic look.

Few years back a colleague of mine had invited me to view the Dolls she had showcased during the Dasara festival. And she gifted me with a Doll. I just love that culture. You keep Dolls, invited people and gift them Dolls, they can make a collection and they will be motivated to do the same for the next Dasara. Hope this culture continues.

Recently I visited the ‘Bombemane’ which exhibits and sells the Dolls from various manufacturers all over the country. Most of the videos and photos I have uploaded are from the same exhibition. But here you can buy the sets at a very high price ( its relative) but you wont get the fun and satisfaction which you get, where in you will buy dolls at different places at different periods and then make a theme out of it. In bombemane you get all theme sets.

The famous Dasara Bombe which I have shown in the photo was priced at 525/- each at Bombemane, and I bought the similar one at Shilparamam, Hyderabad for 300/- per pair.

Finally what I would like to mention is in the fast pace of life, where both husband and wife are working. Kids hardly get any holidays for Dasara, and even if they get they will have loads of homework. its becoming difficult to celebrate all these events. But we definitely spend lot of time in front of Computers or in front of TV, If we borrow few hours from these for the purpose of making these festivals a success, I am sure it will be worth the effort it takes.

Gombe habba photos by Sunil Jayaprakash

New Supermarket

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Staying in a new residential area I have come across different strategies adopted by new super markets and other shops which open up.

First we had ‘More super market’ opening near the bus stop. It had few attractive offers as a part of opening day. Lot of items were available at huge discounts and also lots of prizes were there amounts of different range.

For any bill above 500 plastic food containers, for amount exceeding 1000/- big sized jars, for amount exceeding 2000/- one Nirlon cook ware worth 500/-.

We did get lot of gift items on that day. Also they had all the gift items, one or two were not there, but were given on next day.

Then we had the Heritage super market coming up near by. This guys main attraction was a Slide for kids. This big Air filled slide was put in front of the shop and that was the main attraction for kids, so the parents who accompanied did enter the shop and bought few items.

For many vegetables they had the offer buy 1kg and get 1kg free. The counters were getting over crowded, and it took so much time for my turn to come, I decided to leave everything and get out. But thankfully my husband was standing in another queue and his turn came, so we bought the things which we had piled up. Most of the people left without buying the things because of the frustration of standing in such long queue.

Also when they told 1kg free for 1kg, unless a person bought 2 kg, they would charge the actual amount for person who bought 1.5kg!

Also most of the items prize for eg Pomegranate prize was different in their machine than what was advertised. It was almost four times of what was displayed in pamphlet!

for hippo chips they said, if you buy 2, 4/- off. and when we chose 2 Hippo packets of different flavor they told its only if you buy of the same flavor.

When you are standing in long queue for such long time, and when your turn comes you have all these discussions, arguments, clarifications with the cashier its just disgusting.

Also More started announcing in mic similar offers. Buy 1kg get 1kg free!!

So finally what did Heritage achieve? It could not manage the crowd on day 1. who ever bought vegetables bought in huge quantity, hence they wont turn up again for next one week atleast. All those who left the items chosen unable to wait , will probably dont come again. Those who had arguements regarding price etc, and bitter experience would not visit again.

I really feel they need to look at all these aspects.

Another problem with all these super markets is the employees cannot speak any language other than Telugu. I am sure Hyderabad must be having huge number of educated girls and boys who know both English and telugu, why not recruit them??

Doondh Legi Manzil hamein – Starone

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This is one good serial I have been watching from few weeks. So far its good. Good thing is the youth in this story are fighting against Social Evils. The evils are not glorified as it happens in all the serials these days.

Watch it.. before it gets in to the trap of so called mega serial… and intentional elongation of story!

Death Rehearsal

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This are few lines from Amitabh Bachchan’s blog, just liked it, and thought of sharing

My Father wrote a piece, of a short blank verse poem, on Death and Sleep –

It is titled ‘Rehearsal’ and goes as follows –

Sona,

Marne ka rehearsal hai

Jo insaan har din karta hai,

Par maut ke stage par aate

Darta hai ~

Sleep is the rehearsal of death, that mankind indulges in every day. Yet fears to come on the stage of death.

We practice and rehearse death in a sense, everyday when we go off to sleep. Yet are scared to appear on the stage of death.

Worth thinking !! Would it not be wonderful to rehearse this everyday but have the strength to come on the stage and deliver when asked. So what I would write in sleep induced state would it not reflect a sample of my ‘rehearsals’. And would that not in a sense give us a window on what actually transpires when our souls leave us – a question that has been in the minds of the human race ever since its evolution. What really happens to us when we are gone. Where actually do we go ? Where are these gates of Heaven and Hell ? Is there truly this great big man with a white beard that welcomes us ?

Hmmm … ! Better to let this remain with the sleep induced rehearsals and not go further. Better to not appear on that ’stage’. Better … For none of us will ever get to know what it is. And none of us is ever going to come back and recount it for us !

Amitabh Bachchan .. read more at http://bigb.bigadda.com/

 

 

Dialogue in the dark

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Yesterday we visited Inorbit Shopping Mall in Hyderabad, and got the opportunity to undergo this experience called Dialogue in the dark!

Had we not participated in the promotional games at Level 4 in Inorbit, we would’t even have come to know about this great exhibition present at the Level 5 in Inorbit Mall.

It was scary, it was fun, it is a new experience. Once you participate in that, I am sure you will definitly try to walk in darkness when the power goes off, rather waiting for the power to come!

know more about Dialogue in the dark

Subhaashita

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Sampoorna kumbho na karoti shabdham

ardho ghato ghoshamupaiti noonam

vidvaan kuleeno na karoti garvam

gunairviheenaaha bahu jalpayanti

This is a Sanskrit saying which is similar to the English proverb “Empty vessel makes more noise”

Here is the meaning of the Subhaashita mentioned above.

Sampoorna kumbhaha shabdham na karoti – Full filled pot does not make noise

ardho ghato noonam ghoshamupaiti – Where as Half filled pot makes lot of noise

vidwaan kuleeno na karoti garvam – Knowledgeable and Well groomed people are not too proud of themselves, where as those who do not have any good qualities boast about  themselves a lot.

This is similar to Alpa vidyaa mahagarvi which means Less education but too shrewd. Here vidyaa can be taken as knowledge than education. As we know in olden days Education does not meant Science, Arts and commerce. They had to study more forms of Education which had more emphasis on Moral values and Language besides other things.

The above subhaashita applies to even todays world. If we look at people around us the more knowledgeable, those who are in high positions, those who have proved themselves to be most popular are the humblest human beings like Mahatma Gandhi, Dr.Rajkumar(Kannada film artist), Amitabh bhachchan, Kiran Bedi and Abdul Kalam. You name any famous personality he would be having the above mentioned virtues.

Moolangi Mosaru Bajji (Radish Raitha)

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Ingredients – Radish boiled 1

Curd – 100 ml

Coconut grated – 1 cup

Red chillies – 2

Mustard seeds – 1 Table spoon

Cumin Seeds – 1 Table spoon

Salt – To taste

Oil – 1 Table Spoon

Thoroughly wash the Radish and chop into big pieces. Pressure cook for 10 minutes.

Once the boiled radish cools down take it in to mixer jar, add coconut and salt and grind to a paste.

Take a Pan and heat the oil. Once the oil is hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, take the pan away from heat, add Red chillies. This is to avoid over burning of the Cumin seeds.

Once this seasoning cools add the Radish coconut paste to this. Then add curd and mix well.

Now Radish raitha is ready.