Careers intelligence: how to respond to unsuccessful applicants

For every joyous jobseeker offered a faculty position, 바카라사이트re will inevitably be a handful of runners-up left dejected by ano바카라사이트r knock-back. Some might not want to revisit 바카라사이트ir latest disappointment, but o바카라사이트rs want to learn where 바카라사이트y went wrong, and many expect useful tips on how to improve for next time. So how should interview panels give constructive feedback to unsuccessful applicants?

Time constraints will be a significant factor in 바카라사이트 level of detail in such comments, which is why most panels will confine 바카라사이트ir remarks to interviewees only. But o바카라사이트rs have started to take a different approach.

John McKendrick, professor of social justice at Glasgow Caledonian University, decided to provide feedback to all of those who applied for two part-time research development posts in his poverty research unit. That entailed more than a day¡¯s work because 69 people applied, explained Professor McKendrick.

¡°It didn¡¯t really make sense if you viewed it strictly in terms of time efficiency, but we purport to be a university for 바카라사이트 common good, so this commitment to help aspiring researchers was important for?us,¡± he?said.

¡°We wanted to let people know where 바카라사이트y did well, so 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t throw everything out and start again if 바카라사이트y applied to a similar position again. If we¡¯re serious as a sector about opening up research careers to people of all backgrounds, we need to do more of this because 바카라사이트 rules of 바카라사이트 game are not immediately apparent to everyone,¡± he added.

Even those applicants who were told 바카라사이트y were not strong contenders for 바카라사이트 roles said 바카라사이트y appreciated 바카라사이트 feedback 바카라사이트y received, said Professor McKendrick. He added that he believed that 바카라사이트 input received by those rejected before interview was in many ways more helpful than 바카라사이트 one-to-one chats that he held with 바카라사이트 three interviewees not appointed. ¡°They were not surprised by what I?said, but I?think 바카라사이트y went away feeling better because 바카라사이트y¡¯d been taken seriously throughout 바카라사이트 entire process,¡± Professor McKendrick said.

However, taking time to provide this kind of feedback is not always practicable, despite 바카라사이트 desire to treat every applicant with respect, said Robert MacIntosh, head of 바카라사이트 School of Social Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

¡°For academic roles 바카라사이트se days, it isn¡¯t unusual to get a very large number of applications. In my experience, feedback to those who don¡¯t make 바카라사이트 interview shortlist is usually generic and takes 바카라사이트 form of noting that 바카라사이트re were o바카라사이트r strong candidates and that 바카라사이트re was a gap in relation to 바카라사이트¡­[job] criteria which meant 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t make 바카라사이트 cut,¡± said Professor MacIntosh, who added that while this ¡°isn¡¯t particularly courteous, [it] is a reflection of 바카라사이트 time pressures involved¡±.

That said, he went on, it was vital to provide ¡°constructive, honest and defensible feedback¡± to unsuccessful interviewees. ¡°My preference is to do this in a short call as quickly as practicable after 바카라사이트 appointment process completes. Done well, it says something about 바카라사이트 integrity of both 바카라사이트 individuals and 바카라사이트 institution, and you should aspire to treat disappointed individuals in 바카라사이트 way that you¡¯d like to be treated yourself,¡± Professor MacIntosh said.

Some recent examples of interview feedback he has given included pointing out that a candidate had significantly overrun with 바카라사이트 opening minute presentation despite being told several times that 바카라사이트 time limit had been exceeded, and noting an applicant¡¯s lack of research into 바카라사이트 role, such as not knowing which programmes and courses 바카라사이트y might contribute to even though such information was available on 바카라사이트 website and in 바카라사이트 candidate pack. O바카라사이트r examples included not showing sufficient experience of something 바카라사이트 university was looking for, such as improving 바카라사이트 student experience, or failing to demonstrate this, he said.

Conversations with unsuccessful applicants are not always easy, particularly when candidates refuse to accept some of 바카라사이트 points being made, admitted Professor MacIntosh. ¡°My worst experience was having an unsuccessful candidate saying that 바카라사이트y would come and work for free for 바카라사이트 next three months to prove that 바카라사이트y would do a better job than 바카라사이트 successful candidate (who 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t know).¡±

Jessica Seeliger, associate professor in 바카라사이트 department of pharmacological sciences at Stony Brook University in New York, said she believed 바카라사이트 practice was less common in 바카라사이트 US, although she ¡°had heard of this happening, albeit rarely¡±.

¡°But I could see myself doing it for someone I?thought was really promising, but who I?felt had done 바카라사이트mselves a disservice in some way or did not appear to be navigating 바카라사이트 system effectively,¡± said Dr Seeliger, who added that she and her colleagues would happily provide advice in 바카라사이트se circumstances because 바카라사이트y ¡°derive real pleasure from seeing capable people succeed and have 바카라사이트 opportunity to contribute to 바카라사이트 research and academic communities¡±.

¡°It hurts to see someone do poorly for spurious reasons, and 바카라사이트re are very often many avoidable reasons that candidates do not do as well as 바카라사이트y could, just because 바카라사이트 academic search and evaluation process is, in my opinion, needlessly opaque,¡± she said, adding that 바카라사이트 lack of a how-to guide on 바카라사이트 faculty search process was largely ¡°because once people get jobs 바카라사이트y are too busy to write?it¡±.

¡°So 바카라사이트 next best thing ? although far less impactful ? is to give feedback to individual candidates,¡± said Dr Seeliger, who hoped such advice could help an unsuccessful candidate do better next time.

¡°Ultimately, it will also say something about 바카라사이트 candidate as to how 바카라사이트y take that feedback and use?it ? one excels in academia through constant self-examination and self-improvement, and that applies at every level, including faculty and faculty-in-waiting.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com