Like Peter Honey, we’ve been recruiting. Unlike Peter, I do a good deal of recruiting, so long ago I decided that I should not reject out of hand an applicant who doesn’t know the difference between “licence” and “license”, or who is keen to tell me about their skill in “liaison” with a wide range of people but is less sure about how to spell the word.
As time has gone on I have got bolder about the process, and even offered feedback where it’s not requested. This time around I explained to one candidate for a trainee consultant post, whom we considered carefully but did not invite to interview, that we might have been more inclined to do so had she told us what class of degree she had (a question that surely the most ardent advocate of political correctness would agree is permissible in a consultancy requiring high-level analytical skills). I told her we assume that if no class of degree is stated, someone must have a 2:2, and recommended her to say so if she did actually have a 2:1 or better.
Trying to be helpful to applicants doesn’t always work and carries some risk – many HR colleagues will think me mad – but in this case it did work. The applicant mailed me back with her thanks, and gave me her marks so I could see that she’d just missed a first. She hasn’t got a job with us, but I think I’ve been helpful to her.
Why, then, will so many HR colleagues think I’ve taken a stupid risk? It’s fear, isn’t it? Fear that an annoyed applicant might take them to a tribunal over wrongful selection. I know my employment law so I don’t think I do anything reckless, but I have no patience with back-watching. But I also know that the chances of anyone bothering to challenge little old us are very small indeed, and that spurs me on. And, if I’m really honest, I’m much less bold when I interview for the college that I chair, not just because the personnel team will leap on me, but also because the chances of an aggrieved applicant making a fuss are much higher. The risk is greater and it’s shared, not mine alone.
It’s a pity. More people would benefit if more recruiters felt able to give honest, well intentioned feedback.