should I give job candidates a way to contact me?

A reader writes:

Some colleagues and I have a question on interview etiquette from the interviewer side that we can’t agree on. If you give someone a job interview, should you give them a way to contact you?

My thinking is, yes, if you interview a job candidate, you should give them either your work phone or work email so they can follow up if they need to. For example, what if they need to withdraw their application? Or if they have a change of phone number or email address they need to inform you about? Or if they would just like to send a thank-you/follow-up email after the interview?

The other two managers on our team don’t like providing this information. They have had negative experiences in the past (one candidate calling way too often to check in, and another incident where a candidate called and yelled at the interviewer) and prefer to conduct phone interviews from a conference room phone line so their office number or work email isn’t shared.

My worry is we never go back and check that conference line’s messages so if someone calls and leaves a message, they may be frustrated if no one returns their calls. Also, I think how candidates do or do not follow up can give us good information on if we should hire them (for example, the guy who called and yelled was not hired!).

So what is considered standard practice? And does it change depending on first-round interviews vs second-round or in-person vs over the phone?

I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

The post should I give job candidates a way to contact me? appeared first on Ask a Manager.

View the full article