We Would Get Back To You, What This Truly Means By HR

This seems to be the most dreaded of all phrases during an interview. It has become HR jargon that often signals "The interview has ended."

What's interesting, however, is that even when there is no plan to get back to a candidate or the facility to send automated rejection letters, many recruiters still make this blunder. The unfortunate thing is that this phrase gives false hope to a candidate when the recruiter knows they will not be following up.

My Strategy:

I have also been involved in recruitment selection for a while now, and my "wrap-up" language is usually really simple and straight to the point:

"Thank you for your time; it was great meeting you. If you will be proceeding to the next stage, you will hear from us. If you do not hear from us in a week, it means other candidates were considered."

The error here is that I may not be able to track this candidate’s data if I wanted to send a rejection letter, which is standard practice. However, I have managed to limit the candidate’s expectations.

What Does "We Will Get Back to You" Really Mean?

As unbelievable as it may sound, this often means: The interview has ended, and I may or may not get back to you.

When Next I Hear This, What Should I Do?

Kindly ask the recruiter when exactly or within what time frame you should expect feedback. Confidently mention that you will follow up after a week. A week is usually enough for HR to know who they will be hiring, except in rare cases.

To HR:

Embrace best practices. If you won’t get back to a candidate, do not say you will. If your data bank is poor and you will be discarding the candidate’s resume right there, let them know they will not be considered for the job. You could go a step further by giving them insights on what they can improve on to become a better job candidate.