After the last blog post about employer branding, I had a conversation with Steve Hoare about post-interview follow-up and the way in which this can affect the interviewee’s perception of the company.  Steve has written a great blog post on the subject.  I would just add that even if you don’t offer constructive feedback when rejecting a candidate (see my article on why you should!), you should at least formally reject them via letter. 

You may not have been an interviewee for many years.  Some people have never had a formal interview.  That is no excuse not to put yourself in the candidate’s shoes.  We all know how frustrating it is when you’ve put a proposal into a client or prospective client and get no feedback in return.  In the case of an interviewee, the lack of response is even worse.  Feeling rejected is one thing but feeling that your time and efforts are valued so little so as to not even merit a response is something else. 

Your employer brand is damaged every time you don’t respond to a prospective candidate.  Your employer brand is damaged every time you ignore the fact that someone has put time, effort and money into attending an interview with you (while we’re on the subject, why not pay reimburse reasonable interview expenses?).  Every time you deal with a prospective employee you have an opportunity to reinforce your company brand in their minds so why do so many people choose to leave a negative impression?