“Feedback is a gift.”
You hear it everywhere.
And in most areas of life, it’s true.
Good feedback helps you grow.
Bad feedback helps you grow faster.
No feedback?
That’s where things break down.
Because in hiring, feedback isn’t just a nice-to-have.
It’s a necessity.
The uncomfortable truth about rejection
Let’s be honest about what the hiring process feels like for candidates.
You invest time:
- Tailoring your CV
- Writing a cover letter
- Preparing for interviews
You put a version of yourself forward.
And then…
Nothing.
Or worse:
“We’ve decided to move forward with other candidates.”
No context.
No insight.
No way to improve.
Just a closed door with no explanation.
Why feedback matters more than we admit
Feedback in hiring does three critical things:
1. It creates closure
Without feedback, rejection lingers.
Candidates don’t know if they were close, miles off, or simply unlucky.
That uncertainty sticks.
2. It enables growth
Careers aren’t built on success alone.
They’re built on iteration.
Without feedback, candidates are forced to guess:
- Was it experience?
- Communication?
- Cultural fit?
- Something else entirely?
Guesswork slows progress.
3. It builds trust
When companies provide feedback, they signal something important:
“We see you as more than just an application.”
That matters.
Because even rejected candidates are future applicants, customers, advocates, or referrers.
So why doesn’t it happen?
Here’s the reality:
The system isn’t designed for feedback.
Most roles attract:
- 100+ applicants
- Sometimes 300+
- Occasionally far more
Now imagine giving thoughtful feedback to every rejected candidate.
It’s not just difficult.
It’s practically impossible.
So what happens instead?
Hiring teams optimise for efficiency:
- Automated responses
- Generic rejections
- Or silence
Not because they don’t care.
Because they can’t scale care in the current model.
The real problem isn’t feedback
It’s volume.
Too many candidates.
Too little signal.
Not enough time.
Hiring managers are drowning in applications.
Candidates are lost in the noise.
And feedback becomes collateral damage.
If we want better feedback, we need a better system
You can’t fix feedback in isolation.
You have to fix what sits upstream:
How candidates and roles are matched in the first place.
Imagine a different approach:
- A smaller, more relevant pool of candidates
- Stronger signals beyond keywords and CVs
- Clearer alignment from the outset
Now feedback becomes:
- Feasible
- Meaningful
- Human
Not a burden.
A natural part of the process.
This is the shift Matchez is working towards
At Matchez, the goal isn’t just to improve hiring outcomes.
It’s to restore the human side of hiring.
That means:
- Fewer, better-matched candidates per role
- Profiles that show strengths, direction, and potential
- A process where people are seen, not filtered
Because when hiring becomes more focused:
Feedback becomes possible again.
And when feedback becomes possible:
- Candidates grow faster
- Companies build stronger pipelines
- The whole system becomes more honest
A simple question worth asking
If someone takes the time to apply to your role…
Do they deserve to know why they weren’t successful?
Most people would say yes.
But the system says no.
That’s the gap.
Final thought
Feedback might be a gift.
But in hiring, it’s more than that.
It’s part of the contract.
If we expect people to show up, prepare, and put themselves forward…
We owe them something in return.
Not perfection.
Not essays.
Just enough truth to help them move forward.
And to make that possible, we need to rethink the system itself.
If you’d like to contribute your perspective, please join Matchez and we’ll be in touch, so that you can share your experience.