Interview Feedback: Examples and Templates for Recruiters

Interview feedback is what interviewers write about a candidate for the hiring team, and what you tell the candidate after the decision.

Both directions depend on the same thing: specific evidence about what the candidate said or did. Vague notes make the hiring decision harder to defend, and they leave you with nothing useful to tell the people you turn down.

What interview feedback means for a recruiter

Interview feedback runs in two directions, and the recruiter sits in the middle of both. Interviewers send you notes on each candidate, and you turn the final decision into a message the candidate can understand.

The second direction is where candidates feel the gap most. In Talent Board's 2022 data from about 200,000 candidates of 150 organizations worldwide, just 7% said they'd been told they didn't get the job. Those organizations chose to take part in the benchmark, so the figure isn't a random sample of all employers. Even with that limit, it points to a wide gap between applying and hearing a clear no.

When feedback does arrive, it's often too generic to help. One survey of recent applicants, posted in May 2022, found that generic feedback frustrates people who were turned down. They want to know why they were unsuccessful and how to improve.

Both problems start upstream. If interviewers hand you "not a fit," you have nothing specific to pass on, so the fix begins with what interviewers write.

How to get useful interview feedback from interviewers

Ask interviewers to rate each must-have and write down what the candidate said or did that supports each rating. A must-have is a requirement the person needs from the start, as opposed to a nice-to-have the team can train. For roles that manage people, the must-haves come from leadership interview questions matched to the level.

Interviewer trainers quoted by SHRM in August 2026 give the same advice for debriefs. Instead of trading scores, interviewers should explain the evidence behind each rating. The trainers add that talk of "gut feeling" or "culture fit" can signal a need to revisit how the team rates.

"Culture fit" deserves a follow-up question, because it can hide bias. Ask what behavior the interviewer saw, and keep the note only if that behavior relates to how the job gets done. Good evidence also depends on notes taken during the conversation, which is part of being a good interviewer.

Take an illustrative search for an accounts payable specialist at a regional manufacturer. Two finalists reached the panel round. One, Priya, gets the offer. The other, Dana, was strong on vendor reconciliation but has less experience with the company's ERP system, the enterprise resource planning software that runs its finance and operations.

Interview feedback examples: vague notes rewritten

Each rewrite below replaces an impression with something a candidate said or did. These are notes the panel first sent on the two finalists, followed by what each became after the recruiter asked, "What did they say or do?"

The rewrites aren't kinder or harsher than the originals. They're checkable, which is what lets the panel compare finalists and lets you explain the outcome later. When several people interview together, this habit also makes it simpler to combine their notes in a panel interview debrief.

For open-ended questions, it helps to know in advance what a strong answer sounds like. Scoring guides for problem-solving interview questions show how to describe one in a sentence.

A short template for interviewer notes

Send interviewers the same four prompts after every interview, so their notes arrive in a shape you can compare.

• Rating for each must-have: One line per must-have, using the scale your team already uses.
• Evidence: What the candidate said or did that supports each rating, in a sentence or two.
• Open questions: Anything the interviewer couldn't assess and wants the next interviewer to probe.
• Recommendation: Hire or no hire, with the main reason in one sentence.

If you already use an interview scorecard, this template sits under it as the written evidence. Here's how Dana's panel notes read once the panel filled it in.

ERP experience: developing. She has used a different system and hasn't worked in ours.

Open question: How quickly could she learn our approval workflow?

Recommendation: No hire for this opening. The role needs someone who can run month-end in our system from the first close.

Check the must-haves before you start the interviews

Evidence-based feedback only works when everyone agrees on the must-haves before the first interview. If the panel learns in the debrief that ERP experience mattered more than reconciliation, the ratings can't be compared. Write the must-haves down at intake, share them with every interviewer, and use the same list in the template.

How to give interview feedback to candidates

Give the outcome first, then share one or two job-related points tied to the must-haves. Agree on those points with the hiring manager or client before you send anything.

The rule below is recommended practice for deciding what goes into the message. It isn't a legal standard, so check anything unusual with HR or employment counsel.

• Share: Specific points tied to a must-have, such as hands-on experience with a system the job uses every day.
• Share only once agreed: Anything the hiring manager or client hasn't approved stays out until they have.
• Leave out: Comparisons with other candidates, the other finalist's strengths, and anything about personality, appearance, or life outside work.
• Check first: Unusual requests, such as a candidate asking for the interview notes, go to HR or employment counsel before you reply.

For people who reached the final rounds, a short call before the email can be a kind choice. They've given you several hours, and hearing the news from a person shows that time mattered. Follow up in writing so they have the points to reread.

Don't promise more detail than you can give. If a client won't share reasons, say you'll pass on what you can instead of offering a full debrief. The outcome message is the last update in a wider candidate experience plan, and it's the one candidates are most likely to keep.

Candidate feedback templates by stage

Match the message to how far the candidate got, because a phone screen and a final round call for different amounts of detail. Each interview feedback template below states the outcome first, gives a reason where you can, and invites future contact only when you mean it.

After a phone screen

A message after a short first call should be short too, with one honest reason. If you run a pre-screening interview, tie that reason to a must-have you checked on the call. Your notes from the phone screen questions will name that must-have.

Hi [Name],

Thanks for speaking with me on [day]. We've decided not to move you forward for the [role] opening.

The main reason is [must-have], which this role needs from the start. I'd like to keep your details on file for roles that suit your [strength], if that's OK with you.

Best,

[Your name]

After a final round when someone else got the offer

Final-round candidates have invested the most, so they get the most specific candidate feedback after interview that you're cleared to share. This is the email to Dana from the running example, with brackets where you'd swap in your own details.

Hi Dana,

Thank you for the time you gave the panel last week. I'm sorry to tell you that we've offered the [role] position to another candidate.

The panel was impressed by how you walked through clearing a vendor statement mismatch. The role needs someone who can work in [system] from the first month-end close, and that's where your experience was lighter.

If you build experience with [system], I'd be glad to talk about future openings. I'm also happy to set up a short call if you'd like to talk this through.

Best,

[Your name]

The email doesn't describe Priya or rank the two finalists, and it says nothing about Dana as a person. It names one strength and one gap, both tied to the job.

When the role is put on hold

A paused role isn't a rejection, so don't word the message like one. Candidates who hear nothing during a pause often assume the worst.

Hi [Name],

I want to update you on the [role] search. [Company] has paused hiring for this opening, and there's no new start date yet.

[Add only if the client or hiring manager confirmed it: The pause isn't related to your interviews.]

I'll tell you as soon as I hear more, and I'll check in by [date] either way.

Best,

[Your name]

Passing on client feedback as an agency recruiter

When a client sends a one-line "pass," ask two follow-up questions before you contact the candidate. In-house recruiters can ask the hiring manager the same two questions.

• Which must-have was missing: Ask which must-have the candidate didn't show and what they said that told the client so.
• What you can share: Ask what you can tell the candidate and what you should keep to yourself.

The first question turns "pass" into evidence. A client who said "not senior enough" might explain that the candidate hasn't set approval limits, which is a point you can pass on kindly and specifically.

The second question gets the client's agreement on what to share, which protects your relationship with both sides. The answers also sharpen your next shortlist, because you now know what the client meant by the must-have.

Ask for evidence before you send the feedback

Useful feedback in both directions comes from one habit: writing down what a candidate said or did against the must-haves. That record lets the panel reach a decision it can explain, and it gives you something kind and specific to tell the people who don't get the offer. When notes arrive as impressions, the problem shows up later as a vague rejection email. Before your next debrief, send interviewers the four-prompt template and ask for one piece of evidence per rating.