One of the best practices in any company during the interview and recruitment process is following up or responding to the candidates once they are interviewed. This usually happens during interview rounds in the form of candidate feedback for that particular round of interview.
It’s a widespread notion that employers/companies who have this practice, are considered more thoughtful and sought after.

So why is it considered Important to reply to the candidates post interview?

1.    Respectful Approach:
Every candidate appearing for the interview holds some importance. Even if they are not selected now, they could be useful at a later stage. For candidates, the complete process might be stressful, starting from applying to the position to getting interviewed. It would only do good to send them a simple response, even if it’s an automated one. There is also the feature of such responses in the job portals that firms use, which makes it even easier to not let any candidate trail go cold.
For instance, "Looking forward to working with you in the future" is a one liner, but holds importance for candidates.

2.    Enhanced Employer Branding:
When you chose to respond to the candidates, it also says a lot about your brand and ethics. Candidates feel better when they receive a reply from the company instead of having no response at all. Such emails works wonders for the employer reputation in the market. Companies must train their recruitment teams to follow these small steps to maintain good relations with the candidates.

3.    Completes the Cycle:
When you reach out to the candidates before interviewing them, it should be pretty natural to contact them after the interview as well, just to let them know the result. This helps complete the interview cycle for any candidate. By the rule of simple understanding of the human mind, candidates feel anxious about interview results. Employers who take care with prompt feedback helps candidates immensely. Note that the feedback must be shared within a given time frame.

4.    Better Talent in Future:
Many candidates put up their reviews for the companies they interview at. When other candidates see these reviews about the same company, it helps them decide on the company quickly. It is obvious that good reviews would always help get more and better talent in the next interviews cycles. Your brand value is created by those reviews. It’s always good to encourage the candidates to leave a review about their experience at your company.

If you don’t have any such practice in place as yet, start having one. Train your team about staying connected with the candidates, whether they join your company or not. The interview experience is an integral part of the recruitment process and every company must take care of it in such volatile times.