The article was making the point that in this economic downturn, disappointed finalists may be more aggressive and push back. Personally, I hope so but seriously doubt it beyond a few minor exceptions.

Anyway what really stuck in my craw was one of the lawyers quoted for the article who said  

"�?� you�??re not going to call the 350 unsuccessful candidates for lower-level store positions," he says. "At a higher level, you are going to call unsuccessful candidates, and the best thing you can tell them is that another candidate more closely fit the position. Leave it at that."

Despite the fact that there are many ways to reach 350 people without calling all of them, my answer to that lawyer in particular and to lawyers with similar �??legal�?? advice in general  is

Fortunately, the Workforce email als offered a contrasting link, a Fistful of Talent blog by Jennifer McClure who works in a Cincinnati-based recruitment and coaching firm. Her blog�??s title Providing Feedback to Rejected Candidates - Will You Please Suck It Up?, said it all.

I agree totally with Jennifer�??s comments and would go even further suggesting that in mapping a 21^st century recruiting processes, a company aspiring to provide a world-class candidate experience is not credible unless for every recruiter and every job:

-          A promise [declared on the website and kept]to every candidate when applying that the firm will a)acknowledge receipt of the application; b) provide all who apply [candidates] with the means to determine their status; c) acknowledge to all who apply [candidates] as having [self-reported] that they meet basic qualifications�?�or not�?�or that they haven�??t been �??considered�?? and why; and, d) to define that an opening will not �??close�?? unless all candidates have been informed.

-          A promise [declared on the website and kept]that all candidates considered as competitive [finalists] receive feedback �?? a clear, disciplined and recorded script that focuses on skills, knowledge and experience that the finalist might consider seeking in order to compete more effectively for a similar position in the future.

Companies that excel in this arena will 1) differentiate themselves as industry leaders; 2) cause engagement scores in their firm to rise; and, 3) measurably contribute to driving up their firm�??s performance.

IMHO - Today, most firms claiming their candidate experiences are positive are totally in denial. Fewer than ¼ even measure the satisfaction of finalists using [irrelevant] Likert style measures. No one is truly measuring the damage they are doing to the Candidates [all those who apply] themselves primarily because the blinders are 100 years old despite the availability of technology based solutions.